SACRAMENTO (ABC4 Sports) – There are many reasons why Utah State is back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years, and the Hurd is a big reason why.
The Aggies are hoping their rambunctious student section makes the trip to Sacramento to watch their team try to end a 22-year NCAA Tournament winless streak against Missouri.
“They’re the best fans I’ve played for,” said forward Dan Akin. “I’ve been at three different schools, and they’ve been the best fans. The Hurd is amazing. Every night we know we’re basically going to have a sixth man out there with us, so it’s been great.”
“The Utah State fans are like family,” said guard Steven Ashworth. “I think that’s the best way to describe it. Cache Valley is really tight-knit and really close. Everybody cares about the university of there and cares about our success. We take pride in the fact that our success is their success.”
One of the reasons why Taylor Funk transferred to Utah State was the devoted fan base in Logan.
“I think they’re a really big reason why they get players to come to Utah State,” Funk said. “Every single night and every game, the Spectrum is jumping.”
The Utah State student section actually does research. They pass out information sheets on opposing players about their girlfriends, how they’re doing in classes, their past schools. It gets deep, and it’s big reason why the Aggies were 14-2 at home this year.
“They do their research and find out what they can say to get under people’s skin,” said center Trevin Dorius. “They’re always just, ‘welcome to hell’ and the end of our introductions.”
Seeing how Logan is a mere 685 miles from Sacramento, and Columbia Missouri is over 1,800 miles away, there should be more Utah State fans at the game tomorrow.
“Hopefully they can make the trip down to Salt Lake, and then the quick direct flight to Sacramento,” Ashworth said. “It’s closer than Columbia, Missouri.”
“Logan, Utah is synonymous with Utah State,” Dorius said. “They live for it, they die for it, they’re always there at the games. We’ve got one of the best student sections in the country. It gets loud, it gest rowdy, and I don’t want to be on the wrong end of any of those guys.”
Utah State and Missouri will tip off at 11:40 a.m. Thursday in Sacramento.