Utah State falters late, loses to Wyoming 85-77
Utah State was unable to pull off another miraculous comeback, losing 85-77 to Wyoming on Saturday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies trailed by as many as 22 in the first half before storming back to take the lead in the second half, but were unable to close out the visiting Cowboys.
The first half was a struggle for USU in almost every facet of the game. The team shot 28 percent from the field, and only 30.8 percent from deep. Even at the free throw line, the team shot a less-than-mediocre 58.3 percent in the first frame.
“For most of the first half, there was no competitive fire from most of us,” sophomore guard Sam Merrill said.
After a 3-pointer from freshman Daron Henson gave the Aggies a 15-14 lead, USU went 11 minutes and 38 seconds without a field goal. Wyoming went on a 28-5 run during that same span to open up a 42-20 lead.
“The first half was just bad,” sophomore guard Diogo Brito said. “Defensively, we were just unable to communicate and get matched up on defense. They were getting too many transition points and that gave them a pretty big lead.”
A small 5-0 run at the end of the first half built some slight momentum and confidence for the Aggies heading into the locker room, but the team still trailed 42-25 at the break.
“I thought that gave us a breath of life,” head coach Tim Duryea said. “We felt like we could go into halftime and get back into the game (in the second half)… if we firm up and get a couple of stops.”
“We got into it quicker than I thought we would. We basically got it down to six points in a hearbeat. I thought from that point, we could win the game. Then we had the bad stretch where we had too many errors.”
The team built off their run to close out the first half, scoring the first seven points of the second half. Utah State steamrolled through the first five minutes of the second half, using a 27-12 to open the second stanza to close the gap to 54-52 with just under 14 minutes left to play.
After expending the amount of energy necessary to close the gap, the Aggies couldn’t seem to muster enough to fully put away Wyoming. The teams traded baskets and free throws, with Utah State even taking the lead on multiple occasions, but USU was unable to build a lead larger than one point. The Aggies grasped their final lead at 64-63 before Wyoming went on a 9-2 run from which Utah State was unable to recover.
Merrill led the Aggies with 19 points on 7-10 shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Koby McEwen posted his first career double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, shooting a perfect 10-10 from the FT line during the game. Brito, junior forward Dwayne Brown Jr. and freshman forward Daron Henson also scored in double figures for the Aggies.
The loss was Utah State’s fourth in a row and dropped the Aggies to 10-11 on the season and 3-5 in Mountain West play. USU now sits at ninth place in the conference.
“It is a topsy turvy league. I think you’re gonna see teams fluctuate,” Duryea said. “In terms of us, we have to look at it, it’s so cliche, but one game at a time, meaning that every game can get you started on another path.”
Utah State’s upcoming schedule is currently a blurred picture. The Aggies are scheduled to play Air Force at the Spectrum on Wednesday night, but all Air Force athletic events have been canceled or postponed for the foreseeable future as a result of the recent government shutdown.
“All we can think about is the next 40 minutes and how we have to prepare to win that game, whether it’s home or road,” Duryea said. “Then we can play it and see where we are. That’s the attitude we’re gonna try and keep. Next game marks our halfway point (in the conference season), we have not had a bye and we have two of those coming which we could really use, but we need to get on a one game winning streak.”
Tipoff for USU’s game versus Air Force is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7 pm at the Spectrum. If that game is indeed canceled or postponed, the Aggies would next take the court on Saturday at Fresno State. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 pm MST.