Utah State Men’s Hoops Fall to South Dakota St.
Utah State came into the second game of the Bad Boy Mowers Classic Thanksgiving evening hoping to enjoy the sweet taste of victory for the first time this season. But it was South Dakota State doing all the feasting, as they made 15 three pointers on the night and surged to a 83 to 59 victory. The Aggies fall to 0-2 on the season for the first time since 1993.
“We got out-worked in every way, shape, and form,” said Utah State head coach Craig Smith. “We got outscored in the paint 34-24 and at the same time they got 15 threes, and we turned it over 16 times. So we gotta be a lot better if we’re going to compete at the level that we’ve competed at the previous couple of years.”
Utah State struggled all night defensively, continually getting beat off the dribble and failing to protect the perimeter. The Jackrabbits took full advantage of the defensive ineptitude, shooting 32-57 from the field. They found success penetrating to the hoop and kicking it out to open guards for open threes all game long. Sophomore guard Baylor Scheierman had a game-high 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting and senior forward Douglas Wilson added 16 points on 7-10 shooting.
“On the offensive end (SDSU) is an excellent passing team,” said Utah State head coach Craig Smith. “They really understand the game and understand how to pass and move without the ball. And they make you pay when you make mistakes…We gotta be tougher on the ball, we gotta guard the ball much better, we gotta do a better job of having our opponent feel us.”
Offensively for USU things were not much better. Similar to last night’s loss to VCU, turnovers killed the Aggies, as they coughed up the ball 16 times, resulting in 14 points the other way. Easy buckets were hard to come by all night because they struggled to move the ball and get open looks. Junior center Neemias Queta would lead the way for the Aggies with 16 points on 6-8 shooting and eight rebounds, while junior guard Marco Anthony added ten points on just 3-9 shooting.
“We’ve been a train wreck on the offensive end,” Smith said. “(SDSU) did a good job in their defensive game plan to take some things away and then we gotta be able to step up and make some plays when provided the opportunities.”
South Dakota State got things going early in the game as they started 4-4 from beyond the arch, jumping out to a 16-8 lead. Utah State would keep things close with Freshman guard Rollie Worster scoring seven points and Anthony hitting two threes. The score was 29-24 with 5:48 to play. But then SDSU went on a run, thanks to 13 quick points from Scheierman – who would surpass his career high by scoring 19 points in the first half – and the Jack Rabbits went into halftime up 44-29.
Nine of the 16 USU turnovers were in the first half, which resulted in seven points for the Jackrabbits. The Aggie offense shot just 48 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. SDSU did a great job slowing down the ‘Neem n’ Bean” machine. SDSU’s Matt Dentlinger managed to push Queta off the block consistently, holding the big man to three first half shots. Forward Justin Bean would get in foul trouble early, and scored only a bucket in the first half. He’d finish with five points and two rebounds in 19 minutes played.
“We gotta get our front court going more consistently,” said Smith. “I gotta find a way to get (Queta and Bean) the ball more, so they can be more productive.”
The Jackrabbits would come out even stronger to start the second half, as phenomenal ball movement and hot shooting resulted in eight makes in their first nine attempts, and SDSU went up 62-40 with 14:36 to play. This efficient shooting is what made the game a blowout.
“When an opponent shoots 56% and makes 15 threes, you’re in trouble,” Smith said.
USU would try to claw back, going on a short 4-0 run after a Queta bucket and two made free throws from Freshman guard Max Shulga – his first points of his Aggie career. But 18 points was as close as they could cut the deficit. The Aggies would fail to score a single point from the 10:52 mark to the 6:51 mark, and SDSU grew the lead to 72-48. They would close things out to win 83-59.
The rather docile effort from Utah State afforded several bench players for the Aggies an opportunity to play at the end of the game. All 14 players that dressed got into the game, including first time appearances from freshman guard Zahar Vedishev and freshman forward Matthew Wickizer.
The loss is just the second time that the Aggies have lost back-to-back times in the Craig Smith era.
The Aggies will play their final game of the Bad Boy Mowers Classic tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 P.M. mountain time against Northern Iowa.