By Sydney Chapman The Utah State University men’s basketball team knew going into Saturday’s game if it wanted to defeat the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, it would have to limit the Runnin’ Rebels' offensive rebounds.
And considering UNLV is number two in the nation for offensive rebounds, averaging 15 per game, out-rebounding the Rebels wasn’t an easy job — but it’s exactly what the Aggies did. “I just thought we did a great job defensively,” head coach Craig Smith said. By limiting UNLV’s second chances, the Aggies were able to defeat the Rebels with a final score of 82-65. According to junior guard Diogo Brito, the Aggies’ emphasis on rebounding during practice helped them to hold UNLV to 23 total rebounds for the game — only nine of which were offensive. “It's really about making sure your guy doesn't get the rebound,” Brito said. “And if he doesn't go to the boards, then try to help the Bigs.” Brito pulled down five of USU’s 44 rebounds. Other key contributors to USU’s rebounding stat were Quinn Taylor who had six and Neemias Queta with 16. The Aggies will look to continue to their aggressiveness on the boards at Fresno State University this Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. MT.
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By Sydney Chapman LOGAN — All season long, The Utah State University men’s basketball team has said that winning is a team effort.
On Wednesday night against San Jose State University, the Aggies proved all of their talk of team wasn’t just an act. In a 103-73 victory over the Spartans, all 11 of the Aggies who suited up for the game logged playing time and scored. The only three players who didn't check into the game were unable to play due to illness or injury. “That's what we're about,” junior guard Sam Merrill said. “We understand that there's not one guy on this team that's going to be able to carry us to where we want to go.” Even freshman Alek Johnson went into the game and hit a three to record the first points of his college career. “Those are big moments,” Merrill said. “People maybe won’t recognize it but I think when you see how excited we are... I think that shows a lot about who we are as a team and the type of chemistry we have.” Having multiple players score wasn’t the only thing which proved Utah State’s team mentality. The total number of assists they had also highlighted their ability to work together. “Offensively I thought we were really grooving, just really passing the ball,” Smith said. “I mean 28 assists to eight turnovers really stands out.” Assists made by players in the paint out to their teammates on the perimeter helped USU sink 11 three-pointers. “It's fun to see,” Smith said. “Tonight we just really wanted to get guys in there, get going and I thought it helped us in transition — keeping guys fresh and just really being on attack.” Smith said he was happy with the “great team effort” his players gave throughout the game. The Aggies will return to the Spectrum on Saturday to take on UNLV at 2:30 p.m. By Sydney Chapman On Saturday, the Utah State University men’s basketball team descended into the depths of The Pit to take on the University of New Mexico — and its notoriously rowdy fans. The Aggies emerged from the hostile environment a few hours later with a win over both parties.
Going into the game, the team knew that gaining a victory wouldn’t be easy, even given New Mexico’s 9-10 record. “It's going to be a tough test for us,” junior guard Sam Merrill said. “It's hard to win in their place. They have a really good home court advantage.” Dreamstyle Arena — often referred to as “The Pit” — is known for being “a mile high and louder than hell.” The slogan was coined to describe the deafening sounds of the faithful Lobo fan base that attend the games there. “It's definitely one of the craziest places I've played at,” Merrill said. “They're very passionate and very loud. Their players feed off of it.” Senior Quinn Taylor said the crowd got particularly loud in the second half. But that all changed when Abel Porter hit a game-winning three for the Aggies with 1.8 seconds left. “They got really quiet, really quick... I mean we were going crazy but the fans and atmosphere — just everything left,” Taylor said. It was the Aggies’ first win in The Pit since February 2015 and Taylor’s first win at New Mexico in his four years at Utah State. “It was a great game,” Taylor said, “a game that's going to prepare us for down later in conference, conference tournament and post-season.” The Aggies will return to their own rowdy crowd for Wednesday night’s game in the Spectrum against San Jose State University. By Sydney Chapman After struggling through the first half of Wednesday night's game against San Jose State University, Neemias Queta knew his team couldn’t afford another slow start.
