Bean tips in OT game-winner against USF
While sophomore forward Justin Bean didn’t shine statistically in Houston, for the last two possessions of overtime in Utah State’s 76-74 win against South Florida, it was the Bean show.
With the game knotted at 74-74 with under 45 seconds to play, USF guard David Collins carved out a sliver of room against his man, but upon takeoff for a layup he fell victim to the ploy of Bean who drew a charge on the Bull’s leading scorer for the night.
The ensuing possession allowed the Aggies to bleed out the clock. Junior point guard Abel Porter found an open shot on the wing for a chance to duplicate his game-winner against New Mexico last season. Unfortunately, the arcing attempt clanked off the left side of the rim but found its way into the arms of Bean who softly, but quickly, laid it off the glass for a game-winning two points.
In his postgame comments, Smith commented that the putback, among at least one other offensive rebound “saved the day.”
“I don’t know how we keep doing this,” senior guard Sam Merrill said. “That’s what happens when you have a veteran team and a lot of guys have played together for a long time. We get down for with a minute ten left and we just understand that we’ve got to take it one possession at a time and we found a way to win the game.”
Merrill quietly led all scorers, notching his sixth 20-point game of the season by netting 21 on 7 of 13 shooting, including 4 for 7 on 3-pointers.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Smith said. “He just does so many things at a very high level,” Smith said.
Bean finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, one board shy of getting an NCAA-leading ninth double-double. As is, his clutch performance allowed Utah State to escape the Battleground 2k19 showcase with a victory in hand.
Some of Bean’s lack of rebounding may have come from competition among his own teammates. Sophomore center Neemias Queta made his true return. After coming off the bench in two games with a minutes restriction, the 7-footer returned to the starting lineup. Queta wound up fouling out of his first start since March, but not before logging 29 minutes, 18 points and eight rebounds.
True to the final score, neither team ever truly controlled the game for the 45-minute duration of the contest. Utah State’s largest lead was eight and USF only managed a four point advantage. That largest South Florida lead, however, occurred with just 1:15 left in the game, forcing the Aggies to perform their best in a tight, clutch situation.
“We have tremendous character on our team,” Smith said. “We have very talented players and we’ve been in that situation many times last year and once or twice this year.”
And to few people’s surprise, it was Justin Bean who tied the game at 66-66 to force extra basketball.
One of the primary things that kept Utah State from pulling away completely and that allowed the Bulls to take that late lead was turnovers. USF came into the game as one of the best in the nation at forcing turnovers (24th in the NCAA) and coaxed the Aggies into committing 17 blunders. Two of those came in the final two minutes of regulation, leading to the last-minute peril USU found itself in.
“South Florida is a very good team,” Smith said. “They make it very, very difficult, they’re very athletic. They have rim protection, they can really get into the ball. They fly around and they force teams into a lot of turnovers every game.”
Wednesday was USU’s second straight neutral site game played in an NBA arena. The Aggies will play their next game against Florida at BB&T Arena in the Sunshine State before a homecoming contest against Eastern Oregon on Dec. 28. USU will resume Mountain West play at UNLV on Jan. 1.