Neemias Queta manages double-double against New Mexico despite having two rebounds in second half2/23/2019 By Sydney Chapman Neemias Queta caught the ball inside, turned and shot it for two easy points.
“Let’s go!” he said to the cheering crowd while running back on defense. Queta then rebounded the ball off of the University of New Mexico’s backboard and passed it out to his teammate. Then he made another basket. And another. All while pulling down rebounds on both sides of the court. By halftime, the 6-foot-11 center lead the Utah State University men’s basketball team with 15 points and was just two rebounds shy of recording his eighth double-double of the season. “He just took care of business down there for sure,” Aggie guard Diogo Brito said. But when Queta came back out for the second half, things were more quiet off the glass. The freshman barely picked up the last two rebounds he needed for the double-double. In total, he finished the night with 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to help the Aggies in their 71-55 victory over the Runnin’ Rebels. Recording most of his stats in only one half seems to have become a pattern for Queta in the past few games. But according to head coach Craig Smith, this isn’t so unusual. “When you're dealing with younger guys and inexperienced guys it's kind of a natural thing,” Smith said. “There's just ups and downs and you go in grooves and then you lose concentration.” Queta may only be a true-freshman but this hasn’t stopped him from leading the team in rebounds and becoming one of the Aggies’ leading scorers this season. Going into Wednesday night’s game, the 6-foot-11 center was averaging over 11 points and 9 rebounds a game. Smith said these contributions make it easy to see why people’s expectations of Queta have been set so high. “Sometimes as a fan or people you forget that they're not machines. Like these guys are young men,” he said. But despite all this, Smith remained hopeful about Queta’s future. “The sky's the limit for him,” he said. “He's got great feel for the game and he's super competitive. He loves to play, he loves to get better, he wants to get better.” Up next, Queta and the Aggies will take on Boise State University this Saturday in the Taco Bell Arena at 2 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. |