Aggies pull away from Wyoming down the stretch
Utah State basketball used a 25-9 run over the final ten minutes to propel itself to a 76-59 win over Wyoming and bounce back from Saturday’s loss at San Diego State.
Four of the first five baskets scored between both teams were from beyond the arc, and that trend continued as the game went on. By the ten minute mark, Utah State was 5-6 from three and Wyoming was not far behind at 2-4. Sophomore guard Abel Porter was shooting at a blistering pace, hitting his first three attempts at three. Utah State used its hot shooting to jump out to a 23-14 lead midway through the first half. And then things slowed down.
For the Aggies, they were able to get Wyoming into foul trouble early, sending them to the bonus ten minutes into the game. Utah State capitalized on this by going 8-11 from the free-throw line in the half. But, they showed inconsistencies shooting the ball, ending the half shooting 53.8 percent from three, but only 37.9 percent overall. Wyoming relied heavily on its leading scorer, (and conference leader) senior guard Justin James, to carry them throughout the game. James had 12 of the Pokes 37 points by halftime and the team overall was able to shoot 61 percent from the field and gather 15 rebounds, eclipsing Utah State in both categories. This helped Wyoming get things all knotted up at 37 going into the half.
“They grind you. You’ve got to be very sound, you have to be disciplined and on-point,” USU head coach Craig Smith said. “You have to do that for 30 seconds because they’re going to have longer possessions that way. At the end of the day, the first half they shoot 60.9 percent.”
USU’s Abel Porter (15) puts the ball on the floor against Wyoming on February 13th.
Both rebounding and holding teams to a low shooting percentage are arguably the Aggies’ biggest strengths. Consequently, the team knew they had to do better in the second half if they wanted to come away with a win.
“Sometimes you make adjustments and other times you just need to adjust your mindset,” Smith said. “It felt like we needed to adjust our mindset. We wanted it to be easy, and it’s never going to be easy in this league, no matter what. You see the disparity in the second half, they shoot 26.9 percent. That’s a monster jump.”
Midway through the second half, neither team was asserting itself, leaving the game open for either team to grab. The Aggies decided they were going to be that team. Utah State went on a 25-9 run over the final ten minutes, largely due to the wakening of freshman center Neemias Queta who had 14 points and eight rebounds in the second half alone. For the first thirty or so minutes, Queta was struggling to contribute at his normal abilities. At the half, he had no points, no blocks and just two rebounds.
“I started feeling a little more confident and I just started playing like I’m used to,” Queta said. “And things just started falling and I was playing way better.”
USU’s Neemias Queta (23) dunks on Jordan Naughton (33) as USU head coach Craig Smith and the Aggie bench look on in Utah State’s game against Wyoming on February 13th.
“That’s the player that he is, and we need that all the time,” Smith said. “He’s been so consistent all year, he’s just one of those guys you know what you’re going to get night-in and night-out.”
His front-court partner, senior forward Quinn Taylor, factored largely in the comeback as well and was able to grab his first double-double of conference play. He was one of four Aggies to reach double-digits in scoring, the 13th time Utah State has done that this season. Junior guard Sam Merrill was one of those four, yet again leading the Aggies in scoring, this time with 19 points. Porter was the fourth member of the club, starting his seventh straight game.
“It was good to go out there and show it, that second half is the type of basketball we’ve been playing all year,” Taylor said. “It’s what we need to continue to play to get to where we want to go.”
Aggie forward Quinn Taylor (10) makes his move in the post between a pair of Wyoming defenders.
Utah State continues its run through conference play with a game Saturday afternoon, on the road against Air Force. The Aggies beat Air Force at home earlier in the season by a score of 79-62.