Aggies look to keep winning streak alive at San Diego State
The Utah State men’s basketball team continues its road-trip in conference with a game Saturday night in San Diego against the 13-9 Aztecs.
This will be the first of two meetings between the Aztecs and the Aggies this season, and the Aggies will be hungry to avenge their 20-point loss last season in Viejas Arena. Unlike their last matchup, Utah State comes into the game ahead of San Diego State in the conference standings, and looks to hold onto second place with a win.
Utah State’s current seven-game winning streak is the longest since entering the Mountain West, and with Tuesday’s win at Fresno, the team has already surpassed last season’s win total.
San Diego State is coming off a loss at New Mexico its last time out, and has shown some inconsistencies in play, going 5-4 in conference up to this point. However, Utah State head coach Craig Smith feels the team is better than its record may appear.
“San Diego State is playing their best basketball of the year,” he said. “They’ve won three of their last four and four of their last five. They’re really, really good at home, they have the longest home winning streak within conference play. They’ve won nine-in-a-row in that time. It’s a storied program.”
The Aztecs have one of the best players in the Mountain West on their team, two-time conference player of the week Jalen McDaniels. The sophomore forward is averaging team-highs of 17.1 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game.
“He has a legitimate chance of being a NBA player,” Smith said of McDaniels.
McDaniels has a similar style of play and makeup as Utah State freshman center Neemias Queta, which could lead to an interesting micro-game between the two big men if that situation arises.
“They play McDaniels a lot of different ways,” Smith said. “Maybe we’ll see that. That could, obviously, be an option, but you’re asking an awful lot out of Neemi.”
McDaniels is the fifth-highest scorer in the conference, but the Aztecs also feature the sixth-best scorer; senior guard Devin Watson. Watson is averaging 15.8 points per game and a team-high 4.8 assists per contest. The Aztecs love to play in transition with a team full of long, athletic players. This is something Utah State will have to try to counter, and feel that they have the players to do so.
“We have to be able to take that away and make it a half court game,” Smith said, “not let them get loose in transition, which we’ve done a good job with. We’ve got to neutralize them on the glass which we’ve, obviously, been a very good rebounding team this year.”
In fact, Utah State is one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, consistently being in the top 15 of the nation this season. Superb rebounding and defense have carried Utah State all season but over its seven game winning-streak, the offense has been playing a large role as well.
Sophomore guard Abel Porter has made a positive impact since he entered the starting lineup, but guard play has been improved as a whole. Redshirt freshman guard Brock Miller has been scoring 12.4 points per game over the streak, and junior guard Sam Merrill continues to be a consistent playmaker for the Aggies. Merrill has been averaging a team-high 20.3 points per game as well as 5.1 assists.
Utah State is currently a three-point favorite heading into the game, but the Aggies have yet to win a game on the road against San Diego State since joining the Mountain West, and have lost 10-straight overall in the series. This isn’t on the mind of the team, however.
“Now, we embrace the challenge,” Smith said. “We embrace the opportunity instead of, oh, here we go. We’re going to have to be sharp.”
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