Another Justin Bean double-double helps Utah state sweep Nevada

by



[ad_1]

LOGAN – Nevada knew they could eventually score on Utah State as they entered the penultimate week of the regular season with a trip to Cache Valley.

What the wolf pack couldn’t do was bounce back.

Thanks to Neemias Queta and Justin Bean, the Aggies made sure of it.

Queta had 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists; and Justin Bean added 17 points, 13 rebounds and four assists to help Utah State complete the Wolf Pack’s two-game sweep, 87-66, Sunday night at the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum in Logan.

The Aggies tallied 30 rebounds from Nevada’s 33 missed shots and added 17 offensive boards, led by six each from Queta and Bean. Even the 7-foot Portuguese center admitted Bean was the key to this offensive dominance.

“Bean is just a hard working player, and it’s so hard to stop him,” Queta said. “Sometimes when I have to box him in the middle of training, even I have a hard time doing it.

“He’s really important to us, and he just makes these tough guys play so it’s a really good experience playing with him.”

Bean’s double-double was his sixth of the season at Utah State and the 23rd of his career after also scoring 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-72 win over the Wolf Pack on Friday. His 13 rebounds, a season-high, broke the tie for the fifth most double-digit games in Aggie basketball history with Bob Lauriski (1971-73) and Wayne Estes (1963- 65).

Bean is now tied with Mike Santos (1975-78) for the fourth-most double-digit rebound play in school history.

“He had some huge offensive rebounds today, and when he’s knocking down shots like that it’s fun to be on the field,” Utah State senior Alphonso Anderson said at About Bean. “We’re trying to get a little mojo into the court.

Queta, of course, was not bad himself. The NBA junior draft prospect who tied his career with six assists had his 11th double-double of the season, the 25th of his career, and moved to Bean’s place on the two-rebound list. digits of all time – now the sixth largest number. – and collected his fifth career game with a double-double in the same game as Bean.

Marco Anthony had 11 points and three assists for Utah State (16-7, 13-4 MW), and Anderson added 12 points for the Aggies, scoring in double digits for just the sixth time this season in as a native of Tacoma, Washington. celebrated Senior Day with a rare start.

Utah State has one home game remaining, a makeup date with Wyoming on Thursday that was added late due to a series cancellation by COVID-19, but chose to celebrate its senior class on Sunday.

Neemias Queta stops a rebound against Nevada, Sunday, February 28, 2021 in Logan.
Neemias Queta stops a rebound against Nevada, Sunday, February 28, 2021 in Logan. (Photo: Eli Lucero, The Herald Journal via AP, Pool)

“I put in a lot of work, I work hard in training and it was exciting,” said Anderson. “When he told me, I was super excited. But that doesn’t mean the job is done.

“I just have to keep working hard so that we can keep winning games.”

Desmond Cambridge had 13 points and four rebounds for Nevada (14-9), who lost three games behind third place Aggies at Mountain West with a 9-7 record and a week before the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas .

After a slow start, Utah State topped a 15-2 run to take a 23-10 lead over Anderson’s layup with 10:08 left in the half.

The Aggies’ offense clicked, despite shooting just 1 in 7 at 3 points. But more importantly, nothing was working for Nevada, who opened the game shooting just 4 of 13 from the field and did not collect an offensive rebound in the first half.

Queta had 8 points, six rebounds and a block in just nine minutes as the Aggies pushed the lead as high as 15, 25-10, and Utah State continued to pass the field 23-15 while helping 11 of 13. first. -Half-buckets en route to a 39-23 lead at the break. The Wolf Pack had a short run at halftime, but a 47-24 rebound deficit kept the visitors at bay for most of the half.

“We really have to lock down the defense,” Anderson said. “When a team is down, those first minutes are crucial; either you give them life or you take them away.

“We knew we had to be better defensively (than Friday) … and after that time out I think we really came together offensively and defensively.”

Coming back from a lower leg injury that kept him from going out for three weeks, Rollie Worster returned to the Aggies roster. The rookie didn’t start, but he knocked down a 3-point pointer with just under three minutes left in the first half for his first bucket since Feb. 4 at Fresno State.

Worster finished with 3 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 14 minutes.

“From day one, Rollie was a talented kid with terrific moxia, tenacity and composure as a player – for all ages, not to mention a true rookie,” said the coach of Utah State Craig Smith. “I thought you could feel that tonight. All of our guys believe in him; he’s a great defensive player, and we really missed him on the defensive end of the pitch, especially with Brock (Miller) back number. .

“Brock is sick, and I think you got to see that tonight. So it felt good to have (Worster) back.”

The State of Utah kept their foot on the gas during the halftime break, in large part because of the rebound. Nevada had just one offensive tip in the first eight minutes of half-time, shooting just 6 of 13 from the field to keep the Aggies lead despite shooting just 31.3 percent from the field at the start of the season. half.

The State of Utah led with up to 26 points in a game they led for every but 51 seconds, and moved the ball with 22 assists on 29 field goals.

The Aggies shot just 4 of 22 from a distance of 3 points, but forced 19 turnovers with 11 interceptions, outscored the Wolf Pack 42-24 in the paint and added 24 second chance points on 17 offensive rebounds.

“I never thought we were really going,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “We were completely destroyed on the glass, and in transition. Those were the two biggest keys to this game, and we just got really bad beat there.”

The Aggies have made a lot of “hard” plays, Smith said. And few were harder than Bean.

“We eliminated the loss,” added third-year coach Aggie. “I thought we did a really good job taking care of the ball and playing with good rhythm that way.

“We didn’t shoot very well; the other night it was 11 for 21, but tonight we probably forced a few lines … and took a few out of the beat. But we did a lot. of shoving games, got hold of a lot of balls, forced 19 turnovers, and were really very active on the ball. “

Related stories

Other stories that might interest you



[ad_2]

Source link