Utah State Hopes To Start Winning Streak Against UNLV
Feb 4, 2020, 2:02 PM | Updated: 2:03 pm
Abel Porter (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies are coming off of a loss on Saturday evening when they fell to No. 4 San Diego State. They hope to get back on track when they face the UNLV Rebels.
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Utah State is 17-7 overall and 6-5 in Mountain West Conference play. They have won three of their last four games and are in fifth place in the conference standings.
UNLV is 11-12 overall and 6-4 in conference play. The Rebels have lost three straight, including their last two games on the road, while sitting in fourth place in the Mountain West.
The Rebels lead the all-time series against Utah State 33-8. Since joining the MWC in 2013, Utah State is 5-6 against UNLV, including a 4-2 record at home.
The Aggies played their first conference game this season at UNLV where the Rebels picked up a 70-53 win. Bryce Hamilton scored 20 points off the bench for UNLV in that game, while Justin Bean led the Aggies with 17 points and 11 boards.
Aggies Showed Signs Of 2018-19 Season
Against San Diego State on Saturday, Utah State showed signs of the team that went to the NCAA Tournament last season and won the Mountain West Conference Tournament and regular season championships.
They went on a 14-0 run in the first half before taking a 39-31 lead at the halftime break. San Diego State was rolling in the second half and outscored Utah State 49-29, leading to an 80-68 win over the Aggies.
Wednesday night ➡️ #SpectrumMagic Night is BACK‼️@usuHURD be there early and loud! #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/d2orUFFhaJ
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 4, 2020
Utah State is led by defending conference Player of the Year Sam Merrill with 17.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4 assists per game average. Justin Bean is adding 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest. Neemias Queta was starting to get back to full health before a SDSU player landed on his knee in the final moments of the game.
His status for the clash with UNLV is unknown.
UNLV Struggling
The Rebels’ three-game skid came against Nevada by 14 points on the road, four points at home to San Diego State and an 18-point loss at Colorado State.
Leading the way for UNLV is Bryce Hamilton with 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds. Amauri Hardy is contributing 14.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists, while Elijah Mitrou-Long is posting 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest.
Final from Fort Collins pic.twitter.com/wvLY4MVHgS
— UNLV Men's Basketball (@TheRunninRebels) February 1, 2020
UNLV has a player who transferred from the University of Utah in Donnie Tillman. The former Ute is recording 10.8 points and 5 rebounds per game.
The Aggies and Rebels will square off on Wednesday evening at the Spectrum in Logan. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
