Aggies’ 21 Turnovers Too Much To Overcome In NCAA Loss To Washington
Mar 22, 2019, 7:21 PM | Updated: Mar 23, 2019, 12:28 pm
Noah Dickerson #15 of the Washington Huskies dunks against Abel Porter #15 and Neemias Queta #23 of the Utah State Aggies during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Utah State couldn’t get past Washington’s defense as they committed 21 turnovers and fell to the Huskies 78-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Sam Merrill was held scoreless in the first half, but scored 10 points in the second half. Brock Miller led the Aggies with 13 points, Neemias Queta dropped 11 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, Abel Porter chipped in 10 points.
Washington was led by Noah Dickerson with 10 points and 12 rebounds, Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaylen Nowell had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Washington Shuts Down Merrill In First Half
The Aggies started the game by exploiting the Huskies defense, scoring five unanswered points.
By the first media timeout, Utah State held an 11-8 lead, five minutes into the game. Brock Miller and Quinn Tayler combined for 9 of their 11 points.
Washington’s interior defense sparked a 9-0 run to lead 14-11 midway through the first half. They had three blocks and were doing a great job protecting the rim.
The Aggies answered with a 6-0 run to re-gain the lead back 17-14.
With under four minutes left in the opening half, the Huskies took their biggest lead of the game to that point, 34-25. Utah State had 10 turnovers in the 16 minutes of play.
After trailing by 11, Abel Porter hit a big three-pointer to trim the deficit to 8 with one minute left in the first half.
Washington went to the locker room with a 40-28 lead.
Miller finished the first half with 8 points, Justin Bean added 6 points off the bench and Porter, Neemias Queta and Taylor had 4 points apiece.
For Washington, Noah Dickerson had 14 points and Jaylen Nowell chipped in 11 points to combine for 25 of their 40 points.
Utah State had 11 first half turnovers, while the Huskies collected 5 steals and 3 blocks.
.@Ah_bell 👌👌👌#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/O12y6aZDNc
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 23, 2019
Second Half Flurry For Aggies Comes Up Short
The second half saw Utah State score five unanswered to cut the Washington lead to 40-33, just two minutes into the half.
After the Huskies pushed the lead to 12 points, the Aggies countered by cutting the deficit to 7 points, 51-44 with 12 minutes left.
Utah State had an overall run of 18-6 that brought the Huskies lead to just one point with the stretch ending in a 7-0 run.
Washington stopped the bleeding quickly with back-to-back threes by Nahziah Carter. The Huskies lead was back to seven, 60-53.
The Huskies went on an 11-2 run to put their lead to 10 with 5 minutes remaining in the game.
Brock Miller snapped that run with a deep three-pointer with four minutes left.
After the Aggies turned the ball over, Thybulle hit a three-pointer that sparked a 13-3 run to end the game.
Final: Aggies fall to Washington 78-61.
What a season it was! #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/IdspgBVvhp
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 23, 2019
