It Comes Full Circle: Aggies take on Aztecs in MW Final
On March 7, 2020, Sam Merrill hit “the shot” over San Diego State to clinch Utah State’s second straight Mountain West tournament championship and its second straight NCAA tournament appearance.
But six days later, elation turned into heartbreak, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of March Madness and flipped the United States, and the world, on its head.
Fast forward 371 days, our country has changed in a remarkable way. The virus has kept people in their homes and away from large gatherings. Millions of Americans have lost jobs, and over half a million have lost their lives. Most states issued a mask mandate. A vaccine was developed in record time. And oh, there is a new president in office.
But despite all the change, one thing remains the same: Aggies, Aztecs and the Thomas and Mack Center on a Saturday afternoon with a tournament championship and an automatic bid to the Big Dance on the line.
In USU’s 62-50 victory over Colorado State early in the morning of March 13, it was apparent that the Aggies are once again a top-two team in the conference.
The defense asserted its will and the offense managed to get it done. The leader of that was junior Neemias Queta, who finished with an astonishing 18 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocks. With the win, the Aggies will likely earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in Indiana, regardless of what happens in the final.
But in the eyes of the team, the goal is the same as last year. Win the Mountain West tournament.
“I don’t want to say accomplishment yet, we haven’t accomplished anything,” Queta said. “We have to go in there tomorrow and be ready to go and win. But it’s definitely good to be in the same spot last year.”
The Aggie’s journey to get back to the championship game hasn’t been easy. Merrill, one of the most prolific scorers in Utah State history, has graduated and is in the NBA. Two other starters, Abel Porter and Diogo Brito are graduated and have moved on as well.
The remaining roster all went their separate ways the summer of 2020, with some players — such as Portuguese native Queta — staying in Cache Valley, and others — such as Australian sophomore Sean Bairstow — returning to their home.
After months of uncertainty, the team regrouped in Logan in the fall and did what they could to prepare for the upcoming season.
Repping a newly structured back court consisting of junior transfer Marco Anthony and freshman guards Rollie Worster, Steven Ashworth and Max Shulga, the Aggies traveled to South Dakota for a thanksgiving weekend tournament for their opening games.
It didn’t go well.
They fell to VCU and South Dakota State, losing by 16 and 24 points respectively before picking off Northern Iowa in the final game.
Days later, head coach Craig Smith tested positive for COVID-19 and was absent for the Aggies narrow defeat against Brigham Young. Soon, there was an outbreak within the program, and two games had to be canceled.
At the end of December the group was finally back on the court and into conference play, and began to mold together as a unit. They strung together 11 straight victories — including back-to-back wins over SDSU — claiming the top spot in the conference and receiving votes in the AP top 25.
But then the struggles continued.
They fell at home to Colorado State, giving up a then-season high 84 points. They followed that by traveling to Vegas and falling to UNLV 59 to 56, in a game where they shot just 32.8 percent from the field.
After winning the second UNLV game and then beating Fresno State, Utah State looked to get back on track. But COVID-19 reentered the picture, canceling its next three games.
USU returned to action on Feb. 17, their first game in 13 days, to take on Boise State. Worster was out with a leg injury, and the defense lacked the stamina and tenacity it generally carried. They dropped both games, to fall to 14-7 overall and slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 in the conference standings.
But as teams coached by Smith often do, the Aggies started to get back on track in the final weeks of February and into March. They won four straight conference games to close out the season and once again earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
“We haven’t exactly had the easiest of times here the last six, seven weeks with some things that are out of our control,” Smith said. “Our guys have not flinched, they have just stayed the course, kept coming together, I don’t hear whining and complaining, (they) just deal with reality.”
The Aggies defense was effective all season, and multiple offensive threats have emerged. But in the past six games, they’ve taken their play to a new level, holding teams to 58.5 points, and have averaging 71.2 points per game.
“We just have a really deep group, we don’t rely a lot on one person, like the last few years,” said Queta. “We had Sam Merrill, he was a great player for us, but this year is just a definition of a team, even more, I’d say.”
This installment of the Aggies will meet an Aztec team in the final that boasts a 13-game win streak, not having lost since their trip to Logan. They also have the conference player of the year, senior Matt Mitchell, and coach of the year, Brian Dutcher.
It’s set up No. 1 vs. No. 2, just like last year. Despite the challenges, Utah State has the opportunity to reattain its goal and beat the Aztecs in the final for the third straight year, becoming kings of the conference and solidifying their spot in the NCAA tournament field — and this time play in it.
It’s all come full circle.
@jacobnielson12
—sports@usustatesman.com