Aggies keep rolling, manhandle UNLV
Utah State picked up its sixth-consecutive win with a 82-65 over UNLV at home Saturday afternoon. The win put the Aggies in second place in the Mountain West Conference standings.
Within the first three minutes Utah State had established a style of play to carry the team throughout the game. The Aggies climbed to an early lead of 8-2 and did so through some terrific ball movement and holding UNLV to shots from the perimeter. This was something the Aggies focused on coming into the game.
“Our keys were to get back on transition defense and then keep them off the offensive boards and I don’t know how many they scored in transition, but it wasn’t a lot,” junior guard Sam Merrill said. “They only had nine offensive rebounds, so we did a great job there, did a great job defensively all game and that’s what’s going to win us games all year.”
On nearly every occasion the Runnin’ Rebels tried to drive to the basket, they would be met by two or three Aggies, most notably freshman center Neemias Queta. Queta exceeded his season average of 2.5 blocks per game at the half with three, to go along with 13 rebounds. Utah State yet again out-rebounded their opponent at the half, this time by a margin of 27-16.
USU’s Neemias Queta (23)defends as a UNLV player drives to the basket in Utah State’s 82-65 win over the Runnin’ Rebels. (Tim Carpenter)
The Aggies were fueled by quality bench play that was able to spark an 11-2 run between 10:19 and 7:09, a main factor being junior guard Diogo Brito. Brito had nine of his 15 points in the first half and played just as well on the defensive of the court.
“I thought he was really, really good,” head coach Craig Smith said. “I though he did a great job defensively he’s got such active hands in the right spot. There was a few times I called something and he was like ‘coach I got, I got it, we already called it’ and it worked. So it’s nice when the players are smarter than the coach.”
Crisp passing and unselfish ball movement helped the Aggies to 13 assists on 18 made field goals in the first half, Merrill being one of the players who was highly involved in the action. Merrill had four assists as well as a team-high 12 points at the intermission. On the game, Utah State had 22 assists on 30 made field goals, something the team likes to think of as a strength.
USU’s Sam Merrill (5) handles the basketball against a pair of UNLV defenders. (Tim Carpenter)
“That’s who we are as a team, that’s the identity we’ve sought to create from the first day,” Merrill said.
“We don’t get as stagnant, I feel like,” Brito said. “Just move the ball and eventually a guy will be open. We’ve been trying to throw the ball inside more and more every game, you know. Because it slows things down and opens things up and having that inside presence helps us a lot getting open shots.”
By the the start of the second half, Utah State had picked up right where they left off in the first, keeping UNLV at a comfortable distance. Early on in the second half UNLV was able to hit a couple of open looks and shed Utah State’s lead down to 16, but that was as close as they would get. If UNLV started to make some open looks, Utah State would counter with a run of their own. At a few points midway through the half, UNLV guard Kris Clyburn, or forward Joel Ntanbwe would hit a three and Utah State would immediately focus back in on defense. This propelled them on a 12-3 to stretch the lead to 72-43 with 8:20 left to go.
After the Aggies sat some of their starters late in the half, UNLV was able to go on a 9-0 run to close out the game, ending the game 82-65. The late-game push from UNLV was inconsequential in the grand scheme of the game.
“The way we did it is what was key,” Smith said “We got great production out of a lot of different guys. At the end of the day we shoot 49 percent and hold them to 37 percent.”
USU’s Tauriawn Knight (1) puts the ball on the floor as Aggie head coach Craig Smith looks on in the background. (Tim Carpenter)
This Utah State team continues their winning streak, stretching it to six games, but will have some tough tests waiting for them up ahead.
“Next week is going to be a brutal, I mean, we’re in the middle of, I call it the gauntlet. UNLV at home, at Fresno and at San Diego State,” Smith said. “So we don’t have much time for turnaround, we’ll have another practice tomorrow and hit the road on Monday.”
Utah State travels to Fresno to take on the Bulldogs Tuesday night to avenge the buzzer-beater loss the team suffered just a few weeks ago. That was the last game the Aggies lost before starting its current win streak.