Aggies down Spartans, win fifth straight
The sequel to the Jan. 16 matchup between Utah State and San Jose State men’s basketball teams went just about the same as the first game. The Aggies (16-5, 6-2 Mountain West) started slow but turned it on midway through the first half to cruise to a 103-73 win at home.
While San Jose State (3-17, 0-8) didn’t open the game with a 24-9 advantage, they did hold their own against Utah State for the first eight minutes. The blue-clad visitors took advantage of some of the looks they saw two weeks ago when USU visited Northern California.
“When you play twice in two weeks, everything’s pretty fresh in your head,” said USU head coach Craig Smith. “They did a really good job with their gameplan, creating some easy things that way.”
The Spartan party only lasted so long, however. After a Michael Steadman layup put SJSU within three points at 19-16 with 12:09 left in the first half, Utah State went on an 11-2 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes. In that span the Spartans made zero field goals, going 0 for 7, and committed four turnovers. By halftime, the Aggies had a 18-point lead.
“There was a time where I think we had 13 straight stops in the first half,” senior forward Quinn Taylor said. “We know we have to pick up the defensive intensity the whole game. But overall it was a great game.”
On the offensive end, several players contributed momentum-building plays that complimented the defensive effort — such as Abel Porter’s steal and bucket after an inbound and a flying dunk by Neemias Queta. But it was Junior Sam Merrill that had the biggest impact with several huge plays.
Merrill had a pair of improbable 3-pointers, the first saw him sink one while falling away into the baseline in the corner at the end of the shot clock. The second came at the end of the half with him making a buzzer-beater at the end of the half. That shot capped a 14-point individual performance for the 6-foot-5 guard and a 51-point half for the Aggies
Having Merrill put together a quality offensive performance could be a major boon for the Aggies. The junior had seen his efficiency and scoring drop after the start of league play. In non-conference, Merrill was a member of the 50/40/90 club (50 percent shooting overall, 40 percent on threes, 90 on free throws).
Since then, at least prior to Wednesday, Merrill’s scoring went from 19.7 to 17.4 and his field goal percentage fall from 50.6 to 43.2. His 3-point shooting experienced a worse drop, going from 40.8 percent to 30.
“I’ve been a little frustrated with the way I’ve been shooting it from three,” Merrill said. “So I’ve been putting in a little extra work and I shot it a little better tonight.”
Merrill finished the game with 29 points on 8 of 13 shooting and 5 of 9 from deep. He also had eight assists.
“It’s pretty relieving,” Merrill said of having an efficient night shooting. “I put a lot of expectations on myself so to be able to finally come out and hit some shots, it definitely felt good.”
Once in the second half, the Aggies continued much of the same dominance, outscoring SJSU 52-40, mostly on the strength of 20 second-half free throw attempts of which USU made 18.
The Aggies finished the game shooting 35 of 72 from the field — 48.6 percent, the fourth time in eight conference games that the team has made more than 48 percent of its shots.
USU freshman guard Tauriawn Knight dribbles the ball late in the second half against SJSU.
“Offensively, I thought we were really grooving,” Smith said. “We were really passing the ball, 28 assists to eight turnovers really stands out. That’s what we’ve been doing lately. The last five or six games we’ve been really passing it and getting into some easy baskets.”
Taylor led the team in assists with nine and he flirted with a triple double by adding eight points and eight rebounds.
“When you have a 6-foot-8, 240-pounder that can get nine assists, that speaks a lot to Quinn,” Smith said. “But also a lot to our guys and the chemistry we have.”
“I kind of lucked out with who I was passing to,” Taylor said. “It’s easy to get assists when you’re passing to (Queta) down low who can score on anyone or Sam who’s a great shooter.”
Queta finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, completing his fourth double-double of the season and notching his 10th game with three or more blocks. The freshman center is now three blocks short of the freshman record of 56. His current total of 53 is already fifth all-time in a single season.
Utah State has now won its last five games and have the best start in league play since joining the Mountain West in 2013. The team will face UNLV on Saturday at 2:30. The Rebels are tied for fourth in the conference standings with a 5-3 record.