2002–03 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team represented Utah State University in the 2002–03 college basketball season. This was head coach Stew Morrill's 5th season at Utah State. The Aggies played their home games at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum and were members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 24–9, 12–6 to finish third in the regular season standings. They won the Big West tournament to earn an automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as No. 15 seed in the West Region. The Aggies fell to No. 2 seed and eventual National runner-up Kansas in the opening round.^[2]

2002–03 Utah State Aggies men's basketball
Big West tournament champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Big West Conference
Division	East
Record	24–9 (12–6 Big West)
Head coach	Stew Morrill (5th season)
Assistant coach	Randy Rahe (5th season)
Home arena	Smith Spectrum
Seasons ← 2001–02 2003–04 →

2002–03 Big West men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UC Santa Barbara	14	–	4		.778			18	–	14		.563
UC Irvine	13	–	5		.722			20	–	9		.690
Utah State†	12	–	6		.667			24	–	9		.727
Cal Poly	10	–	8		.556			16	–	14		.533
Idaho	9	–	9		.500			13	–	15		.464
Cal State Fullerton	8	–	10		.444			10	–	19		.345
Cal State Northridge	8	–	10		.444			14	–	15		.483
Pacific	7	–	11		.389			12	–	16		.429
UC Riverside	5	–	13		.278			6	–	18		.250
Long Beach State	4	–	14		.222			5	–	22		.185
† 2003 Big West tournament winner As of April 10, 2003[1] Rankings from AP poll

Roster

2002–03 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 2 Desmond Penigar 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Upland, California F 32 Spencer Nelson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Pocatello, Idaho	Head coach Stew Morrill Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Source^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 23, 2002*		at Illinois State	W 68–53	1–0	Redbird Arena  Normal, Illinois
Dec 14, 2002*		at BYU	L 56–66	5–2	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
Dec 17, 2002*		Utah	W 59–54	6–2	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum  Logan, Utah
Big West regular season
Mar 8, 2003		Pacific	W 75–70	21–8 (12–6)	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum  Logan, Utah
Big West tournament
Mar 13, 2003*		vs. Cal State Fullerton Quarterfinals	W 89–83 OT	22–8	Honda Center  Anaheim, California
Mar 14, 2003*		vs. UC Irvine Semifinals	W 62–55	23–8	Honda Center  Anaheim, California
Mar 15, 2003*		vs. Cal Poly Championship game	W 57–54	24–8	Honda Center  Anaheim, California
NCAA tournament
Mar 20, 2003* CBS	(15 MW)	vs. (2 MW) No. 6 Kansas First round	L 61–64	24–9	Ford Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Mountain.

Source^[4]