Men’s basketball surrenders 18-point lead, falls to Boise State
With 4:10 left in the second half of Saturday night’s game against the Boise State Broncos, it looked like the Utah State University men’s basketball team had it in the bag.But this was before the Aggies blew a 66-48 lead and allowed their opponents to force overtime.
Utah State did not score a single field goal in the last four minutes of regulation, with all 10 of their points coming from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Broncos managed to rack up 27 points, only seven of which were free throws.
And while it did not seem like it when the team was up 18 points, having sophomore center Neemias Queta foul out with 3:37 left in the second half proved to be detrimental to the Aggies.
Broncos knot things up
But even with four seconds left in regulation, Utah State still had a five point lead. That is, until Broncos’ freshman guard RayJ Dennis sunk a three pointer and senior guard Justinian Jessup — who had been relatively quiet most of the night — stole the Aggies’ inbound pass and made a last second layup to tie everything up.
Overtime
Utah State did not fare much better in overtime. The team still could not manage to get a field goal, until junior guard Abel Porter made a layup with 15 seconds left.
In the end, the Aggies fell to the Broncos 88-83, worsening the team’s conference record to 3-4 and continuing its recent slump.
Team standings
Though projected to finish first in the conference during preseason polls, Utah State is now tied for seventh with Air Force Academy. They sit five games behind first place San Diego State University.
No matter the season, it seems games against Boise State are never an easy contest. All of the last eight games have been decided by 10 points or less. Saturday’s loss was the second matchup in a row to end in overtime.
Silver lining
But in spite of the team’s complete unraveling, there were some positive takeaways.
Sophomore guard Justin Bean recorded his eleventh double-double of the season, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Senior guard Sam Merrill, who played all but two minutes of the game, lead the team with a season high of 30 points.
The team also went 25-33 from the free throw line.
Up next:
Utah State will take on Air Force in the Spectrum on Tuesday. When these teams last met Jan. 7, Air Force came away with a 79-60 victory. Utah State will look to turn things around just two weeks after the loss. Game time is scheduled for 9 p.m.