I saw Nate Bendall after Utah State had finished watching where it would go on Selection Sunday.

My statement to him? "You're playing like a guy who knows his career is a few losses away from ending."

Bendall smiled and nodded.

Simply put, Bendall, Utah State's 6-9 center, is playing his best basketball of the season. He's rebounding, he's scoring, he's blocking shots and he's finishing in the paint, all things that he's struggled with this season because of his chronic foot condition.

Bendall, for the first time this season, looks like the Nate Bendall of last year, when he was on the all-newcomer team for the Western Athletic Conference.

It's a good thing too: Bendall will probably draw the assignment of either Jamar Samuels or Curtis Kelly when Utah State plays against Kansas State on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"If I talk about Nate Bendall, I'm liable to cry," Aggies head coach Stew Morrill said. "He shouldn't even be playing, but somehow he's played and he's made an impact for us. He's a great individual."

Tony Jones