If you’re looking for a no-brainer T-shirt idea for the Utah State Aggies, “Been there, done that” seems perfectly appropriate.
For the third straight year, the Aggies begin their postseason journey as the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Tournament while being viewed as being “on the bubble” for the NCAA Tournament.
And considering that in both 2019 and ’20, Utah State won all three of its games to leave Las Vegas with the tourney title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Aggies certainly have every right to feel optimistic heading into 2021’s postseason.
“It is a new experience for a lot of our guys,” noted Craig Smith, who has yet to lose a conference tournament game as head coach of the Aggies. “… We have eight guys that have never been here or experienced this, so from that respect, it might be different.
“But we have some veteran guys, too, in (Neemias) Queta, (Justin) Bean, Fonz (Alphonso Anderson) and Brock Miller that have been down this road a couple of different times. And that experience should help us.”
The Aggies (18-7) will open MWC Tournament play at 7 p.m. (MST) Thursday against UNLV (12-14) at the Thomas & Mack Center. The seventh-seeded Rebels roughed up No. 10 Air Force, 80-52, Wednesday afternoon in a first-round game.
Utah State split the regular-season series with the Rebels, falling 59-56, on Jan. 25, then rebounding for an 83-74 win two nights later. Those two games were played on UNLV’s home court, but without the benefit of Rebels fans in the stands. That will continue on Thursday as the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated this year’s tournament being held without fans.
“We’re excited to play; it’s obviously going to be a home court game for them,” Smith said. “It will be a little different without the fans at the tournament, but there’s certainly still a lot of familiarity with them. They’re sleeping in their own beds and playing on their home court, so you have piece of it, as well.” — USU coach Craig Smith, on facing UNLV
“We’re excited to play; it’s obviously going to be a home court game for them,” Smith said. “It will be a little different without the fans at the tournament, but there’s certainly still a lot of familiarity with them. They’re sleeping in their own beds and playing on their home court, so you have piece of it, as well.
“The only thing that won’t be home is the floor.”
In the loss to the Rebels, the Aggies had one of their worst offensive outings of the year, shooting a season-low 32.8% as a team, including a woeful 21.4% in the second half. Junior guard Marco Anthony ended up leading the team with 18 points, but big men Queta and Bean combined to go just 7 for 20 from the field for 18 points.
In the rematch, freshman guard Rollie Worster led the way with his best game as an Aggie, racking up 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in 38 minutes. Utah State also got 15 points from Miller, and much better performances from Queta (13 points, eight rebounds) and Bean (13 points, nine rebounds).
Rebels junior guard David Jenkins, who had 14 points in UNLV’s win, was a force in the loss, going 12 of 21 from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, on his way to 33 points.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Anderson said of facing the Rebels for a third time. “… They got some guys that can really put the ball in the hole. One of my old high school teammates, David Jenkins, plays for them, and he can really shoot the ball. Bryce Hamilton can score very well, and (Caleb) Grill can shoot it.
“They’ve got a lot of different guys that can get hot at certain moments, so we’ve got to be sound defensively and make them score in touch situations.”
UNLV had lost three of its last four games heading into Wednesday’s clash with Air Force, but the Rebels had little trouble with the Falcons (5-20) thanks to shooting 63% from the floor in the first half. Already up by 18 at halftime, UNLV led by as many as 32 points in the second half.
Jenkins knocked down 6 of 9 3-point attempts on his way to a game-high 21 points, while Hamilton added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Rebels.
“Those guys can really, really get it going in a hurry,” Smith said of UNLV. “… We’re going to have to defend at a really high level. They’re such a rhythm team, and they’re explosive. They can go, bam, bam, bam, really quick as a team and individually.”
Utah State has never won three straight conference tournament championships, and this time the Aggies will be trying to do it without the help of guard Sam Merrill. The Bountiful High product, who was named the MVP of the last two Mountain West tourneys, is now in the NBA as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
However, despite Merrill’s absence and the uncertainty of the pandemic, the Aggies have still managed to put themselves in the same place they’ve been the previous two seasons. Of course, after upsetting fifth-ranked San Diego State in the championship game of the last year’s tournament, the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic denied the Aggies and opportunity to go to a second straight NCAA Tournament.
“It’s like, yes, we won the tournament, but we don’t feel like we got the reward that we wanted,” said Anderson, who was named the conference’s Sixth Man of the Year earlier this week. “Personally, that’s how I feel, and I know a couple of other guys do, as well. But that just makes us hungry to come back and compete again.”
New Mexico is the only program in the history of the Mountain West Conference to capture three straight tournament titles, pulling off the hat trick with championships in 2012, ’13 and ’14.
At the moment, at least, it appears the Aggies will have Miller available for their postseason run. Utah State’s leading 3-point shooter didn’t play in USU’s last two games after aggravating a back injury in late February.
Smith said he “we anticipate Brock playing” against the Rebels, while Anderson added, “He’s good. He’s moving around well. He’s communicating, being vocal, being a leader. And you can tell he’s excited to be back.”
In the first game of the MW tournament on Wednesday, No. 8 Wyoming put up the most points in a regulation game in tourney history, burying No. 9 San Jose State, 111-80. The Cowboys (14-10) will play top-seeded San Diego State (20-4) at 1 p.m. Thursday.
In the final game of tournament play on Wednesday, No. 6 Fresno State bounced No. 11 New Mexico, 85-77. The Bulldogs will take on No. 3 Colorado State (17-5) at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, while Thursday’s other contest between No. 5 Nevada (15-9) and No. 4 Boise State (18-7) is scheduled to tip off at 3:30 p.m.
“It’s an exciting time,” Smith said. “I think it’s a wide-open tournament. It’s anybody’s ballgame, and the team that can put together the three best games in three days is going to find a way to win, obviously.
“We’re excited to be here. I like how we’re playing, but we’re going to have to play well to cut down the nets on Saturday afternoon.”