San Diego State obviously had a slow start to the league, but they’ve been playing better. – USU head coach Tim Duryea
LOGAN — If you're the Aggies, Wednesday night at the Spectrum has to be viewed as maybe the best opportunity yet to end a losing streak to San Diego State that's lasted as long as Utah State has been a member of the Mountain West Conference.
Although Utah State (5-8 in the Mountain West, 11-13 overall) was 3-0 all-time against the Aztecs prior to 2014, the Aggies are 0-8 against San Diego State since the two became conference rivals. And while the Aztecs (6-6, 14-10) dominated the first clash of the 2016-17 season, 74-55 in San Diego, SDSU has also proved much more vulnerable this year than in recent seasons.
“We have not beaten them on neutral court, their court or our court," USU head coach Tim Duryea said. "We’ve come close a few times, and I’ve been telling our guys, eventually we’re going to beat them. When that is, is kind of up to them."
Far and away the preseason pick to win the Mountain West in 2016-17, the Aztecs haven't lived up to those expectations, particularly on the road where they are just 2-4 in conference play and 2-7 overall. However, since opening league action with three straight losses, Steve Fisher's squad has won six out of its last nine games to get back to .500, currently good for a tie for fifth place with San Jose State.
That includes a 70-56 victory on Sunday over Nevada, which was tied for first place at the time.
"San Diego State obviously had a slow start to the league, but they’ve been playing better," Duryea noted. "They’ve won three of their last four games. Sunday against Nevada they played extremely well and played extremely hard defensively.
"They’re not much different than all the other San Diego State teams. They’re long, they’re athletic, they’re very versatile defensively and they can switch a lot of things to give you a lot of problems."
San Diego State currently leads the league in most defensive categories. In MW games only, the Aztecs rank first in points allowed (65.8), field-goal percentage defense (39.3 percent) and blocked shots (5.2 bpg) and are second in steals (7.0 spg).
Offensively, junior guard Trey Kell (14.1 ppg) and sophomore guard Jeremy Hemsley (14.1 ppg) lead the Aztecs in scoring this season. Junior forward Malik Pope, who missed nine games with a knee injury, has played in the last eight games and started the last five, averaging 13.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals.
The Aggies, who are in danger of having a 23-year-long streak of winning records snapped this season, have been very good at home of late, posting three straight wins over Fresno State, Nevada and Wyoming at the Spectrum. But Utah State, which currently sits in ninth place in the conference standings, is 0-6 on the road in conference play and only has one more home game left after Wednesday's showdown with the Aztecs.
Duryea said on Tuesday morning that there's a good chance that Shane Rector will be available Wednesday night. The senior point guard injured his right (shooting) wrist late in the win over Nevada on Feb. 1, and has missed the past three games.
“We’re just waiting on the results of one test," explained. "Shane did a lot more in practice yesterday than he had the previous few days he’d been out. Hopefully, there are no setbacks today after doing more yesterday. If there aren’t any setbacks, I anticipate him being available tomorrow night. He was actually available against Wyoming (last Saturday) for emergency duty, but that was my decision not to put him in."