Utah State head men's basketball coach Craig Smith addressed the media on Tuesday in preparation for the Aggies' road contest at BYU on Wednesday, Dec. 5. The complete transcript of the press conference can be found below.
 
On BYU:
"They're a good team, obviously they are in a little bit of a slump right now. They lost three in a row and you go on streaks like that. Dave Rose is a legendary coach and that program has won 20 games in 13 straight seasons. They have a rich tradition of excellence in men's basketball. They have one of the best home courts in the country in the Marriott Center. I remember being an assistant at Colorado State going into that place and that was at the height of Jimmer mania and that whole crew and it was daunting to say the least. We've struggled there. We haven't won there in 14 years in 2004 and when we think to back 14 years ago, I can't even remember what I was doing, so it's been a long time and we've lost the last nine out of 11 against these guys and six straight.  We got to take care of business and control what we can control and understand what we're getting into because we know they are going to be an incredibly hungry team and they'll be a different team with the addition of the (Nick) Emery kid and that throws in a whole other element. Obviously, he hasn't played the first 9 games this year and didn't play last year so for us being new we are trying to do our best guess on how they're going to be and how they're going to use him. He's currently a heck of a player and he started at 33 games two years ago and will definitely bring them another guy that brings a scoring punch and experience to the table. We are excited for the challenge."
 
On BYU's poor 3-point shooting, but Nick Emery's ability to shoot the three:
"We've definitely been watching the nightmares of him, watching the clip of the highlight reel of what he can do. He's like the microwave. He can get it going in a hurry and when you combine him with (TJ) Haws and obviously (Yoeli) Childs can do everything out there and it's just one of those things. Basketball is such a momentum and it's amazing the ebbs and flows throughout a season specifically shooting and they're in just one of the funks. They've got plenty of good shooters out there, they just haven't been going in and it is just part of how it goes. I think they are shooting 28.4 from the three and that's an anomaly and its our job to hopefully not let them get out of that streak this game cause it's just a matter of time before they do."
 
On BYU's Yoeli Childs:
 "There's not much he can't do. He can score at all three levels he can score with his back to the basket, he can get you deep, he can finish it at all different awkward angles like high off the glass or around the basket. He's an excellent rebounder. He's got a great mid-range game in terms of he can face you up and shoot it without dribbling it, but then he can take it off the bounce and have a pull up J and a floater game and then he can shoot the three as well. He's a big guy, he's stuck together thick and he's tall at 6-8, 225. He's got a high release, so he can do so many different things. Everyone talks about how he scores and rebounds and he does both of those at a high level. He's an excellent passer as well. He creates a lot of issues for your opponents because what are you willing to live with because he will score so how are you going make him score and who will you have guard him is also another issue. They put you in a lot of different sports offensively where you have to be really good and execute what you're doing because of his ability to cause so many mismatches that way. Their last game they score 103 points and two games prior to that they score 89 points, so they are putting a lot of points on the board and hopefully your just able to minimize the damage the best you can do."
 
On if the scoring is because of a lack of defense by BYU:
"It's a fine line because they're playing high-possession games. When you look back the last couple of years, they've definitely playing a little more grind-it-out and now they're back to the BYU of what is was a few years back so they're playing like crazy high-possession games. They were up 14 at Illinois state in the second half and then they kind of went into one of those funks and they started giving up points and the other team started drilling in those 3's that way. I think it's been a little bit of both. The margins have been so close, and they've played good teams. They're 5-1 at home with their one loss to Houston who could easily be a sweet-16 team this year. We've got to do what our calling card is and that's defend and rebound. If we do that, I think we will have a chance to win in a hostile environment. "
 
