USU men’s hoops coasts to another emphatic conference win
Coming off last week’s statement back-to-back victories over San Diego State, Utah State came into Tuesday night’s home matchup against Colorado State wearing pregame warmup hoodies that had a simple phrase spread across the chest.
Nobody Cares. Work Harder.
The Aggies fully lived up to the message, working their way to a decisive 83 to 64 victory over the Colorado State Rams — bolstering their NCAA tournament resume with their third straight tier two victory and extending the win streak to 11 games.
“It’s a great win for the Aggies,” said head coach Craig Smith. “I thought we played really well from start to finish in a lot of different phases.”
Matching the quickened pace of the Rams throughout the night, while holding true to its own style of basketball, USU won the battle of the boards 44-25 and had an effective night offensively.
Whether it was in transition or from playing an inside out half-court offense, players set each other up with open shots and managed to shoot 26-57 from the field (45.6 percent) and 10-19 from beyond the arc (52.6 percent.) Sharpshooting junior Brock Miller finished the night with a season-high 20 points, going 6-10 from beyond the arc.
“We really moved the ball,” Smith. “To be able to get 20 assists against these guys I think is a great compliment to the guys on our team. I just thought we had a good balance, an inside game, and an outside game on the offensive end.
When the three-ball wasn’t going in, the Aggies often got the rebound, finishing with 13 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points. Junior center Neemias Queta had a team-high 12 rebounds — four on offense — and added 18 points.
At the start of the game, the Aggies proved they could match the speed and pace that the Rams played with, without compromising on the things that they do best.
Having to chase around speedy guards that could move without the ball and defend big men that could shoot, USU did an admirable job contesting shots and creating havoc. They held CSU to 9-28 from the field (32.1 percent) in the first half and forced seven turnovers. Ram’s leading scorers David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens were held to a combined three points on a combined 1 for 10 shooting from the field in the opening frame.
“We were just funneling a lot of their stuff to me and were able to run them off the line,” Queta said. “(We made them) dribble to their shot and just tried to not over-help.”
Playing at a quicker pace seemed to work for the Aggie offense. After starting the game 5-15 from the field, and holding on to a 17-15 lead, USU went on a 15-3 run from the 11:00 minute to the 7:51 mark, fueled by hitting open shots in transition. They held onto a 44-29 led at the half.
“You gotta be ready to play any style that’s thrown out there,” Smith said. “We like to run and get out in transition and get easy baskets when we can and we had a few of those in the first half.”
Opening the second half, triggered by Stevens hitting a contested three, the CSU offense scored a quick ten points in just 3:32 minutes, showing how dynamic they can be.
But the Aggie offense was just as dynamic, continuing to score in every facet; off the dribble, from an inbound play, offensive putback, a three-pointer, Utah State was scoring anyway it wanted. When Neemias Queta hit a mid-range jumper one minute into the half, it was clear that a CSU comeback wouldn’t be easy.
“They’re a really good team and you can’t let up any type of lead against them,” Queta said.
The Aggies managed to extend their lead from 52 to 39 with 16:32 left in the game to 65-48 with 8:54 to play. Moments later, Brock Miller hit his fifth three-pointer of the evening to make it a 20 point game, setting off the “up by 20” chant from the crowd and turning the game into a full-on blowout. From then on, USU began slowing down their offensive pace and coasted to a victory.
The Aggies take on the Rams once again Thursday night.
“We gotta be able to bounce back on a quick turnaround and play our fourth game in eight days and find a way to take care of business.”
@jacobnielson12
—sports@usustatesman.com