LOGAN — Call it “Nevada at Utah State 2: The Pack is Back.” But like the majority of sequels, the followup to last season’s epic clash at the Spectrum was nowhere near as entertaining as the original.
The Aggies led the Wolf Pack — now boasting an almost entirely new cast of characters — from start to finish, bringing an end to their three-game losing streak with an 80-70 victory on their home floor Saturday night.
“It was a good win for the Aggies. It feels good to get back on track,” USU head coach Craig Smith declared. “I thought we had a great team effort. We played very connected on offense and defense.”
Utah State (3-3 in the Mountain West, 14-5 overall) led by as many 18 points until a late 3-point barrage by the Wolf Pack (3-2, 10-7) cut the Aggies’ advantage to as few as 10 points in the final minute.
But after three straight games of getting uncharacteristically getting beat on the boards, USU regained its rebounding intensity against Nevada and outboarded the Pack by a 43-28 margin. Utah State actually had more rebounds in the first half (31) than it did in the entire game in any of its losses to UNLV, San Diego State and Air Force.
“It’s been pretty obvious the past four games that we needed to get back to who we are,” said Smith, who had never lost even back-to-back games as the coach at Utah State prior to the Aggies’ three-game losing streak.
“And rebounding was a monster emphasis in practice the past two days. We had some heart-to-heart meetings as a team, and a lot of guys took the responsibility on themselves that they needed to be better.”
Utah State center Trevin Dorius (32) and Nevada forward Zane Meeks (15) vie for a rebound during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Utah State forward Alphonso Anderson (10) dunks as Nevada forward Zane Meeks (15) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Utah State guard Sam Merrill (5) passes the ball as Nevada guard Jazz Johnson (22) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Utah State guard Abel Porter (15) shoots as Nevada guard Jazz Johnson (22) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Utah State guard Abel Porter (15) shoots as Nevada guard Jazz Johnson (22) and guard Lindsey Drew (14) defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Utah State guard Brock Miller (22) shoots as Nevada forward Zane Meeks (15) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Nevada guard Nisre Zouzoua (5) tries to steal the ball from Utah State guard Abel Porter (15) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Utah State guard Abel Porter (15) is fouled by Nevada guard Jazz Johnson (22) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP
Nevada guard Jalen Harris (2) grabs a rebound against Utah State guards Diogo Brito (24), Sam Merrill (5), and Sean Bairstow (2) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Logan, Utah. Eli Lucero/Herald Journal via AP
Sophomore center Neemias Queta led the Aggies with 19 points and added seven rebounds, while senior guard Sam Merrill finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 38 minutes.
Senior guard Diogo Brito (12 points, six rebounds), sophomore guard Brock Miller (11 points) and junior guard Abel Porter (10 points, five rebounds, four assists) also scored in double figures for the Aggies, who shot 46.3% from the floor as a team.
Sophomore forward Justin Bean, who picked up his third foul with more than eight minutes left in the first half, was limited to just three points and four rebounds in eight minutes. But freshman guard Sean Bairstow came off the bench to help pick up the slack and logged 23 minutes while contributing eight points and three assists.
It was another solid outing for the native of Australia, who is familiar with Nevada head coach Steve Alford and Alford’s assistant Craig Neal since his brother, Cameron, played for both of them while starring at the University of New Mexico.
“I know Coach Neal a little better than Coach Alford because I went over to America when Cameron was in his senior year,” Bairstow said. “It’s always pretty friendly with them, so it was good to see them.”
Saturday’s game was the first for the Wolf Pack since Utah State upset the 12th-ranked Pack, 81-76, on March 2. What happened after that game ended up making national news due to the heated postgame reaction of Nevada guard Jordan Caroline, but with Caroline, Cody and Caleb Martin and former head coach Eric Musselman now gone, the rematch held very little drama.
Newcomer Jalen Harris, a transfer from Louisiana Tech, had a huge game for the Pack, scoring a game-high 31 points on the strength of five 3-pointers, but it wasn’t enough for Nevada, who ended up shooting 39% as a team. Senior guard Jazz Johnson, one of just two Pack players to see action on Saturday who also played in last year’s game at the Spectrum, heated up late on his way to an 18-point performance.
“I thought we responded well to another tough loss on Tuesday,” said Merrill, who was 2 for 7 from the field, but 6 for 6 from the free-throw line. “It was tough for us the last 10 days or so. We really took what happened on Tuesday night personally.
“It’s understood that that can’t be who we are. We had two really good days of practice. We had a really good night defensively, and that had to be the key. They scored quite a few points there at the end, but I thought we had a good night on the defensive end.”
Seemingly rejuvenated after looking sluggish in Tuesday’s 79-60 loss at Air Force, the Aggies came out with great energy on Saturday, particularly on the defensive end. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Miller and Bean quickly staked the home team to a 6-0 advantage, and thanks to Nevada missing its first eight shots, Utah State held onto the lead the rest of the night.
The Aggies, who led by as many as 16 points in the first half, limited Nevada to just 25% shooting on their way to a 32-23 lead at halftime. Utah State was just as steady defensively for three-fourths of the second half, until the Wolf Pack managed to make the score more respectable down the stretch.
“That’s an explosive team and the leading scoring team in Mountain West play,” Smith pointed out. “We had them at 46 with five minutes to go, then they showed what they can do. Some of that we probably semi-relaxed, but they made some tough plays too. For us to do what we did in the first 35 minutes was big time.”
Utah State, which has been dealing with a myriad of nagging injuries the past few weeks, is now looking forward to a relatively quiet week. The Aggies’ next game will be Jan. 18 at Boise State.
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