LARAMIE, Wyo.-Tuesday evening, Utah State men’s basketball (16-6, 5-4 in Mountain West Conference play) visits Wyoming (5-16, 0-9 in Mountain West play) as the Aggies seek to win their third consecutive game in league play.
The Aggies have won three out of their last four games and over the course of the past 160 minutes of play, they have led for all but 14:35 of game time.
In this same four-game stretch, Utah State has only allowed opponents to shoot 38.2 percent from the field.
Conversely, in Saturday’s 77-61 win over Colorado State, the Aggies shot a season-best 59.2 percent (29-49) from the field and connected at a 68 percent clip (17-25) in the second half against the Rams.
Utah State’s reversal of adversity reflects well upon head coach Craig Smith (44-13, .772 at Utah State; 123-68, .644 as a collegiate head coach) in his second season at Logan.
The Aggies are presently scoring 78.2 points per game. This ranks Utah State 31st nationally in scoring offense. The Aggies rank third nationally in total rebounds, having hauled in 904 boards on the season. Utah State also is tied for sixth nationally in total assists (366), sharing this distinction with BYU.
Senior guard Sam Merrill (18.1 points per game) remains the Aggies’ leading scorer.
Sophomore forward Justin Bean (13.2 points per game, a team-best 10.4 rebounds per game) has netted 228 rebounds on the season. This ties him for ninth nationally with William & Mary forward/center Nathan Knight and Omaha forward Matt Pile. Bean’s 21 blocked shots also lead the Aggies in that category.
Portuguese national, sophomore center Neemias Queta (11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds) is hitting his stride for the Aggies. Queta has only played in 10 of Utah State’s 22 games on the season.
Queta’s fellow Portuguese national, senior guard Diogo Brito, leads Utah State with 37 steals on the season and junior guard Abel Porter has a team-best 83 assists for the Aggies.
Utah State surrenders 64.5 points per game, ranking the Aggies 63rd nationally in scoring defense.
In his fourth season as Wyoming’s head coach, Allen Edwards (56-68, .452) is having his worst season to date as he is still seeking his first Mountain West win of the season.
The Cowboys average only 60 points per game, ranking them 344th nationally out of 350 Division I schools.
Redshirt sophomore guard Hunter Maldonado leads Wyoming in scoring (16.9 points per game), rebounding (5.8 boards per game), assists (84) and steals (23).
Senior guard Jake Hendricks (10.3 points per game) is the only other Cowboy to score in double figures on-average this season. Incidentally, Hendricks grew up miles away from the Utah State campus as he is a native of Smithfield, Utah.
Sophomore forward Hunter Thompson leads Wyoming in blocked shots with 13 swats on the season.
The Cowboys surrender 67.3 points per game, ranking Wyoming 125th nationally in scoring defense.
The Cowboys have traditionally dominated this series, leading the Aggies 51-29 at home and 30-7 at Laramie, Wyo.
