Utah State Men's Basketball Ranked 17th in the Nation

Utah ­State University’s men’s basketball team continued its climb up the national polls this week and is now ranked 17th in the nation in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll released Monday, Feb. 9. USU is also ranked 21st in the latest Associated Press poll.

The No. 17 national ranking for Utah State is its highest-ever in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, which began ranking college basketball teams in 1993. The only other time USU has been in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll was during the 2003-04 season when it climbed as high as 21st in the nation in consecutive weeks in early March.

 

The No. 21 ranking in the AP poll is the highest for a Utah State team since Feb. 9, 2004, when that Aggie team was ranked 19th in the nation.

 

Utah State is ranked in the top 25 for just the second time in the last 31 years — the last time a USU team was ranked was during the 2003-04 season when it was ranked for six straight weeks. Prior to that, USU’s last national ranking was during the 1977-78 season when it finished the year ranked 17th in the United Press International poll.

 

Along with improving on its national ranking, Utah State also extended the nation’s longest winning streak this year to 18 straight games after defeating New Mexico State, 78-59, and Louisiana Tech, 60-52, at home last weekend. That 18-game winning streak is also the second-longest in school history trailing only the 1999-2000 team that won 19 straight games.

 

The Aggies have also won 15 straight WAC games dating back to last season, which is the most consecutive WAC wins since Nevada also won 15 straight from 2006 to 2007. USU’s 11-0 start to league play this year is the third-best in school history and the best by a WAC team since Utah went 14-0 in the conference during the 1998-99 season.

 

Utah State is also tied with Oklahoma (23-1) for the most wins and best record in the nation. USU is one of just three teams in Division I basketball with one loss along with No. 1 Connecticut and the second-ranked Sooners.

 

With its win against Louisiana Tech Saturday night [Feb. 7], Utah State is now the only team in the nation to win at least 23 games in each of the last 10 seasons. Gonzaga and Kansas entered the 2008-09 campaign with nine straight 23-win seasons. During the last 10 seasons, USU has averaged 24.5 wins and its 76.8 winning percentage since 2000 is tied with Florida for the fourth-best in the nation.

 

Utah State also continues to lead the nation in field goal shooting at 50.6 percent and has shot 50 percent or better from the field 15 times this year. USU finished the 2007-08 season as just the fourth team in NCAA history to lead the nation in both field goal (.514) and free throw (.792) shooting.

 

Senior forward Gary Wilkinson, who was named the WAC Player of the Week on Monday [Feb/ 9], leads the team in both scoring and rebounding as he is averaging 17.3 points and 7.4 boards per game, while shooting 60.8 percent from the field and 84.4 percent from the free throw line. He currently ranks second in the WAC in free throw shooting, is third in scoring and field goal shooting, and fourth in rebounding.

 

Utah State returns to action Thursday, Feb. 12, when it plays at Idaho (101-2, 4-5) at 8 p.m. (MT). USU’s game against the Vandals will televised live on Altitude (Comcast Ch. 61).

 

Utah State has won 11 straight regular season road games dating back to last year, which is a school record. USU also has the best road record and most road wins in the nation this season with its 9-0 mark.

 

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics homepage Web site.