Aggies drop close game against Nevada
A blocked shot and a sloppy turnover sealed the deal as the Utah State men’s basketball team lost to Nevada 73-68 on Wednesday.
“It’s maddening, frustrating, it is the same narrative,” said USU coach Tim Duryea. “I give them a ton of credit for bouncing back and continuing to put themselves in a position to win. They do it time after time, but we can always look back and in this game there were just too many transition baskets in the second half which led to the high field goal percentage.”
The loss dropped the Aggies to 5-10 in Mountain West play and 13-13 overall.
Trailing 69-68 with less than 40 seconds left in the game, junior forward Jalen Moore caught the ball in the left corner and drove to the basket for a layup. He was met in the air by Nevada forward Oliver Cameron for an emphatic block.
The next possession, with USU trailing by three points, junior guard Shane Rector’s pass was intercepted as he tried to bounce the ball to senior Chris Smith.
The offense struggled at times throughout the game, as the Aggies shot just 38 percent from the floor and 27 percent from deep. Utah State was also out-rebounded, 39-33.
“Our ball didn’t go in for a while and we can’t go into a defensive funk,” Duryea said. “I thought that is what happened for quite a while in the second half and then we rallied. We had the ball with a chance to lead or go up or tie, or whatever the case may be, but we haven’t had any luck in making that decisive play.”
Utah State opened the game on a 12-3 run and led by as much as 11 in the first half. Junior forward Lew Evans was aggressive early, scoring eight of the team’s first 12 points. He finished the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
A jump shot by senior guard Darius Perkins put the Aggies up by nine less than a minute into the second half, but three layups and a 3-point shot during the next three minutes leveled the score for Nevada.
The Aggies briefly retook the lead after free throws by Rector, but Nevada guard Tyron Criswell tied the game again the next possession. The score was tied once again later at 46-46, but USU did not lead the rest of the game.
Criswell, who averaged 10.8 points and 5.9 rebounds coming into the game, dominated USU with 23 points and 16 rebounds.
Moore led the Aggies with 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.
Smith and Rector each scored in double-digits with 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Perkins added seven points.
The next game for the Aggies will be Saturday at 7 p.m. as they take on San Jose State in the Spectrum.
– thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @tomcat340