Aggies survive scare, win at Boise in OT
Utah State narrowly survived a late-game surged at Boise State, giving up a nine-point lead before having to force overtime and ultimately defeating the Broncos 78-71.
With 46 seconds left in the game, Broncos guard Justinian Jessup hit a 3-pointer. At that point, the Aggies’ hopes were fading while the home crowd erupted. Just a handful of minutes earlier, the Aggies (22-6, 12-3) were in control of the game 59-50 and on the road to boot. But a 16-2 run from Boise State had changed things. Jessup’s three was the tail end of that run. Now Utah State had its back to the wall with not much time left to turn the tide back in its favor.
Yet, the Aggies didn’t give up.
“We just kept fighting and came out ready to play,” USU guard Abel Porter said.
On the ensuing possession from Jessup’s three, Porter slung a pass ahead of the defense to Sam Merrill, who was promptly fouled and sank two free throws, putting the team back on the route to tying the game.
66-63
Seven seconds later, Diogo Brito ran down and fouled Alex Hobbs, a 91 percent free throw shooter coming into the game. The first shot went in, but the second clanked off the right side of the rim and into the hands of Brito.
67-63
The Aggies narrowly averted complete disaster as Porter lost the ball but fought through two Broncos to force a held ball. With the possession arrow going USU’s way, it allowed Merrill to once again make a play. He drove to the hoop but was fouled before his shot, negating the soft floater that bounced through the net. Merrill hit the two free shots, automatic as ever.
67-65
Once again, the Aggies ended up fouling Hobbs, who had missed on free throws just three times all year before Saturday. But Hobbs clanked one of his two shots off the rim again, leaving open a window.
68-65
This time, Merrill took the ball down the court himself. Sensing an opening, he drove to the left of the key, spun back to the rim and laid the ball safely home plus the foul. The junior guard, now with 29 points to his name, made it 30 with the game-tying free throw.
68-68
Jessup’s game-winning attempt missed its mark at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime. In the extra frame, however, Utah State removed the drama that pervaded the final minutes and seconds of regulation. The Broncos made just one shot — a 3-pointer from Jessup — in the extra five minutes while Brock Miller, Porter and Merrill each hit a pair of free throws to pace the team offensively.
Getting to and dominating in overtime wasn’t easy. But according to Merrill, it’s a byproduct of what the team has become over the course of the season.
“We’re a reflection of our coach and we have really good leadership out there,” Merrill said. “We found a way to get into overtime and then we let our defense do the rest of the work, they only scored once in overtime. That’s who we are and that’s a huge win for us.”
Had Utah State lost the game, it would have jeopardized the team’s chances at a regular season conference title. Those hopes were revived after Mountain West-leading Nevada (25-2, 12-2) lost at San Diego State (18-9, 10-4) on Wednesday. The Aggies are still one game behind the Wolf Pack but will host the conference leaders March 2 in the Spectrum in what may be a title-deciding contest.
USU head coach Craig Smith, after Saturday’s game, praised the Broncos for how well they performed despite having a down year.
“I thought Boise State played really, really well,” Smith said. “They’re a good team, their record is not indicative of how good they are. They had guys that really played well. Obviously, they had the week off, so they threw some new things at us, but I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
Though he was certainly proud of the end result, Smith didn’t ignore the failings of his team at certain points of the game.
“There was just a ton of empty possessions,” Smith said, adding, “Thank goodness Sam (Merrill) has 21 first-half points and really bailed us out of some bad offensive possessions.”
On defense, the Aggies held the Broncos to 42 percent shooting but BSU made 48 percent overall in the second half and 50 percent from deep with USU allowing 12 threes total throughout the game. Smith pointed to urgency and execution for the holes that popped up during the second half.
“We didn’t have the urgency defensively that we normally have,” Smith said. “Jessup gets loose on us for two wide open threes where Abel (Porter) over-helps and (Justin) Bean gets lost in transition.”
Next week will be another key week in the Aggies’ basketball season. They’ll host both San Diego State, a team USU lost to 68-63 on Feb. 9 in San Diego, and Nevada. Both teams are in the top three of the Mountain West, along with the Aggies who are currently in second place.