Utah State men to face Wyoming in first round of Mountain West tournament
The Utah State men’s basketball team will take on Wyoming in the first round of the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
The Aggies lost to the Cowboys in Laramie, 84-65, in their lone matchup this season. In that game, Wyoming knocked down 20 3-point shots, shattering the previous school record of 14.
“About half and half was them making tough shots and us not playing with the urgency needed to guard them effectively,” USU coach Tim Duryea said.
The Wyoming attack is led by first-team, all-conference guard Josh Adams. The senior leads the MW in scoring with 24.9 points per game on 45 percent shooting. He was named the conference’s Player of the Year by the coaches Tuesday.
“They are a tough matchup for us,” Duryea said. “They have a guy who is unguardable a lot of nights in Josh Adams and he has taken on a leadership role this year with a whole new supporting cast.”
The Cowboys lost six players from last season’s team, including forward Larry Nance Jr., who was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft.
That team made a surprising run through the MW tournament after defeating USU, 67-65, in the first round.
This season, Adams improved upon his third-team, all-conference finish a year ago by nearly doubling his per-game scoring average. He also increased his assists, rebounds, steals and improved his shooting percentage from the floor, the 3-point line and the free throw line.
Junior guard Jason McManamen, who averaged 14.1 points per game while shooting 46 percent from deep, joined Adams in receiving all-conference honors.
“McManamen has had a tremendous year and is almost as hard to guard (as Adams) in a different kind of way,” Duryea said. “He has the quickest release from 3 in the league and helps space the floor and gives Adams more room to operate.”
In the February matchup, McManamen scored 20 points with six made 3’s and Adams scored 19 points with five 3-pointers.
The Aggies responded to that loss by winning four of the team’s next six games, before ending the regular season with a disappointing 86-85 home loss to Fresno State.
“I had convinced myself that we were going to win that game,” Duryea said. “(It) was the most disappointing regular season loss that I can remember in 10 or 11 years.”
Utah State led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but a number of turnovers and defensive lapses allowed Fresno State to get back in the game.
Still, the Aggies have an opportunity to put a frustrating season behind them Wednesday morning.
“We try to compartmentalize our season into the preseason, conference season and then the conference tournament,” Duryea said. “The thing I don’t want to lose track of is that we are still playing really well.”
USU senior guard Chris Smith and junior wing Jalen Moore were each voted to the all-Mountain West third team this season. Smith led the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 45 percent from deep. Moore averaged 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
The Aggies and Cowboys square off at noon Mountain time. The winner will face top-seeded San Diego State on Thursday.
– thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @tomcat340