Your Wednesday WAC roundup

Doing our duty, here are links to Chris Murray's articles on Nevada's loss to UTEP:

Here (game report)

Here (quote collection)

Jason Groves provides a McKinley Boston interview on the Aggie season:

NMSU Athletics Director McKinley Boston pleased with progress of Aggie men's basketball program
Jason Groves
Las Cruces Sun-News
3/18/2009

LAS CRUCES — The New Mexico State men's basketball team failed to reach the postseason for the second consecutive season, falling in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.

NMSU Athletics Director McKinley Boston isn't demanding a return to postseason play next year, but expectations will be high for Marvin Menzies' third year as head coach.

"I don't think they need to but am I expecting to be competitive and compete for a league championship? The answer is, yes," Boston said. "There are too many variables that can impact winning and losing and some are not of your own making..."

Go here for the remainder.

Jared Eborn offers a take on the Nevada students emulating (is there any other word that is more appropriate?) The Spectrum-ites with a major shout-out to The Refraction:

The Refraction - Wolf Pack style
Jared Eborn
Deseret News
March 18, 2009

Students at Utah State are, in their own self-descriptive words a "cold-blooded wrecking machine" when it comes to getting organized and coordinated in their effort to be the Sixth Man at the Spectrum.

An unofficial game-day program called The Refraction is published before each home game and includes background on opposing players, coaches and even mascots if deemed appropriate. The Refraction has been mentioned on ESPN.com, local newspapers and several Internet sites.

It's humorous and satirical, but generally pretty tame but does occasionally pack a punch when a visiting player has a criminal rap sheet.

Last Saturday at Nevada's Lawlor Events Center the Wolf Pack students made an attempt to counter-balance the Aggie student section and produced their own sheet of instructions to get the jeering organized...

Go here for the remainder.

This is simply an amazing accomplishment. Breaking the rhythm of the Aggies is a Herculean task:

USU leads nation in shooting
Jared Eborn
Deseret News
March 18, 2009

Utah State might not play above the rim, but the Aggies sure know how to fill it.

For the second season in a row, USU is the nation's top field goal shooting team. The Aggies are making 49.8 percent of their shots this year.

"That's a product of the system we run," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said.

Though sandbagging a little bit, Morrill said a program like USU's does not have the same "athletic" players many schools in power conferences do.

Instead, he said, the Aggies rely on precision and execution...

Go here for the remainder.