On Utah State's ability to win on the road:
"Our guys have taken pride in playing well on the road. We've talked a lot about it and last year when we only won two games on the road and I'm not sure how many we won the year before that on the road and it might have been less. We've talked about what it takes to win on the road and having the right mindset. When you're on the road a lot you have to win by 10 to win by one. With outside influences you can't worry about those. All we can do is to control what we can control. We left the team after practice saying, 'control the controllables.' When you look back at the season, these guys have rich tradition and tradition can really carry you on through tough times, but the good thing for us is we have a great tradition as well and we've played teams with great traditions. Saint Mary's has a very good tradition and we found a way to win that game. With Arizona State, it won't be like this magnitude in terms of a neutral- court game, but I truly believe that game will help us in this game. In terms of the speed and the back-against-the-wall mentality and what we kind of had to go through in that game. Northern Iowa has a very good tradition and a true win at UC Irvine against a very good basketball team. That's why you play a tough non-conference schedule for game like these and opportunities for these as we're playing with a lot of confidence right now and hopefully, we can keep that going here throughout the year."
 
On the rivalry between BYU and Utah State:
"It's a great game for everyone involved. I think it's a great game for our players and it's great for their players, it's great for our fans and it's great for their fans. It's a great thing for the state of Utah and hopefully we can keep this thing going and even bring it up where everybody is getting after it that way because I think its healthy and I think it's a great college experience. You look around the country and you see less and less non-conference opponents that are 'rivals' playing rivalry games home and away. It's getting to be where everyone wants to play neutral site and what have you and this team ducking that team and so on and so forth. I think it's incredibly important to do that in playing these types of games. Some coaches would shy away from the whole rivalry thing and poo-poo it that it's just another game. It counts as another game, but it means more than that for so many involved. Our coaching staff and I and new players have been here a short amount of time, but you can't run away from it. It's always surrounding you whether its social media or boosters on the golf course. All they want to know about is 'are you going to bet BYU?' It's a fun thing and it's a great part of college athletics and I think it's a really healthy thing for everyone involved."
 
How the team methodically seems to grind other teams down right now:
"Basketball is a 40-minute game and there's a lot of possessions and you have to value possessions. I think it starts with our guys, we have great leadership within our program and within our players. Our guys have really understood what we're looking for both defensively and offensively. I think the key is defensively we've said from day one that we have to finish, that means you have to finish possessions, you have to finish with two-handed rebounds and just control what we can control. There are going to be mistakes, there are things we will screw up, but let the one screw up be the one screw up and not two screw ups or three screw ups. Just control what you can control and our guys have done a great job with that and I think the biggest key is that we've bought into the defensive end. When you can find a way to get stop, stop, stop, stop, now you can be average on the offensive end and keep grinding and just keep chopping wood. When you are cutting down a tree, you don't chop it down with one big swipe. You just keep on chopping and eventually the tree will fall down. Our guys have had a business-like approach and have bought into the game planning aspect of things. When you have buy-in and great leadership from your upper classmen, usually everybody falls in line. I can't give them enough credit."
 
On the Utah State players crediting the USU coaching staff:
"It is a team effort. There is yin and yang. Overall, that is the culture of our program. Our guys have an attitude that craves improvement. Our assistants do a great job with skill development and game preparation. There is a lot of work that goes into it and I think our guys are seeing the results."
 
On if the rivalry game brings an added level of pride:
"It is really unique because Sam (Merrill) and Abel (Porter) played AAU with some of these guys. One of those guys was a high school teammate of Sam's. You have all these different dynamics. I saw it first-hand against Utah Valley when Crew Ainge's cousin was on the other team. There is definitely another level of pride and these guys know each other inside out and backwards. When I say that, it isn't just how they play and what they like to do, but it is their personality types and what kind of ice cream they like. There is a lot of pride at stake within schools, within families, within friendships, there is bragging rights over the summer when they are hanging out and eating dinner or lunch together. It is such a unique thing and anytime you get into these rivalries you see an in-state kid do something that they've never done before, in a positive way, where all of the sudden they rise to the occasion. I think it is because they are rising to the occasion that you are talking about. Maybe they will fight the extra mile because of all the other external things that are involved."