So in the first three minutes of play against Colorado State University on Saturday, the freshman center stole the ball on an inbound pass and went coast-to-coast for a slam dunk. “It has been a focus for us... to start strong,” Queta said. “I was just trying to score and when I jumped, I felt like I could dunk... and I dunked it.” The play gave the Utah State University men’s basketball team the momentum it needed to control CSU for the rest of the night. According to Queta, it also motivated him to perform well the entire game. “I mean everybody wants to score the first ball," he said. "I think it helps me a lot when I get the ball and score the first one." Queta would go on to record his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. After the game, he jokingly referred to himself as “Giannis Queta” — a n allusion to Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. “Neemias is a competitor,” said USU head coach Craig Smith. “He really anchored us. I thought he was really, really good, especially early on.” The strong start that Queta sparked allowed the Aggies to lead the Rams wire-to-wire, coming away with a final score of 87-72. By Sydney Chapman After a last-second loss to Fresno State University on Wednesday night, the Utah State University men’s basketball team was looking for a silver lining — and it might have found one in sophomore guard Abel Porter.
Porter came off the bench to play 26 minutes, in which he recorded a career high of 14 points. His previous best was seven. Porter was one of five Utah State players who scored in double figures and the only man off the bench to do so. He said the key to his point production was being more aggressive. “I think it's just the mindset," Porter said. "Coach Smith was preaching about being in attack mode the whole week." That attack mode seemed to kick in during the second half when Porter scored 10 of his 14 points. The baskets he made helped the Aggies stay ahead for the majority of the game, with Fresno trailing close behind. “I just go into every game with the same mentality," he said, "Whatever the flow of the game dictates, I'll be ready to do." By the end of the night, he had two three-pointers and one field goal. Porter also went 6-for-9 from the free throw line — something he said he hopes to improve on in the future. According to head coach Craig Smith, Porter has been showing steady improvement all season, along with other bench players. “With all of our practice time I’ve been thinking ‘Why are we not playing Abel Porter more?’” Smith said. “Every day in practice… you just really notice those guys and I think they’re going to be able to help us as we go forward.” By Sydney Chapman LOGAN—The Utah State men’s basketball team entered the Spectrum Wednesday night looking to defend its 7-0 home record against the Fresno State Bulldogs — but by the end of the night it was the Bulldogs, not the Aggies, who were celebrating.
With 5.5 seconds left in the game, Fresno’s Braxton Huggins hit a three point jumper which gave the Bulldog’s their first lead of the entire game — as well as the final victory. Junior guard Sam Merrill tried to put the Aggies back on top by launching a last-second three pointer of his own, but to no avail. The shot came up short and as time expired it would be 78-77, Fresno State. “Basketball's a humbling game right?” said USU head coach Craig Smith. “...they scored on five of their last six possessions and so we just couldn't find a way to get those stops down the stretch.” But the loss wasn’t from Utah State’s lack of effort. The team had five players score in the double digits and freshman center Neemias Queta had a career high of six blocks, which ties for the third-most in school history. The Aggies even had a better overall shooting percentage than Fresno State. But in the end, it was the number of shots each team got off that determined the final score. “You shoot 51 percent for the game, you know most nights you're probably going to win,” Smith said. “... and they go 15 for 31 from the three and they needed every one of them to win by one.” Smith said that what really made the loss disappointing was that it happened in Logan. The defeat not only snapped the Aggies' perfect home record, but it also gave them a 1-2 record for conference play. The other loss came from last week’s game against Nevada, which is currently ranked 10th in the nation. According to redshirt freshman Brock Miller, while both of these losses have been tough ones, the team has not given up on the rest of the season. “Overall, you know, I think we're gonna learn from this and just kind of continue forward and keep working hard,” Miller said. “...we're still heads up, we're positive and we're gonna be ready to roll on Saturday.” The Aggies will play Wyoming on the road this Saturday at 4 p.m. |
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March 2019
CategoriesAbout SydneySydney Chapman is a journalism student at Utah State University. A former intern at Deseret News and avid sports fan, Chapman has experience covering professional sporting events and writing on trending topics. She uses this website to report on the Utah State University men's basketball team. |