Queta sets blocks record, Aggies grab road win
It was Utah State men’s basketball head coach Craig Smith who, just three days ago, said this about New Mexico: “When I see them on film I have nightmares.” But after the Aggie’s 82-46 drubbing of the Lobos in Lubbock on Friday night — their second blowout victory over the Lobos in just three days — it might be New Mexico having the nightmares.
The Aggie’s ninth win of the season looked rather effortless, as they hit six of their first six shots from the field to bounce out to a 14-2 lead, and they never looked back. They dominated on both ends of the court.
“We thought a big key going into the game was going to be our start, and we got out to a fantastic start,” Smith said. “I’m really proud of how we played in every facet. Thought we really defended hard, executed our game plan defensively, and I loved how we shared the ball.”
It was also a historic night for junior center Neemias Queta, a late first-half block catapulted him ahead of Gilbert Pete for the most blocks in Utah State history with 156.
“Shoutout to my man Neemy breaking the all-time blocks record,” said junior forward Justin Bean. “That’s just such a huge accomplishment, a huge milestone for him, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
“I don’t know how many times you ever coach a guy that breaks an all-time record,” Smith said. “It’s one that goes down in the history books for quite some time…we rewarded him the game ball after and we don’t do that very often, we don’t talk a lot about individual awards, but he certainly earned it.”
During his record-breaking night, the Portuguese big-man played a big role in setting the tone defensively, posting 13 rebounds and three blocks. He made a Lobo team that came into the game shooting 75 percent of their shots from inside the arc timid and ineffective around the rim, the Lobos finished the night just 14-40 (35 percent) from inside the three-point line.
Settling for jumpers wasn’t much better of an alternative, Aggie guards denied in-rhythm shots and locked down the perimeter. UNM shot 5-21 (23.8 percent) from beyond the arch. USU also ate up the boards, out-rebounding their exasperated foe 53 to 23.
“We had more rebounds than they did points,” Bean said. “Any time you can do that it definitely sends the message.”
Bean finished the night with a co-team-high 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
If the Lobos were hoping for some respite on the other end of the floor, they didn’t get it. The Utah State offense used a well-balanced attack to shoot 32-63 from the field (51 percent) and 7-16 (44 percent) from three. 11 different Aggies scored, and four were in double digits: Bean (13), junior guard Marco Anthony (12) Queta (11) and freshman guard Steven Ashworth (10).
The Aggie guards had tremendous success all game moving the ball, penetrating the lane and getting it to open guys for easy points. Ashworth had five assists, Anthony had four, Junior guard Brock Miller had three and freshman guard Rollie Worster had 2. The Aggies finished with 38 points in the paint and eight dunks.
“A lot of great efforts tonight,” Smith said. “Marco Anthony made some tough-guy plays. I thought we had a great floor game by our guards again, Ashworth and Wooster…played with pace, made a lot of winning plays tonight.”
One play that displayed the Aggie’s teamwork and aggression was at the nine-minute mark of the first half. Worster beat his man and dove in the lane, kicked it out to Miller in the corner, who dished it to Ashworth on the wing. The freshman then bounced it in the paint to Bean, who proceeded to slam it down to make the score 22-8.
When a team is in such control of a game that it feels over at halftime — the Aggies held a 45-18 lead at the break — it’s hard to find much fault in its performance. Utah State did look sloppy at times and had 17 turnovers, but besides that, what this team has done in the past eight games is very promising.
“It doesn’t exactly know how to quantify it, but it’s just a different vibe,” Smith said. “I’m proud of our guys and how they’ve been able to handle different things. It’s going to get a lot tougher and we know that.”
Utah State has won eight straight games and is 6-0 in conference play going into a two-game showdown against San Diego State in Logan next week.
“We’re excited about the challenge and to have it at home makes it all the better,” said Bean. “We’re going to enjoy this victory till midnight and get back to it tomorrow.”