LOGAN, Utah-Saturday, Utah State men’s basketball (13-3, 2-1 in Mountain West play) hosts No. 13 (The Associated Press poll)/No. 14 (Coaches poll) San Diego State (14-0, 3-0 in Mountain West play) as the Aggies seek to shake off the ill effects of a 70-53 loss to UNLV Wednesday.
Under head coach Craig Smith (41-10, .804 at Utah State; 120-65, .649 as a collegiate head coach), the Aggies are 8-0 following a loss. Utah State has never lost back-to-back games in the Smith era, which is in its second season.
The Aggies are 22-1 (.956) at home under Smith but are 17-101 (.144) all-time against Top 25 opponents.
Utah State scores 80 points per game, ranking the Aggies 35th nationally in scoring offense.
Senior guard Sam Merrill (17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds per game) continues as Utah State’s leading scorer on the season.
The Aggies’ overall statistical leader is sophomore forward Justin Bean (14.2 points, a team-best 11.4 rebounds per game, also a team-best 20 blocked shots).
Sophomore forward Neemias Queta is a game-time decision for the Aggies, incidentally, as Smith confirmed Friday.
Junior forward Alphonso Anderson (11.5 points) and sophomore guard Brock Miller (10.2 points) also score in double figures on average for the Aggies in Queta’s absence.
Senior guard, Portuguese national Diogo Brito, leads Utah State in steals (29) and junior guard Abel Porter is the teams’ assists leader (62).
With their 683 rebounds, the Aggies continue to lead the nation in that category while surrendering 62.4 points per game. This ranks Utah State 50th nationally in scoring defense.
The Aztecs are coached by Brian Dutcher (57-24, .704) who is having his best season at the helm presently, his third overall at San Diego State.
San Diego State scores 75.6 points per game which ranks them 103rd nationally in scoring offense.
Junior guard Malachi Flynn leads the Aztecs in scoring (15.5 points per game), assists (72) and steals (21).
Junior forward Matt Mitchell (11.1 points, 4.4 rebounds per game), senior forward, New Zealander Yanni Wetzell (10.7 points, a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game) and junior guard Jordan Schakel (10.1 points per game) all score in double figures on-average for San Diego State.
Sophomore forward, Ghanaian national Nathan Mensah leads the squad with 22 blocked shots on the season.
The Aztecs’ scoring defense is stingy as they are seventh nationally by surrendering a paltry 56 points per game.
They are third nationally in scoring margin as they outscore opponents by 19.6 points per game.
The Aztecs lead the all-time series 11-5 with the Aggies having won the last two games in the series.
