The Utah State men’s basketball team entered the Mountain West Conference Tournament earlier with this week with designs on winning it. Now the Aggies not only will get that opportunity after beating Colorado State 62-50, they’ll get the opportunity against a familiar foe.
The Aggies will face the San Diego State Aztecs in the tournament championship game on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Aztecs beat Nevada on Saturday to advance to a game where they have met Utah State each of the last two seasons. And for two straight seasons, the Aggies have gotten the best of them.
But things will be a little bit different for the third installment of what has become a legitimate rivalry. The Aggies last year had Sam Merrill, a guard now with the Milwaukee Bucks who was entrusted with making the big plays and taking the big shots. His 3-pointer was the difference in last year’s championship game.
This year’s Utah State team, on the contrary, is more egalitarian. On any given night, any player — from Neemias Queta to Justin Bean to Marco Anthony to Brock Miller — can have himself a scoring binge or a put on a defensive clinic.
It’s that depth that the Aggies might need to tap into in order to beat the Aztecs three times in one season, and three championship games in a row.
“This year, we’re the definition of a team even more, I’d say,” said Queta, who had a career-high nine blocks against the Rams on Friday. “Everybody can step up every game. Everybody can score 20 points every game. We’re a lot more balanced as a team. I just feel that this year is really good for us because we can just play basketball and see who’s going and be able to find everybody and just make sure everybody is in a good groove.”
The Aztecs last year featured guard Malachi Flynn, who was drafted by the Toronto Raptors. Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel are shouldering the load this season on offense. San Diego State is also riding a 13-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s matchup.
“They’re very good,” Aggies coach Craig Smith said. “We have the ultimate respect for them. They don’t beat themselves. If you’re going to beat them, you have to really earn it.”
Utah State actually did earn two wins over the Aztecs in the regular season, and did it in back-to-back games at home in mid-January. USU only won by five points in the second game. At the time, the Aztecs had a lengthy road winning streak and hadn’t lost two games in a row in quite some time.
“San Diego State is going to be incredibly focused,” Smith said. “They’re going to be very, very well-prepared. But they always are. But they’re going to have a different level of juice. There’s no question about that. So we’re going to need to be ready.”
The Aggies and Rams played the late game Friday, which didn’t end until well after midnight. USU has a short turnaround before playing the Aztecs, who played right before USU.
But the Aggies aren’t looking to rest any time soon. Not until the job is done. After beating Colorado State, Bean tweeted, “Getting tired is overrated.”
“So many student athletes in any respective sport can play their whole career — four years, five years — and never play in a championship game,” Smith said. “It’s an incredible opportunity. I know our guys will find a way to be the best that we can be and hopefully we can put our best foot forward.”
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