Aggies hold off foul trouble, Broncos, to win fifth game in six outings
The Utah State University men’s basketball team entered the Spectrum on Saturday night looking to avenge last month’s fall-apart loss to the Boise State Broncos.
And despite going 2 for 19 from three and having three players get into foul trouble, the Aggies managed to walk away with a win 70-61.
The game got off to a pretty quick start for Utah State, by halftime the team held a 35-24 lead and were out rebounding the Broncos 24-15.
But when senior guard Sam Merrill picked up his fourth foul just 40 seconds into the second half, Boise State would use the 13 minutes without Merrill on the court to come within five points of the Aggies. Even still, Utah State was able to withstand the Broncos onslaught with the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year sitting on the bench.
“Coach Smith and one of our other assistants just brought us in and just said, ‘Hey, we all need to be players now and we need to pick up the slack,” sophomore forward Justin Bean said. “You can’t replace a guy like Sam Merrill, but I think collectively we were able to do that for a while.”
Even when Merrill subbed back in, Boise State continued to close the gap. The Broncos came within one point of the Aggies with only a minute left in play.
Justin Bean (34) and Diogo Brito (24) blocking a shot as Boise state players attempt to shoot a basket during their game against Boise State. At the Spectrum Stadium on February 8th, 2020. USU defeated Colorado State 70-60. Photo By: Hailey Larson
In that final minute, Utah State was sent to the line numerous times allowing them to make six free throws. Those free throws, combined with a Diogo Brito layup scored on a fast break, enabled them to pull away and secure the victory.
Fouls plagued both teams all the way to the final buzzer. On Boise State’s side, two players fouled out. The first being senior forward RJ Williams, who picked up his fifth foul with 13:42 left in the second half. Williams averages over 11 points a game for the Broncos. On Saturday he left the game only scoring four.
The second Boise State player to foul out was redshirt senior Robin Jorch. Jorch left the game at 4:29, which forced the Broncos into having to play small ball while trying to guard sophomore center Neemias Queta under the basket.
Utah State had their fair share of fouls as well, but none of the Aggies ended up fouling out. In addition to Sam Merrill picking up four fouls, Bean and sophomore guard Brock Miller each managed to get four as well. By the final buzzer both teams had racked up a collective 49 fouls.
Despite having to play more carefully, Bean still had a strong game off the boards. The forward finished the night with 16 rebounds. Bean also scored seven points for the Aggies.
“At the end of the day we just had to be the toughest team and just come together and make winning plays,” Bean said.
Queta led the team with 21 points and five blocks. The big man from Portugal also grabbed eight rebounds.
According to Queta, defense was what won them the game.
“We held them to 35 percent,” Queta said. “By doing that we can win a lot of games.”
Queta said the thing that made this game different from the last time they played Boise State was being able to “make plays on the offensive end whenever we needed it and make stops on the defensive end.”
In their last matchup, the Aggies gave up an 18-point lead in the final 4:30 of the game.
With this win, the Aggies are now in a three-way tie for third place in the Mountain West. Utah State will take on second place Colorado State on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Fort Collins, Colorado.