Men’s basketball looking to find its footing under net

The Utah State University men’s basketball team is trying to get a handle on how to make up for sophomore center Neemias Queta’s absence on the court.

“It’s an adjustment… not having Neemi,” head coach Craig Smith said. “We got to get Kuba [Karwowski] caught up to speed… and all of our big guys on what we’re trying to do.” 

The Aggies have no shortage of height on their roster, with seven players besides Queta measuring 6’7” or taller. During Tuesday night’s game against Montana State, Smith tried several different players under the net and even resorted to playing a bit of small ball in the last several minutes.

“It’s a process,” senior guard Sam Merrill said. “I know everyone has high expectations but we’re going to have to grow, because we do have so many new guys that need to play big minutes, especially with Neemi out… we’ve got to learn, as veterans, to try and push them through as quickly as we can but also be patient.”

In the first half, redshirt freshman center Trevin Dorius saw the court for five minutes. But ultimately, Smith opted to go with junior center Karwowski for the majority of the game. The 7’2 junior is the tallest man on Utah State’s roster.

“I thought Kuba gave us some really good minutes, especially after he got his first couple runs out of the way where the game started maybe slowing down for him and he just kind of settled in,” Smith said. “Obviously he didn’t score, but he had four blocked shots and just kind of really anchored us, especially that second half.”

Three of Karwowski’s blocks occurred within the short span of two seconds. The junior also recorded five rebounds and one assist.

Going the small route

The Aggies opted to go small for the majority of the second half, subbing out Karwowski for junior guard Alphonso Anderson.

“I just felt like Phons playing some small ball with their lineups could maybe space the floor for us,” Smith said. “Now we lose some rim protection with that but it’s just kind of a feel of the game… it was a gut feeling more than anything.”

Anderson proved to be a key player for Utah State men’s basketball, pulling down four defensive boards and getting to the line eight times to knock down crucial free throws at a time when the Aggies and Bobcats were trading off the lead on almost every possession. 

“Those are the types of guys we need on our team so credit to him cuz he really basically saved us there at the end,” Merrill said.

Anderson finished the game with a total of 13 points, six rebounds and one steal.

This was not enough, as the reigning Mountain West champs continued to struggle against their Big Sky opponents, who fought to the final buzzer. Montana State’s quick-cutting, sharp-shooting offense was a challenge for the Aggies, especially with senior guard Harald Frey who recorded 34 points.

Queta’s return unknown

“We just got to be very, very assignment-sound,” Merrill said, “because [Neemi] can cover up a lot of mistakes and I think Kuba could do that as well with his size and length but we’ve to be much better guarding the ball… I think it was a pretty good start with clearly plenty to work on.”

When Utah State will see the return of its Portuguese giant still remains uncertain. Queta warmed up with the team on Tuesday, but by tipoff he was back in street clothes. Smith says he still does not know when Queta will return from his injury. 

Utah State men’s basketball is back in action this Friday at 7 P.M. in the Spectrum, where they take on Weber State University.