Old Big West Rival 65, Aggies 57

Lead the team in points, rebounds and assists?
Don't mind if I do.

I feel like with a team this young, so many injuries and with it still being very early in the year, it is totally unfair to say that the wheels have come off on the season. To say this team needs some air in their tires might be a better way to describe things... Maybe some duct tape on the axles too... And some NoS... Either way, the bumps in the road for this team are coming pretty fast and furious.

I could talk plenty about how USU got beat in rebounding tonight, or how they only had five assists all game, or how poorly the team shot tonight... But those aspects are all pretty obvious, and they are telling as to why this team is struggling.

Underneath all the struggles, there are signs of life from these team if you're willing to see them. Things like the Aggies edging out the Tigers in both points in the paint and points off turnovers tonight. Or things like beating them by 20 in second chance points. Or how even despite being down 17 with just more than eight minutes to go, the team kept fighting. The eventually made it as close as a six-point game in the last couple minutes.

Refusing to lose. Good Aggies 24, bad Aggies 21

Once upon a time it seemed like if the game were close in the closing minutes as the 4th quarter, the other team always found a way to get the best of Utah State. It left everyone wondering "what if" at the idea of the Aggies being able to make the big plays to pull out those thrilling victories.

Five wins in a row and a bowl invitation later, THAT'S "what if". In nine games this season decided by a margin of only one score, Utah State has won five of those games. In the other three games that weren't decided by one score, the Aggies have won 2-of-3. For all this team went through early on with the heartbreaking losses, the fact that they never stopped working through all of that toward being the team they knew they could be says everything you need to know.

Spectrum Magic

Top 10 teams = no match for The Spectrum at its best

Spectrum Magic is something that can't really be explained. It's something that you've either experienced it or you haven't, and you don't really know until you see it right in front of you. It's the kind of thing that can make a seemingly impossible win turn into almost a sure thing. And it's the kind of thing that can pick up a team from whatever hole they might be in and carry them back to greatness.

There's only one team that gets the benefit of having The Spectrum on their side though. One team that knows that the best student section in the nation is on their side. One team that can stare down the barrel of defeat and not even flinch when The Spectrum elevates to its capability.

Closing this chapter with clarity

It's rare that Utah State is the biggest topic in the media in Salt Lake, but such has been the case today. And nobody among that bunch has been working harder than my man Tony Jones, doing what he can to get the scoop from every side of the story.

To get the updates on what Scott Barnes told Tony, hit up @TonyAggieville on Twitter and read the bits about Tony's interview with Barnes.

Other people saying it as well or better

It sucks that "The Protest" is the big issue here, but what sucks more is that the administration made it an issue rather than let The Spectrum be.

Since some people here might not read all the same places I do, and since there's some other people who have done a great job putting their thoughts into words on this matter, I figured I'd just share those.

Cause and effect.... and then some.

*EDIT* - This song feels just so damn applicable tonight! 

Since there have been plenty of rumors and misconceptions about what happened Wednesday at The Spectrum with "The Protest", let's clear up most of those, shall we? And when that's done, I'm going to share some of my own thoughts on this matter and some of the opinions that flew around Facebook and Twitter afterward.

First off, the game against Denver was not lost by the lack of students. Denver is a good team that played great and won. It's as simple as that.

We can only go up from here... hopefully. 67-54, Denver

Tough crowd tonight, but when every attempt
at a run is thwarted, it's tough to get going.

There's really not a whole lot that can be said about tonight's game...

Denver won the turnover battle, got more shots and made more shots. As has been the case far too often this year, USU did not rack up many assists. Much of the credit has to go to Denver on that one. Really most of the credit has to go to Denver. They were everything they were hyped up to be. They played solid defense across the board, shot the ball well, kept turnovers low and let their experience carry them.

This game wasn't lost because of the crowd, or officiating, or anything other than Denver was a very very good basketball team who made every big play they had to, controlled the tempo of the game and had an answer to everything USU threw their way.

Denver did what so few before them have done... Denver won in The Spectrum. A 33-game streak is broken and the team is at a new low point for the season. When it comes to Aggie basketball, there's not much lower than you can get than losing in The Spectrum, so the hope is that things can only go up from here.The potential is still very much there, but so is the youth. Right now, without Brady Jardine especially, the veteran leadership is falling almost entirely on the shoulders of Brockeith Pane and Morgan Grim.