Utah State avenges loss to Aztecs in gritty fashion
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t flashy, but Utah State got its first win 70-54 over San Diego State on the hardwood since 1998 Tuesday evening in a near-full Spectrum.
The 70 points is the third-lowest in any Aggie win this season. Through it all, USU shot an abysmal 4 of 21 from 3-point range and 42.9 percent overall. The 3-point percentage is the fourth-worst mark from beyond the arc this season while the overall percentage is third-worst among the team’s wins.
The only way Utah State managed to score as many points as it did was due to the 46 points in the paint the team scored, the highest for them in conference play this year. Of the 63 shots they attempted, 31 were either dunks or layups.
But while shooting and offense often failed the Aggies, pure toughness and grit came through in a huge way. It was something that showed in the team’s rebounding and defensive effort according to senior forward Quinn Taylor.
“One of the things coach has been stressing throughout the year is we want to be the toughest team anyone plays,” Taylor said. “We want them to leave the gym saying ‘we don’t want to see those guys again.’ And I think we did a great job tonight of that.”
Utah State flipped the script from its loss to the Aztecs on Feb. 9 where it was outrebounded for just the second time this season 35-31 and allowed a season-high 12 offensive boards. On Tuesday, the Aggies dominated the glass, outdueling SDSU on the glass by 14 rebounds which included 14 snags on the offensive end. Taylor led the rebounding effort with 11, recording his third double-double of the season by adding 13 points. Abel Porter and Justin Bean each set new career highs in rebounds with 10 and eight respectively.
It wasn’t just rebounds that Utah State excelled in. Defensively, the team disrupted everything the longer and more athletic Aztecs tried, holding them to their second-lowest point total of the season.
Integral in that defensive effort was stopping the Aztecs’ top two players, Devin Watson and Jalen McDaniels. The two have combined to score more than half of SDSU’s points in conference play (35.9 of 70.5 on average). Utah State held the pair to just 12 points on 5 of 24 shooting and five turnovers.
“Our coach had a great gameplan to force them into uncomfortable situations,” Taylor said, “force them into things that maybe they hadn’t seen before.”
Aiding the defense in its effort was a revived student section that became deafening at times.
“The energy is so contagious and willed our guys. It’s amazing the impact that a crowd like that has on winning. It can be very daunting for an opponent,” Smith said. “Our traditional fans are amazing and I thought the HURD was fantastic.”
The reported attendance reached just over 8,100. It was the most this season outside of the conference home opener against Air Force.
Utah State’s next game, a home clash with Nevada on Saturday, could effectively be a Mountain West title game. A win for Nevada guarantees a regular season title while the Aggies would be all but assured first place assuming they also take care of business on the road against Colorado State in the season finale.
Tickets for the Nevada game sold out earlier this week but it was announced after the San Diego State game that some tickets could become available.