Aggies Crush UC Irvine, 89-65
Dec 1, 2018, 10:42 PM | Updated: Dec 2, 2018, 1:44 pm
IRVINE, Calif. – Utah State dominated the glass and cruised to an easy 89-65 victory over UC Irvine.
Utah State won wire-to-wire as they took a 37-27 halftime lead and exploded for 52 more points in the second half to stop UC Irvine.
HUGE. ROAD. WIN.
Aggies take down UC Irvine 89-65 to move to 7-1 on the season! #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/wUmTDe8FDn
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 2, 2018
Aggies Came Prepared To Play
The Aggies outrebounded the Anteaters 41-27, led by freshman Neemias Queta who had a monstrous double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds.
Quinn Taylor led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting with five 3-pointers made.
“Our coaching staff does a great job preparing us,” said Taylor after the game. “We know what we’re going to face every time we go out on the floor. They prepare us and set the game plan. We’ve executed the game plan perfectly. It showed in the score. They set us up for success, and then they put it on us to bring it every night and we’ve been doing that.”
Merrill Hits 1,000-Point Mark
Sam Merrill hit the 1,000 career points milestone with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds.
THERE. IT. IS.
Welcome to the 1,000 point club @smerrill05!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/DifeQEuRCH
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 2, 2018
“When I think of Sam (Merrill), there’s so many things that come to mind, but efficiency is right there at the top,” said Utah State head coach Craig Smith.
Next Up
The Aggies will next head to Provo to face BYU on Wednesday. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on BYUtv.
