Utah State’s Morrill still finding ways to win

With no starters returning this season, Stew Morrill was putting a mystery team on the floor at Utah State. But he has been coaching basketball for a long time, and he has experience in solving mysteries.

If Morrill is winning games, it’s never a surprise.

Dave Rice also returned no starters and welcomed five true freshmen, and in his fourth season at UNLV, Rice is struggling to figure it all out.

There is a fine line between success and failure, the veteran coach said, and he believes Rice and the Rebels are close to crossing over to the right side of it.

“Their win-loss record could be reversed,” Morrill said. “They are right there in every game. They could have won all of those games. You can get real deceived sometimes by records. Like us, with new players, anything can happen, and it often does.”

All five of UNLV’s losses in Mountain West play went to the wire, the latest a 71-69 setback against New Mexico on Wednesday.

The Rebels (10-9, 1-5) host the Aggies (11-7, 4-2) at 5 p.m today at the Thomas & Mack Center, where the home team has been upset in a pair of two-point conference losses in January.

UNLV has dropped six of its past seven games, its worst stretch since losing seven of eight in 1995-96, Bill Bayno’s first season as coach.

“It’s a bumpy road right now, and we’re going through it,” freshman guard Rashad Vaughn said.

Sophomore forward Chris Wood posted a bold statement Thursday on Twitter: “From here on out I PROMISE WE WONT LOSE anymore.”

If Wood’s prediction comes true, he should be remembered with history’s great seers, right alongside Nostradamus.

Morrill looks at Vaughn, Wood and freshman guard Patrick McCaw as the three key players to a potential breakthrough by the Rebels.

“Vaughn is projected to be an NBA guy. Wood is a handful. McCaw has a great feel for the game,” Morrill said. “I like their team. I think they are a very talented team.

“Close games are the nature of this conference, and when you’re able to win a few, it looks like you’re playing well. There’s a lot of parity in our league. Last year, we lost some close games.”

Last season was Utah State’s first in the Mountain West, and it was a bumpy road for the Aggies en route to a 7-11 record. Morrill said his team was close to 11-7. He did not count two losses to UNLV, by margins of 20 points in Las Vegas and 11 in Logan, Utah, as games his team could have won.

“We weren’t able to compete with them last year,” Morrill said, “and they kind of dominated us twice.”

This is Morrill’s last ride through the league. In a surprise move Jan. 9, he announced plans to retire after the season.

“I thought it was the right time,” he said. “It made sense for me personally.”

In 29 years as a head coach, including stops at Colorado State and Montana, the 62-year-old Morrill has won 613 games and made nine NCAA Tournament appearances. In 17 years at Utah State, he has a 395-150 record.

Rice was an assistant to Morrill during the 2004-05 season, when the Aggies won the Big West Conference tournament.

“I learned so much in that one season,” Rice said. “He’s a great man and a fabulous coach. He’s such a detail-oriented coach. He’s a guy who epitomizes preparation in practice correlating to success in games.”

Morrill has had several former assistants move on to head coaching jobs, but Rice is one of the few still active.

“I think the world of Dave,” Morrill said. “I’m always pulling for those guys, except when we play them.”

NOTES — Rice said freshman forward Goodluck Okonoboh, who missed Wednesday’s game with a foot injury, was able to practice Friday and is probable to play. Okonoboh is battling a painful case of plantar fasciitis. “I assume he will be available, but I don’t know who I’m going to start,” Rice said. … The Aggies defeated UNR 70-54 in Reno on Tuesday and have been in Las Vegas since Wednesday.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.