Aggies to face No. 1 seed San Diego State in MW second round
For the second round of the Mountain West tournament, No. 9 seed Utah State will face No. 1 seed San Diego State Thursday at 1 p.m. Mountain time in Las Vegas.
San Diego State, who has a 16-2 record in the Mountain West and had a bye on Wednesday, will bring a challenge to the Aggies.
USU heads into this game after a victory over the No. 8 Wyoming Cowboys on Wednesday.
Throughout the season, Utah State has struggled to maintain leads in the second half. Against the Cowboys, they had a 25-point lead in the 6:52 mark of the first half. That lead was cut down to seven with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
“We’ve been in too many games like this where we had the lead and at the end we ended up losing,” said junior Jalen Moore. “I couldn’t let that happen again.”
USU rode the smart play of Moore to turn the trend around on Wednesday.
“Having a big win over Wyoming definitely gives us confidence,” Moore said. “After a big win like that, our guys know we can compete with any team in this league.”
The Aztec’s two losses were by no more than three points, and SDSU’s head coach Steve Fisher has won 10 titles with this team — four more than any other coach in the Mountain West. The Aztecs have a postseason Mountain West record of 23-12, the second highest in history.
Winston Shepherd, a 6-foot 8-inch forward for SDSU is on the Aggies’ radar for the game.
“(He’s) always been a hard matchup for us because of his size. He’s had really good games against us,” said USU head coach Tim Duryea. “If I had to single (a matchup) out, which is hard to do, that is probably the one.”
Shepherd averages nearly six rebounds a game, and is currently shooting 38 percent this season. He has had 17 games this season in double figures. San Diego State is 20-0 when he has more than eight rebounds in a game.
“We’ve been an improving rebounding team as the season has gone along. That’s step one when you play them (the Aztecs),” Duryea said.
Against Wyoming, the Aggies outrebounded the Cowboys, 40-28.
Utah State’s junior guard, Shane Rector, who had a career-high 24 points on Wednesday, mentioned the past two meetings with San Diego State in which the Aggies were within reach of a win but didn’t come out on top.
“As a group we feel we can play with them,” Rector said. “This is a tournament. Anyone can win one game.”
– paige.a.cavaness@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @ususportspaige