Utah State Reaches Third Straight MW Title Game With Win Over Colorado State
Mar 13, 2021, 12:39 AM
Utah State center Neemias Queta (Courtesy of Utah State Athletics)
(Courtesy of Utah State Athletics)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – For the third straight postseason, Utah State will play for the Mountain West title after beating Colorado State 62-50 on Friday.
Neemias Queta was incredible on the defensive end for Utah State in their win over Colorado State. The Mountain West Player and Defensive Player of the Year finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high 9 blocks. Justin Bean added a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Brock Miller knocked down a trio of triples to finish with 11 points.
Isaiah Stevens led the Rams with 15 points. David Roddy chipped in 12 points. The Rams made just 17 of their 67 field goal attempts, shooting 25 percent.
ROUND 2️⃣ ✅
One. More. To. Go‼️#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/dweinHJ9Rb
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 13, 2021
Not an ideal start for Colorado State as they made just one of their first eight shots but the Aggies couldn’t capitalize as they scored just six points in the first six minutes. Colorado State started hitting shots as their six point lead evaporated and the game was tied with under eight minutes left in the first half.
From that point, both teams were going back and forth, tying the game or taking a two-point lead. Brock Miller shot a three-pointer and missed before Marco Anthony collected the offensive rebound and Rollie Worster made a triple to put the Aggies ahead by one.
Utah State ended the first half on a 6-0 run while the Rams went the last 3:04 without scoring. The Aggies took a 32-28 lead into the halftime break. Justin Bean had 10 points to lead the way in the first half. Both teams shot below 40 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
Five minutes into the second half, Colorado State went cold. They scored four quick points and that was it. Utah State took advantage with a 7-0 run to take a 10-point lead with under 15 to play.
Heading down the stretch of the game, Utah State went nearly five minutes without scoring. Fortunately for Craig Smith’s team, Colorado State couldn’t take advantage as they only scored four points during that span. Utah State was up by 13 with just under five minutes remaining.
Over the next minute after that, Utah State was still scoreless and Colorado State went on a 6-0 run to pull within seven points with three minutes left.
Utah State will face San Diego State in the Mountain West Championship game on Saturday, March 13. The game will tip-off at 4 p.m. MT and will be televised on CBS.
