Utah State loses 93-87 shootout to Nevada
Sophomore guard Koby McEwen scored a career-high 32 points, but Utah State was unable to keep pace with No. 24-ranked Nevada in a 93-87 loss on Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Junior forward Cody Martin led the Wolf Pack with 30 points on 13-18 shooting.
“It’s not shocking because it’s Nevada,” McEwen said. “When they have three players that are responsible for 70 plus points, that’s tough… They play with a lot of confidence and swagger, and that’s why they’re number one in the league.”
The first half was an offensive showcase for both teams. McEwen and sophomore guard Sam Merrill started the Aggies off well with two 3s apiece in the first few minutes as USU built an early 16-9 lead. Nevada was able to thoroughly keep pace, however, as twin brother Caleb and Cody Martin scored 16 and 17 points in the first half.
“We were about as good as we could be offensively against that type of defense and competition, and we could not get away from them at all,” head coach Tim Duryea said. “We really didn’t stop them in either half, and yet I really can’t fault our defensive effort. They were just fantastic. They had to play that well to win and they did.”
With less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, Utah State led 37-30. Nevada’s length took over from there, as USU mustered only one more field goal for the rest of the half as the Wolf Pack went on a 22-3 run to take a 52-40 lead into halftime.
“You have to give credit to them,” Merrill said. “Offensively, we did really well but we missed a couple shots that we should have made. They made all the shots they should’ve made, and that’s why they won.”
The Aggies played an uphill battle for much of the second half, unable to trim Nevada’s lead below six points until the final minute. The Wolf Pack left the door open at the end, missing several free throws to give USU a chance to pull off a miraculous comeback. The Aggies cut the lead to four points, but were unable to complete the comeback in the final seconds.
“It’s always frustrating to lose, especially when you had the chance to win the game,” McEwen said. “I feel like we’ve gotta get more guys to contribute a little more and if we get a little bit more… we can win that game. But we played extremely hard and extremely well. We gave it 100 percent, every single guy. I’m extremely proud of my team and the way we played and fought.”
Junior forward Quinn Taylor and DeAngelo Isby each added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Taylor also tied with McEwen and junior forward Dwayne Brown Jr. with five rebounds to lead the Aggies.
“I think we came out really strong and threw the first punch right away. We came out confident with a lot of energy,” McEwen said. “If you look at the numbers, defensively, they shot a great percentage but I feel like our team played pretty good defense. They made a lot of shots over hands, and when that happens, you just have to shake their hands.”
The loss was the first for USU this season when the team scores over 80 points, as USU had been 8-0 in such contests prior to Saturday night.
“I think this game can give our guys confidence,” Duryea said. “We can play with them. We can play them head up.”
With the loss, USU now sits at 14-14 on the season and 7-8 in Mountain West play. The Aggies currently rank eighth in the conference standings, but are only one game back of fifth place. The top five teams in the conference receive a first round bye in the MW tournament. The Aggies have not advanced past the quarterfinals of the MW tournament since entering the conference in 2014. Should Utah State make a run in the tournament, though, a third matchup with Nevada appears likely.
“I’m confident we’ll see them again,” McEwen said, “and I feel like we’ll perform even better.”
The Aggies have three more games on their regular season schedule to attempt to move up the MW standings in preparation for the tournament.
“We’ve got three games left, starting with Air Force,” Merrill said. “Obviously our focus is with Air Force, but it’s three games we feel like we can win and put ourselves in a good position.”
Tipoff for Utah State’s game at Air Force is set for Saturday at 2 pm.