Queta Dominates, Suffers Injury Late In Utah State’s Win Over Boise State
Feb 8, 2020, 11:03 PM | Updated: 11:04 pm
Neemias Queta #23 of the Utah State Aggies is helped off the floor after being injured against the Florida Gators during the first half of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at BB&T Center on December 21, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State center Neemias Queta showed his dominance despite being injured in the final seconds of the Aggies’ win over the Boise State Broncos.
The Aggies hosted the Broncos at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan on Saturday, February 8.
Queta led Utah State with a team-high 21 points on 5-8 field goals. The Aggie center added 11-14 from the free-throw line. He pulled down 8 rebounds and swatted 5 blocks helping Utah State to a 70-61 victory over Boise State.
During the final seconds of the game, Queta jumped for a block and appeared to land on a Boise State player’s foot. After seconds of writhing on the floor in pain, play was stopped and Queta was assisted by Utah State personnel. He was able to stand up and walk off the court to the USU bench with 11.1 seconds remaining.
Definitely hope everything is ok with Queta, but the look on his face as he walked off is a look of concern. Its hard to see but it looks like his right foot comes down on BSU player's foot. @matthewLksl is at the game. Follow him for updates. @KSLSports #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/cHyb9uaE1s
— Sam Farnsworth (@SFarnsworthKSL) February 9, 2020
Queta spoke about the injury after the game.
“I just fell on my knee,” said Queta. “I think I’ll be good. We’ll see.”
“I just fell on my knee…I think I’ll be good. We’ll see.”
-Queta on his knee— Matthew L Glade (@matthewLksl) February 9, 2020
Utah State guard Sam Merrill poured in 17 points on 4-7 shooting. Merrill spent much of the second half on the bench after committing four fouls. He is four points away from reaching 2,000 career points.
Abel with the STOP.
Sam with the FINISH!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/lXa9gJOff1
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 9, 2020
Diogo Brito added 11 points off the bench.
:58 seconds
➡️ @nemi1599 BLOCK!
➡️ @Ah_bell DRIVE!
➡️ @DiogoBrito24 AND 1!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/KB3RWct5DT— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 9, 2020
The Aggies closed the game with only one made field goal in the final 6:17 of game time. Brito connected on a layup with 11 seconds remaining.
Diogo Brito's layup with 11 seconds left was @USUBasketball's first field goal since Neemias Queta's layup with 6:17 remaining.
USU closed the game with a 17-14 edge in the final minutes, primarily from the foul line.@kslsports #AggiesAllTheWay
— Kyle Ireland (@kyleireland) February 9, 2020
USU outscored Boise State 17-14 over the final six minutes of play, primarily from the free-throw stripe by shooting 15-16 at the line during that stretch.
Aggies 15-16 on free throws in the final 6 minutes. https://t.co/dryHultt9q
— Matthew L Glade (@matthewLksl) February 9, 2020
Utah State finished the game shooting 38.0 percent from the field and 10.5 percent from behind the arc. The Aggies shot 2-19 from three against the Broncos.
Boise State shot 35.5 percent overall and 20.7 percent from distance.
The Broncos were led by Justinian Jessup’s 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
With the loss, Boise State fell to 16-9 on the season and 8-5 in Mountain West Conference games.
Utah State picked up its 19th win of the 2019-20 schedule to improve to 19-7 and 8-5 in MWC play.
The Aggies sit in third place in the Mountain West standings.
FINAL | 🔵🔵
You DON'T come to The Spectrum expecting to win!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/DU9K8gCXHJ
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 9, 2020
Next up for USU is a trip to Fort Collins, Colorado to play the Colorado State Rams. The Aggies and Rams are scheduled to play on Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m. (MDT). The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
