Anderson and bench spark second half flurry as Aggies take down Fresno State
When Alphonso Anderson checked into the game with 13:37 left to play, the contest was still competitive, with the Aggies leading by just 11. A little more than a minute later, Anderson was off and running on a Utah State fast break, quickly settling in the corner and in the perfect position to receive a pass from a teammate and bury a three.
Anderson was the spark Utah State men’s basketball needed to break away from a close first half and finish the game out-scoring Fresno State by 12 points en route to a 69-53 victory. The senior forward scored all 13 of his points in the final period, leading the Aggies’ bench to 32 points in the contest.
“I thought he just had a good look to him,” Utah State head coach Craig Smith said. “It’s hard to explain what that means to you guys, but when you’re around someone so much, you just know it when you see it.”
Anderson wasn’t the team’s leading scorer on the night, however, junior center Neemias Queta had an improved second half as well to lead him to a team-high 14 points, 12 in the final period. Freshman guard Steven Ashworth was the third and final Aggie to reach double-figures scoring, he finished the night with 10 points and also came off the bench.
“Our bench was outstanding tonight,” Smith said. “Fonz (Anderson) has been playing a lot better in practice and games the past few weeks and we need that out of him.”
Utah State jumped out to a 5-0 lead within the opening minute, but Fresno State quickly responded. Within a matter of minutes the lead was shortened to two — 12 to 10 — and the Bulldogs were finding space in the paint to work, pitting one seven-footer against the other underneath the basket. The Aggies and Bulldogs are two of just three teams in the NCAA to carry three seven-footers on the roster; that inside challenge made Utah State perk up and change the way it played slightly on defense. But they relished the challenge, according to sophomore center Trevin Dorius.
“I think it’s a lot of fun to play against a team like Fresno State, just because they have a lot of size, which is rare in our conference,” Dorius said. “It’s a change of pace for sure. Tonight we had an emphasis to move the ball and play with each piece of our offense. When we do that, it’s super helpful.”
The team focused on giving Queta a lot of touches in the first half, which as Dorius explained, forces the defense to collapse and opens up options across the floor for players to get open. Smith has praised his team — the big men especially — for their ability to pass out of double teams this season. At times, the Aggies can be inconsistent from three-point range, but that wasn’t the case on the night; Utah State shot 42.9% from deep in this game on 6-14 shooting, both Anderson and fellow bench catalyst Ashworth had a team-high two threes.
Fresno State freshman center Braxton Meah went 3-for-3 from the field in the first half for seven points and combined well with senior forward Christian Gray who had nine points in the game. However, once Utah State’s defense was able to become more effective at limiting the points in the paint, the Bulldogs struggled and no player reached double-digits in scoring, the first time a Utah State opponent has failed to do so all season. Nonetheless, the battle lasted for much of the game, something that was still present in the mind of the head coach after the game ended.
“These guys were 7-1 at home, have been out-scoring people by 15 a game at home,” Smith said. “It wasn’t a painting by Van Gogh, it looked more like me drawing stick men. Credit them.”
Less than 48 hours from the conclusion of Thursday night’s game, the Aggies and Bulldogs will meet again in the Save Mart Center as the Mountain West continues with its condensed and precaution laden schedule because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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—sports@usustatesman.com