Aggies eye revenge against Aztecs
With a crucial battle against Nevada quickly approaching, Utah State must first take care of business against red-hot San Diego State.
The Aztecs will enter the contest on a five-game winning streak, the longest current streak in the Mountain West. The run includes victories over Nevada and Utah State. In SDSU’s win over USU back on Feb. 9, the Aggies had a monumental first-half meltdown, giving up a 23-0 run which flipped an 18-8 USU lead into a 31-18 SDSU lead. It was a run that turned the tide of the came completely.
“When (San Diego State) made that run we made some silly, costly turnovers,” USU head coach Craig Smith said. “We dribbled off our foot. We threw it to Sam (Merrill) when he wasn’t open against the press. We missed some wide open shots. We took some quick ones too. When you take quick ones and miss, that leads the other way for some easy ones and that is what happened.”
Sam Merrill helped the team with the initial recovery, going on a personal 12-2 run, and Utah State kept the game close for the majority of the game but ultimately ceded the win to the Aztecs. The loss ended USU’s season-best seven game win streak and kick-started SDSU’s current winning stretch.
Paving the way on that run has been senior point guard Devin Watson. He has averaged 18.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his team’s last five games. This past week, Watson won Mountain West Player of the Week in part for his 15-point, eight assist outing in the Aztecs’ win over Nevada.
“Watson is an elite point guard,” Smith said. “He is just dynamic, explosive, quick and can shoot the three from anywhere at any time.”
Against the Aggies on Feb. 9, Watson scored 23 points, mostly thanks to going 11 of 14 from the free throw line.
Smith said the memory of that loss half of a month ago is still clear in the minds of his staff and players.
“Our guys are very hungry,” Smith said. “Our guys remember that game vividly, things that we did well and a few things that we didn’t do so well.”
Playing at home will likely help the Aggies. In 13 home games, Utah State has lost just one time (by one point) and is averaging 82.7 points at the Spectrum while allowing only 61.5. The Aztecs meanwhile, have been a poor road team, going 5-7 away from Viejas Arena with an average point differential of -6.6.
Utah State may have its highest attendance of the year Tuesday. As of Monday evening, only about 1,000 tickets remained unsold (maximum capacity for the Spectrum is 10,270). Were the entire student section to be filled, that would put attendance around 9,000, a mark that would set a new season high, beating out the 8,412 for the home conference opener against Air Force.
San Diego State is a perfect 11-0 against Utah State since the latter joined the Mountain West and lead the all-time series 11-3.
Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m. Fans can watch the game on CBS Sports Network or listen via radio on 1280 and 97.5 The Zone in the Salt Lake City area or 92.3 KBLU-LP Logan in the Cache Valley area.