Tournament Trouble for Utah State

Maybe this is finally the year.

Maybe--just maybe--Larry Eustachy won’t have to leave another Big West Conference tournament wondering, “What if?” Maybe the Utah State coach won’t have to sit in front of another group of reporters answering their “What happened?” questions.

And maybe Eustachy, a world-class pessimist even by coaching standards, will finally view his hoops glass as half-full. It all could happen. Now just may be the right time, although Eustachy isn’t so sure.

“Yeah, I’ve been on the sideline before [during the tournament] Larry Eustachy and come close, and that’s not a lot of fun,” Eustachy said. “I don’t know if [winning the tournament] will ever happen for us, but that’s certainly our goal.

“I don’t know if I’m snake-bit or what. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Eustachy’s sunny outlook notwithstanding, the Aggies are clearly among the favorites to win the title at the tournament, which will be held at the Lawlor Events Center on the campus of Nevada, March 7-9. If they do, they will end back-to-back seasons of frustrating tournament performances.

True, this is the Big West, so any team that qualifies for the tournament has a shot to win. But the Aggies have an edge: Eustachy.

He is one of the conference’s most-respected, well-liked--and best--coaches. Even if Eustachy doesn’t want to hear it, his colleagues always say so.

“Larry does a very good job,” Long Beach State Coach Wayne Morgan said. “Coach Eustachy always has his teams ready to play and they play real hard.”

During his four seasons in Logan, Utah, Eustachy, who is a graduate of Long Beach State, has made the Aggies one of the Big West’s most successful and consistent programs. Eustachy inherited a team that was 10-17 . . . and went 14-13 during his first season in 1993-94.

Then he really got things going. The Aggies won the 1994-95 regular-season Big West title--their first since the 1979-80 season. Eustachy’s colleagues displayed their admiration, selecting him coach of the year.

But then came that darn tournament. So then came problems.

The top-seeded Aggies were upset in the second round, 76-72, by UC Irvine, seeded eighth in the nine-team field. And last season’s tournament triggered another big headache for Eustachy.

Utah State defeated Long Beach, the conference’s regular-season champion, 86-73, in the semifinals. All that stood between Utah State and the NCAA tournament was San Jose State, which which didn’t seem like such a daunting task at the time.

San Jose finished the regular season 13-17 overall. The Spartans were seeded last in the six-team tournament field.

Everything seemed to be falling into place quite nicely for Eustachy and Utah State. Until the title game: San Jose State 76, Utah State 75.

“That was tough to get so close,” Eustachy said. “Yeah, we were right there.”

Right now, Utah State is playing for the regular-season Eastern Division title. Utah State is 17-7 and 10-3 in the conference, tied for first place with Nevada (16-7, 10-3).

“You know, the odds of us winning the tournament are long,” Eustachy said. “We don’t have much room for error, and we know that winning the tournament is a very difficult thing to do. But you know what? This team has already exceeded my expectations.

“I really love these guys and the effort they’ve put out. Besides, even if I never win it, I won’t consider myself a failure. Other people might, but I won’t. And I don’t think my mom and wife will either.”

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Big guns: Eustachy’s team doesn’t have much depth, but it does have guard Marcus Saxon and forward Maurice Spillers.

Saxon is third in the conference in assists with an average of five. Spillers leads the conference in rebounding, averaging 7.9.

“Those two guys have really been great for us,” Eustachy said. “I’d put them in that category of guys who we couldn’t afford to lose.”

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Coming together nicely: New Mexico State is on a roll.

The Aggies started slowly as Coach Neil McCarthy searched for the right combinations among many new players. He appears to have discovered the mix.

Winners of eight of nine games, the Aggies are in third place in the Eastern Division at 15-8 and 9-4 in conference. Prior to Thursday’s games, they were averaging a conference-leading 80.6 points. They have outrebounded seven of their last eight opponents and are pleasing their coach almost daily.

Among the newcomers, forward Louis Richardson and guard Antoine Hubbard have made the biggest impact. Richardson leads the team in scoring at 18 points and rebounding at 6.7. Hubbard was averaging 14 points and prior to Thursday games he was leading the Big West in assists at 5.9.

“We just had a lot of new players on the team and it took a while for some of them to get the defense down,” McCarthy said. “We’re playing with a lot of defensive intensity and it’s showing. We’re pressuring the ball and we’re stopping the [three-pointers]. That always helps.”