Utah State loses to Colorado State to Split the Series

For the first time since a December 5th loss to BYU (67-64), Utah State has lost a game, this time in a 84-76 game against Colorado State. This was Utah State’s first conference loss of the season and Boise State now stands alone as the only undefeated team in conference. Utah State was outscored in both halves, 37-35 in the first half and 47-41 in the second half.

Brock Miller led the Aggies in points with 14 on 4-10 shooting (40%), going 4-10 from three (40%), and 2-3 from the free throw line (66.6%). He also had two rebounds and three personal fouls. Neemias Queta had 13 points and had a perfect shooting percentage (5-5) and free throw percentage (3-3). In addition to the points he had five rebounds (four defensive, one offensive), three assists, two steals, two blocks, three turnovers, and four personal fouls. Rollie Worster had 12 point on 4-7 shooting (57%), 2-4 from three (50%), 2-2 from the free throw line. He had four rebounds (one defensive, three offensive), five assists, two steals, three turnovers, and a personal foul. Justin Bean posted eight points on 4-10 shooting (40%) and was 0-3 from three. He had six rebounds (five defensive, one offensive), two assists, two steals, a turnover, and a personal foul. Marco Anthony scored six points, 2-9 shooting (22.2%), 0-2 from three, 2-5 from the free throw line (40%). He also posted six rebounds (four defensive, two offensive), two assists, two turnovers, and five personal foul.

Off the bench, Alphonso Anderson and Steven Ashworth both scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (57.1%) and 3-14 shooting (21.4%) respectively. Alphonso Anderson also had three offensive rebounds, a turnover, and three personal fouls. Steven Ashworth had two rebounds, five assists, four turnovers, and four personal fouls.

Utah State shot 27-64 as a team (42.2%) and was 8-31 from three (25.8%), in addition to 14-22 (63.6%) from the free throw line. Colorado State shot 25-50 (50%) was 9-20 from the three point line (45%), and 25-29 from the free throw line (86.2%). Despite the loss Utah State did outrebound Colorado State, 35-32, and the streak of the Aggies outrebounding their opponents continues. Colorado State had 18 assists compared to Utah State’s 17 and also had more steals and blocks than Utah State, a 9-6 and 4-2 advantage. Utah State had 15 turnovers compared to Colorado State’s 13 and both teams had 23 fouls.

Utah State has been playing good basketball consistently but they weren’t as consistent in this game. Shooting 42.2 percent and especially going 8-31 on threes is not helpful in the first place. Colorado State is also looking like a really good team this year so giving them opportunities to stay around is not ideal. The Aggies shooting percentage was the ultimate reason as to why they weren’t able to win. Colorado State had a significantly better percentage, even from the free throw line while Utah State went 14-22. UNLV is up next for Utah State, which may be a trickier series than it appears to be, before a series against Fresno State and Wyoming and an eventual series against Boise State.

The Aggies were coming off a big series against San Diego State but after the loss to Colorado State, though a good team, it does seem like a little bit of a letdown. Utah State is still considered to be a NCAA tournament team but considering that they were predicted to land in the First Four, they may need to get some big wins down the road, even against Boise State, if they want to get deeper into the field.