Doing nothing really well gets an "L"; USU loses 73-66

This whole assists thing almost feels like broken record at this point, but it keeps showing to be true. You see, Stew Morrill's offense is designed in a way that demands players set each other up and make crisp passes. As a result, they get good looks, shoot high percentages from the field and usually seem to be able to hang in games where they seem very physically overmatched.

That hasn't really been the case lately though. For the third game in a row, USU totaled just eight assists on the game. When the Aggies also get killed in rebounds and field goal shooting, you almost have to be grateful that a seven-point loss is all this turned out to be.


But a loss on the road to a team we'd already demolished this season and who had only won four games all year prior to tonight is nothing to be happy about. There's really not much to be happy about at all in the past couple weeks of Aggie basketball. Other than dominating a Fresno State team that is mediocre at best and beating a La Tech team that is also nothing above mediocre, it's been a disaster.

Inconsistency has been the death of this team throughout the year, and every player is guilty of disappearing at times this year. Maybe that is the youth shining through, but a few weeks ago they were looking like they'd taken some major steps forward. Now it looks like they're back to being the team of late November and early December.

Without a win Saturday, any hope of WAC regular season title is gone. The chances are slim already, but definitely not gone. This team is going to need to hit another growth spurt like they did during the Gossner's tournament though. Otherwise the rest of this season could hold plenty more frustration like we've seen the past couple weeks.

NOTES

• I didn't want it to come to this, but there's just no other way... Danny Berger needs a slumpbuster, and in a big way (pun not intended, but also not edited once realized). Through his first five games, Berger shot 50 percent from behind the 3-point line. Since then, he's just 2-of-18 (11 percent). He made one tonight and missed six more. Now he's not even racking up assists either. Not sure if there are any women in the Cache Valley area who are 400+, but I worry that's what it may take to snap him out of this funk.
• Brockeith Pane is averaging 20.3 points per game over the last four games... The team is 1-3 in that stretch. He hasn't dipped far below his regular assist totals either in this stretch, which leaves me only to wonder what the team could be doing if he was averaging maybe just 17 points and five assists per game. It doesn't seem like anybody is feeling assertive enough to want to be assisted by Brockeith on a basket though.
• Seriously, only eight assists for the team, for the third straight game... #smh
• Preston Medlin's shooting has dipped as team's defensive pressure on him has risen. That's not a huge surprise. Shooting 2-of-10 from 3 is less than desirable, but it's tough to complain about 19 points when he also had half of the team's assists. If nothing else, Pre-Med still seems to be the first one to want to step up when the team is struggling.
• Bruneel and Thoseby combine to play six minutes... No points, no rebounds, no assists, no steals... Just three combined turnovers.... (*expletives deleted*)
• Despite frustrating play from Berger lately, he still is great at protecting the ball. Ben Clifford is pretty damn good at limiting turnovers too.