Spring sports were abruptly cancelled across the country to try and stop the spread of COVID-19 as we stopped large gatherings and started practicing social distancing. Just focusing on the impact to collegiate sports, we are left with some unanswered questions because of the sudden sports halt.
As such, this article series (check here for Question #1) looks to discuss some of these unanswered questions and get your take (via a poll at the bottom of the article) on the sports questions that will have to go unanswered on some level since so many sporting events were cancelled.
Question #2 - Did Utah State basketball and Sam Merrill end on a high or a low?
Clearly, Utah State and Sam Merrill finished on a high with their last game of the season. Beating what was a one-loss Aztecs team to win the Mountain West Tournament for the 2nd year in row.
Also, you can’t have a much better moment than this one in a game that big.
SAM MERRILL FOR THREE!@USUBasketball takes the lead with 2.6 seconds left#MWMadness pic.twitter.com/bZE63aQegp
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 8, 2020
So my question is not about this particular game for the Aggies. Rather, it is about the disappointment of not being able to ride this win into the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies were knocked out in the First Round of the tournament last year, and they did not get another shot at winning a game in ‘The Big Dance’ this year since the NCAA Tournament was cancelled.
For the players and the fans, that has to be a disappointment. Utah State has not won a game in the NCAA Tournament since 2001. Back then, the Aggies played in the Big West. Prior to 2001, Utah State last won a game in the NCAA Tournament back in 1970. As such, a chance at winning an NCAA Tournament game would have been a special and rare moment for the Aggies program, their players and fans. It would have been a program-first as a member of the Mountain West.
Sam Merrill has had a stellar career at Utah State, but he is a senior. If the above moment was his last moment at Utah State, that is one helluva way to walk off the court for the last time. Still, you feel for a senior that did not get to play more game(s) in the NCAA Tournament after already having earned that on the court. Instead, he finds himself in an uncertain environment where preparing for the NBA draft is even a tentative process should the date of the draft change and camps/combines be postponed or cancelled altogether.
I write all of this because I just don’t know how to qualify this season for Utah State. Do you feel more happy about how the season ended or more jipped? Same for Sam Merrill who should be remembered as one of the best players in the history of that program. You don’t just replace a player like that.
So Utah State fans, MWC basketball fans, and just any other sports fans that are reading this, did the season end on a high or a low for Utah State and Sam Merrill?
Poll
How do you feel the season ended for Utah State and Sam Merrill?
This poll is closed
-
50%
On a high (Aggies winning the Mountain West Tournament that way says it all.)
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50%
On a low (This team led by Sam Merrill should have had the chance to create more moments in the NCAA Tournament.)
Also, please leave your thoughts in the comments below about how the season ended for the Aggies.