Anderson leads No. 15 Utah State to win over North Texas
In its second game at the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic, No. 15 Utah State closed out its game against North Texas with an 11-0 run in the last four minutes to defeat the Mean Green 68-59, remain undefeated and advance to 7-0 on the season.
Utah State fought through quite a bit of hardship to get the win. Already missing star center Neemias Queta, USU’s starting point guard Abel Porter only played 15 minutes after battling through a minor ankle injury and foul trouble (Porter ultimately fouled out of the game). Sam Merrill played 32 minutes despite suffering a late ankle injury himself but the 2018 Mountain West Player of the Year went 0-for-6 on the day, his first career game with zero field goals made.
“We had a lot of adversity tonight,” Smith said who also praised his team by saying: “Our guys found a way to win. This isn’t gymnastics where you get style points. The bottom line is to get the W. We’ve got a lot to improve on but our guys gutted it out.”
All throughout the game, Utah State missed shot after shot, ending the game with a 40.4 field goal percentage, it’s worst shooting mark since Montana State. The Aggies’ starting five made just 9-of-27 field goal attempts (33.3 percent).
“I thought we had some good looks in the first half, they just weren’t falling and a lot of that was to (North Texas)’s credit,” Smith said. “They make the game messy, they really mix it up in there. I thought they were the aggressor especially the first 8-10 minutes or so.”
“(North Texas) fought hard. They battle tough the whole time,” USU forward Alphonso Anderson said on 92.3 KBLU LP Logan and 1280 The Zone. “We knew it was going to be a tough one. We’re a ranked opponent so everyone is going to come in and give us their best shot.”
In the absence of effective scoring, the Aggies turned to its bench, one that features Diogo Brito and Anderson. Those two carried the offense for most of the game. In a first half where USU went 9-of-29 (31.0 percent) from the field, Brito scored 10 of his 15 points and made the only two Aggie 3-pointers of the opening 20.
“We always say (Brito)’s a Swiss Army Knife,” Smith said. “He’s just a jack of all trades, he does so many different things for us. He can shoot, he can pass, he can dribble and he’s an excellent defensive player and he’s just a spark plug. He showed that again tonight. He made some big free throws down the stretch.”
Anderson led Utah State in the critical second half with 14 of his team-leading 19 points coming in the latter half on 6-of-7 shooting. His performance came just two days after Anderson scored 24 points (tied for the team high) in USU’s comeback win over LSU. After praising Brito in his postgame interview, Smith went right into lauding the season Anderson has had so far.
“Alphonso Anderson was really really good,” Smith said. “He’s kind of coming into his own. He’s the new guy so he hasn’t been down this road necessarily with us but he’s been a big-time spark for us all year, in particular, the last two games. Made the go-ahead basket around the rim. Just plays with a lot of composure and he’s really trying to figure out how to do things.”
When they weren’t coming from Anderson or Brito, Utah State found points at the free-throw line. The Aggies made the trip to the charity stripe 34 times on Sunday and made 27 of their attempts. Justin Bean spent the most time there with 10 attempts, eight of which he made. That helped Bean score his 14 points which, paired with his game-high 13 rebounds gave the sophomore forward his fourth double-double of the season.
Bean was awarded the MVP for the six-team tournament. He averaged 14.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the two games USU played.
“He’s a real workhorse,” Anderson said of Bean. “It’s ridiculous how much energy he brings to the court.”
Though Utah State ended the game with a dominant run, the Mean Green did not make the late-game easy. Both teams struggled shooting-wise in a first half that ended 30-29 in UNT’s favor. However, North Texas went on a shooting tear to start the second half, making 10-of-16 field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
After the 9:36 mark, though, where a Umoja Gibson layup gave North Texas a four-point lead — it’s largest since the opening minute of the second half — Utah State reigned supreme on defense. North Texas would only score six points from that moment on and went 3-of-17 from the field.
“That last 10-minute stretch, everybody was locked in (on defense), communicated very well,” Anderson said. “We had a few slip-ups here and there but we were locked in.”
Utah State took great advantage of its increased defensive pressure by not just going 4-for-8 from the field but also 9-of-10 on free throws in the final 9:36 of the game.
Following the two neutral site games against LSU and North Texas, the Aggies will put its undefeated record on the line in its first official road game of the season at Saint Mary’s. The unranked Gaels, formerly ranked as high as 18th in the AP poll, are 5-1 on the season and have won their last four games.
Utah State will have its longest interval between games this season with four games spanning Sunday’s matchup with UNT and the Friday game in Moraga, California.