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Logan • A night that featured an Aggie alumni reunion, a Stew Morrill lookalike contest and multiple presentations to Utah State's departing basketball coach simply was not supposed to end this way.
Not with a turnover right in front of the Aggie bench in the last four seconds, with the home team trying to force overtime. Not with Morrill leaning back in his chair, rubbing his face in a mixture of disgust and disbelief. Not with USU giving away a nine-point lead in the second half of Saturday night's 75-70 loss to Colorado State at the Spectrum.
After all the nice tributes, the celebration of USU's hoop history and the current players' inspired bid to send their coach into retirement with a victory, CSU flipped the script in Morrill's last scheduled home game after 17 years on the job. The Aggies produced "some pretty dumb plays down the stretch … a comedy of errors," by their coach's account.
That's certainly not what anyone had in mind. "We wanted to send him out on a good note," said junior guard Chris Smith.
Instead, the Rams showed more poise in the last minute, after Darius Perkins' 3-pointer gave the Aggies a 68-67 lead. CSU's parting gift was Morrill's 32nd defeat (compared with 248 wins) in this building, spoiling the end of a regular season that included some of his best work.
"They're good kids; I've said that all year long," Morrill said, softening after his initial criticism in the postgame interview. "I couldn't have asked for a better group to finish my career with."
Nobody's sure if this really was the end of Morrill's coaching era in the Spectrum. After playing in the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas, the Aggies (18-12, 11-7) could stage another home game or two in a postseason tournament before he moves out of his office in the nearby Wayne Estes Center. Or maybe his next public appearance will be USU's commencement in May, when he's booked for a headlining speech.
So he'll have the last word in the Spectrum, anyway, after a game that failed to deliver a proper ending. Until the last-minute breakdowns, the Aggies were positioning themselves for a nice finish to a rewarding conference season.
Morrill clearly has enjoyed this team. He's probably delivered more compliments to these guys than any previous team, partly as a sign of his mellowing as he nears the finish line and partly because they've overachieved in the classic Morrill tradition.
In early January, when Morrill announced his retirement plans, I viewed his departure as a case of good timing. That's exactly how it has turned out, although not for the reasons I suggested. I wondered if his programmed system ever would have worked with the kind of recruits required to compete in the Mountain West, concluding, "Maybe it's best that we won't find out."
Well, we found out. It can work. The next coach will benefit from the work of Morrill and his assistants, who have assembled a team with some promise.
Even if Saturday's occasion will be memorable partly for the wrong reasons, this was a worthwhile observance of USU's proud basketball tradition and Morrill's contribution to it. More than 50 players from the past 60-plus years reunited. Teammates of the legendary Wayne Estes, who died during his senior season 50 years ago, joined many of Morrill's players, along with former USU coaches Ladell Andersen, Dutch Belnap and Rod Tueller - plus CSU's Larry Eustachy, who preceded Morrill in Logan.
USU's students awarded Morrill a framed suit jacket, with his name and No. 17 on the back. His bosses awarded him a framed No. 40 jersey, signifying his 40 years an assistant and head coach at various schools - including Colorado State.
"It's an emotional thing," Morrill said, "but then the game starts and away you go."
In the buildup to the game, the Provo native repeated his often-used quote about how he "didn't come home to Utah to fail."
Nobody would ever say that happened, regardless of Saturday's outcome.
Twitter: @tribkurt