Aggies prepare for tough contest against UNLV
After surviving The Pit and taking down the Spartans within the past week, Utah State continues its grueling run through conference play Saturday afternoon, playing host to UNLV.
“We are in the gauntlet. UNLV is so rich in tradition, they are the fifth-winningest program in the history of college basketball,” said Utah State head coach Craig Smith.
The Runnin’ Rebels are 11-9 on the season, 5-3 in conference play, fourth in the Mountain West and are coming off two-straight losses. UNLV’s record may be somewhat misleading, however, as it leads the league in points per game and three point shooting percentage since the start of league play. One of Rebels’ strengths offensively is not having to rely on one scorer to lead its attack. Freshman forward Joel Ntambwe is UNLV’s only top-ten scorer in the conference, but he’s just one of three Rebels currently in the top 25.
“They are guys who make plays off of the bounce and can both shoot it,” Smith said. “When you look at their assist-to-turnover ratio, Hardy has 45 assists to 13 turnovers, and Robotham has 55 assists to 13 turnovers in league play. Those are some pretty salty numbers when you put that together.”
Another strength of UNLV’s is their superb offensive rebounding.
“They are No. 2 in the country in offensive rebounding,” Smith said. “Sometimes you say they are a good offensive rebounding team because they miss a lot, but that is not the case with these guys. They get 40 percent of their missed shots. That is borderline unheard of.”
As for Utah State, the Aggies continue to play well under their first-year head coach, featuring a 6-2 record in conference play, the best start since joining the Mountain West in 2013. Over Utah State’s five-game winning streak, the Aggies are averaging 82 points per game and beating opponents by an average of 16.2 points per contest.
Junior guard Sam Merrill continues to be the Aggies’ primary scorer and distributor, having a career year in nearly every statistical category. Merrill brings his 18.9 points per game average into the contest with UNLV, as well as a team-high 5.3 assists in conference play.
While Merrill may lead the team in assists, the addition of sophomore guard Abel Porter into the starting lineup has been a catalyst for this Aggie team over the past three games. Porter is the type of point guard who enjoys getting his teammates involved first and foremost.
“I like to think that when I’m in the game I can control a little better,” Porter said. “Of course we have lots of smart players on the team, but just applying the game plan and being able to see things and kind of be the coach on the court are some of the things I do.”
Utah State had a season-best performance last time out against San Jose State, and will need to have a similar level of execution to get a win and keep itself near the top of the Mountain West standings. Utah State is currently tied for second place in the league with Fresno State, just behind eighth-ranked Nevada.
“This will be a really good test to see where we stand in the Mountain West at this time,” Smith said. “We still have 10 games left, so you don’t want to make it a bigger deal than it is, but our guys have been playing all year with expectations and that is the beauty of it in the way we’ve approached it. All games have mattered for us.”
Today’s contest tips off at 2:30 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Twitter: @dren_sports