Aggies fall to Cougars 67-64 in home opener
Utah State men’s basketball made a second half surge against in-state rival BYU, but it all came for naught as the Cougars held on to take down the Aggies 67-64 in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on a Saturday evening.
BYU entered the half with a 39-29 lead thanks to a strong finish to the second portion of the opening 20 minutes. The visitors closed the first half by going 10 of 19 from the field including 3 of 6 from deep. The hosting Aggies, on the other hand, finished the half with just three field goals in the final nine minutes and six turnovers in the span.
“At the end of the day, our first half just wasn’t good enough,” said assistant coach Eric Peterson.
Peterson, who subbed in as head coach while Craig Smith is unavailable due to a positive COVID-19 test, said in the same breath that the second half was something he was proud of. During the halftime break, Peterson said they talked a lot about sharing the basketball more.
”It felt like to start the game we got to the rim off one or no passes. Our mindset was just like ‘oh this is easy.’ And what we ended up starting doing was not passing the ball in the first half,” he said.
The renewed emphasis on sharing the ball fueled the much improved second half, which started on a mini 5-0 run by the Aggies, on a 3-pointer by Brock Miller and a layup by Marco Anthony. Anthony scored 10 of his 17 overall points in the second half, going 3 of 4 from the field. Freshman guard Rollie Worster jumped in on the second half action as well with 11 of his 15 points coming in the final 20 minutes.
The big run that flipped the game from a comfortable BYU win into a thriller started at the 10:32 mark. Over the next roughly six minutes, the Aggies went on a 14-3 run spanning nearly six minutes. That set the stage: 60-60, tie game, 4:53 on the clock.
The first few possessions did little to break the deadlock. BYU center Matt Haarms went 1 for 2 on a trip to the free throw line and USU center Neemias Queta did the same one possession later.
So it was at 61-all, now with one minute on the clock, when BYU sank a decisive shot, one that dictated the final 57 seconds of the game. Freshman forward Caleb Lohner whipped a pass out to a wide-open Connor Harding in the corner who proceeded to make the devastating triple.
For the final minute, Utah State had to play the intentional foul game. They caught a break when Alex Barcello missed the front end of a pair of free throws which meant the Aggies were only down two, 65-63. Worster had a chance to tie it up with his own free throws, but he missed the back end of his pair. The Aggies got one more chance but Worster missed a long triple off the left side of the rim.
Prior to BYU’s 3-point dagger, Utah State had plenty of chances to put themselves ahead. For nearly three minutes, the Aggies would get a stop on defense and then seemingly every time miss an open look on the other end. Worster missed a wide-open look from deep from the left wing. Sean Bairstow missed from nearly the same spot. Queta missed two shots in the post. The final minutes were an exercise in futility on offense.
“We were just missing shots,” Anthony said. “I felt like all the shots that we took were good, were great shots. Unfortunately they just didn’t go into the basket and that happens sometimes and that’s where really have to lock in to the defensive end.”
“We had some really good looks at the basket. I thought those guys had great opportunities,” Peterson said. “The margin for error is just so small. When you get those opportunities, you’ve got to score, you’ve got to go get that thing.”
Among the missed opportunities that Peterson pointed out were free throws. The Aggies missed nine in the game, five by Queta alone and another three from Anthony.
The loss drops the Aggies further below .500, now at 1-3 overall on the season. This season is the only time during Smith’s tenure that Utah State has spent time with a losing record on the season. However, Anthony held a positive mindset going forward after this loss.
“Sure, we’re hurt. We’re hurt because we lost. But we see the positives in it as well,” Anthony said.
One of the main positives likely comes in the defensive effort. Utah State entered the game in the 3rd percentile in points allowed per possession in the NCAA at 1.035. The mere 67 points allowed (and 0.905 PPP mark that came with it) showed significant improvement, especially as it came against a Cougar squad averaging 80.6 points per game.
Queta finished the game with a team-leading 18 points, eight rebounds plus four steals. Justin Bean had 13 total rebounds, six coming on the offensive end but also had just six points on 1 of 5 shooting. Worster led the team with five assists.
The team’s next game will be another home contest as the Aggies will host the College of Idaho on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.
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—sports@usustatesman.com