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After Utah State opened its Mountain West Conference season with a 61-33 win over San Jose State, coach Stew Morrill was almost apologetic.

"I feel bad for them — the situation they're in," he said. "… With their depleted roster, we should win going away and we did."

On New Year's Eve, the Aggies overpowered the suspension-riddled, injury-plagued Spartans, who seven weeks later find themselves on the threshold of the school's worst season in history.

Heading into Wednesday night's rematch with Utah State at the Event Center in San Jose, the Spartans are 2-22 overall and 0-12 in the Mountain West Conference. Their last Division I win came exactly one year ago. On Feb. 18, 2014, they defeated Nevada, 66-64.

"I've never gone through anything like this, in all my years," said coach Dave Wojcik. "I've been part of a team that's gotten hurt. I've been part of a team that had to dismiss a guy. But never a combination of it all. But it's like I tell the kids. That's life. It's not fair sometimes. It's going to throw a curveball at you. But you have to continue on."

Like Utah State, San Jose jumped from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West two years ago.

Unlike the Aggies, the Spartans are struggling to be competitive.

Since the start of the 2013-14 season, San Jose is 9-46 overall and 1-29 in league play. Twenty-three of those 29 defeats were by 10 points or more. This year, the Spartans lost by 50 at Boise State.

After a 54-38 loss to Seattle on Dec. 13, Wojcik announced five players had been suspended for violating team rules. The group included his top four scorers — Rashad Muhammad, Jaleel Williams, Jordan Baker and Frank Rogers.

With starting point guard Jalen James (ankle) and freshman center Leon Bahner (foot) already sidelined for the season, San Jose State became a shell of the team Wojcik planned to put on the court.

The manpower situation became so acute that two football players — Tyler Winston and Andrew Vollert — briefly joined the basketball team.

Eventually, Muhammad and Williams were reinstated, but Baker and Rogers were dismissed from the program and Matt Pollard, the fifth suspended player, has transferred.

"Personally," Wojcik said, "I've tried to stay positive all year. I have that responsibility to the guys in our program. When we recruited them, we told them we were going to make them a better person and a better basketball player. That's what we're going to do."

In this week's RPI rankings, the Spartans are 337th out of 351 programs, according to the NCAA. They seem to be improving, however. San Jose State is coming off a 60-57 loss to Nevada.

"One thing is my teams are always going to compete, play hard and not quit until the final horn," Wojcik said. "And we have gotten better. It's just unfortunate we have eight guys and, frankly, a lot of them weren't expected to play these minutes. … But it will pay off. You've got to go through tough times to get to the good times." —

USU at San Jose State

At the Event Center,

San Jose, Calif.

Tip-off • 8 p.m.

TV • ROOT

Radio • 610 AM, 1280 AM, 95.9 FM, 102.1 FM

Records • Utah State 14-10, 7-5; San Jose State 2-22, 0-12

Series • Utah State, 54-21

Last meeting • Utah State, 61-33 (Dec. 31)

About the Aggies • They are 5-6 on the road. … They come off a 75-62 win over Nevada. They shot 59.5 percent, including 9-for-16 on 3-pointers. … Their leading scorers are F Jalen Moore (15.7), G Chris Smith (12.3) and C/F David Collette (11.4). … Coach Stew Morrill needs two wins to reach 400 in 17 seasons at USU.

About the Spartans • Have lost 14 straight games, going back to a 74-63 win over St. Katherine on Dec. 9. … They come off a 77-60 loss at Wyoming. … Shoot 35.5 percent from the field, including 28 percent from the 3-point line.