After defeating UNLV to advance in the Mountain West tournament, Utah State took down three seed Colorado State to advance to the championship game against San Diego State. Utah State outscored Colorado State in both halves, 32-28 in the first and 30-22 in the second.
Neemias Queta was the leading scorer for the Aggies, putting up 18 points on 6-14 shooting (42.9%) and going 6-6 from the free throw line. He also had 14 rebounds (nine defensive, five offensive), an eye popping nine blocks, two turnovers, and three personal fouls. Justin Bean put up 13 points on 4-7 shooting (57.1%), going 5-6 from the free throw line (83.3%). Bean had 11 rebounds (seven defensive, four offensive), an assist, a steal, two blocks, and two personal fouls. Brock Miller scored 11 points on 4-12 shooting (33.3%), going 3-11 from three (27.3%). Miller also had a rebound, two assists, two steals, a turnover, and two personal fouls. Marco Anthony put up seven points on 3-9 shooting (33.3%), and going 1-4 from three (25%). Anthony had five rebounds (two defensive, three offensive), five assists, and a turnover. Rollie Worster had five points off of 2-7 shooting (28.6%), going 1-3 from three (33.3%). He also had seven rebounds, four assists, five turnovers, and two personal fouls.
Off the bench, Alphonso Anderson was the only player to score points, putting up eight points on 3-9 shooting (33.3%) and going 2-4 from the three point line. He had five rebounds (three defensive, two offensive), a steal, two turnovers, and three personal fouls. Steven Ashworth didn’t put up any points but he did have two rebounds, four assists, and a personal foul.
Utah State shot 22-61 as a team (36.1%), going 7-25 from three (28%), and Colorado State went 17-67 (25.4%), going 3-19 from three (15.8%). From the free throw line Utah State was 11-14 (78.6%) while Colorado State was 13-18 (72.2%). Utah State had 50 rebounds compared to Colorado State’s 43 and had 16 assists compared to Colorado State’s six. The Rams had seven steals to the Aggies four but the Aggies had 11 blocks to the Rams four. Utah State had 12 turnovers to Colorado State’s six and had 14 fouls to the Rams 16.
The largest lead of the game for the Aggies was 16 points and for much of the night they struggled offensively to get things done but they were able to find some success with offensive rebounds. The Rams are currently in a battle with San Diego State in the second half and they are having much of the same offensive problems that they had against Colorado State as the Aztecs are a tough defensive team. While the Aggies would surely want to win the conference tournament, it isn’t a must win scenario. With the recent win over Colorado State, who was a bubble team, the Aggies should build their case to be one of the last teams let into the tournament as other bubble teams such as Boise State have lost and Duke was eliminated from the ACC tournament, creating a potential opening.