Senior night for the Utah State men’s basketball team on Friday brought what several members of the student section considered to be a revolution, of sorts.
Rising to the challenge issued by front-row fans to “take it back,” students lined up outside the
Spectrum hours before the Aggies tipped off against the University of Idaho in the final home game of the season.
Utah State’s three seniors were honored prior to the game, and the Aggies overcame a slow start to send the seniors off with a win in front of an unusually crowded student section.
“It was so nice to see the student section in full swing again,” said student Ricki Janes. “The games are the thing to do on campus. Everyone goes, everyone loves to cheer and be involved. It was nice to see the students back ready to be as loud and rowdy as ever.”
The “rowdy” students have garnered national attention for USU.
Nicknamed The HURD, Utah State’s student section is one of 16 student sections in the country in consideration for the Naismith Student Section of the year award, administered by the Collegiate Licensing Company. The HURD has also received national recognition from ESPN for its “I believe that we will win” and “Winning team, losing team” chants, as well as for the antics of “Wild” Bill Sproat and other students.
But fan passions were tester in November after Utah State administrators issued a public apology for their students’ behavior at a game against in-state rival Brigham Young University. Some students have said that put a damper on the environment at games.
“I think after the BYU incident a lot of students felt somewhat betrayed,” Janes said. “Now we feel like we are constantly being monitored and punished for things that nobody used to care about.”
University president Stan Albrecht disagrees. Albrecht said the notion that the apology letter affected the size of the student section was “blown out of proportion.”
“When the attacks become directed at single individuals, we step over the bounds of sportsmanship,” Albrecht said. “My only request to our students was to not focus attacks on individuals. We can do a great thing in the Spectrum without resorting to that kind of thing, and that was all I asked the students to do.”
USU’s all-time record at the Spectrum is 500-110 after the win against Idaho, and 206-17 under head coach Stew Morrill. According to Morrill, the crowd’s “Spectrum magic” is one factor that makes the Spectrum a difficult place to play for opponents.
When the Aggies fell behind 29-14 on Friday, students had little to cheer for. Senior guard Brockeith Pane then hit back-to-back 3-pointers during an 8-0 run by the Aggies run that cut the deficit to seven at halftime and gave the crowd some life.
In the second half, the student section recaptured the “Spectrum magic” in its entirety as the Aggies gained momentum.
Sophomore guard Preston Medlin scored a career-high 32 points for the Aggies — 27 in the second half alone — and fans fell victim to “Medlinsanity.” Utah State outscored Idaho 45-21 in the second half and the crowd’s energy grew with each basket.
“If I could describe it in one word, the game last night was just fun,” said Matt Sonnenberg, co-creator of the game-day student newsletter, “The Refraction” and Aggie alum. “The emotion of sending off the seniors and the roller coaster of the game, it felt like Aggie basketball, the kind of Aggie basketball we have had for the past decade and a half under Stew Morrill.”
Betsy Blanchard, Jason Borba, Taldon Bressel, Maggie Euller, Alicia Facer, Curtis Lundstrom and Amanda Taylor contributed to this report.
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