By Sydney Chapman The ball sailed from his fingers, floating from 20 feet, 10 feet, two feet. It ricocheted off the rim and into the hands of the opposing players.
This happened again. And again. The shots would not fall for Sam Merrill. And he wasn’t the only Aggie struggling from distance on Tuesday night. When the Utah State University men’s basketball team took on San Diego State University in the Spectrum, things got off to a slow start for both teams. But the Aggies found their rhythm before the Aztecs could, and came away with a 70-54 win. “It was just one of those games,” head coach Craig Smith said. “Shooting’s contagious — good and bad.” In the first half, San Diego State held the Aggies to just 9.1 percent on three-pointers and 38.7 percent on field goals. Which is far below the team's normal performance. “They're a long and athletic team,” senior Quinn Taylor said. “They got length at every position so it can bother us at times, but we were able to find a way.” It helped that the Aztecs weren’t much better off, with a field goal percentage of 21.4 in the first half. Redshirt freshman Justin Bean said the Aggies’ defensive strength was key in holding off San Diego State. “For us it all starts on defense,” he said. “This year we've been really good defensively — the top five in the country in defensive field goal percentage. And so we know when we play to our strengths that offensively it'll take care of itself.” In the end, this defensive energy allowed Utah State to come away with a victory over the Aztecs. “We know we're a good shooting team typically, so we know when those aren't falling we have to find another way,” Bean said. “Tonight we did that with our energy and just trusting coach and the game plan and doing what we have to do.” Up next, Utah State will face Nevada on Saturday in the Spectrum. The Wolfpack is currently ranked number one in the Mountain West Conference and 12th in the nation. Game time is scheduled for 6:30 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. |