MBB NOTES - Utah State Facing Another In-State Foe on Saturday Afternoon

Aggies and Wildcats will tip at 2:30 p.m. on AT&T Sports Net

Men's Basketball 12/6/2018 8:38:00 PM

Utah State (7-2) will play the second of two in-state foes this week with a game against Weber State (5-3) at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 2:30 p.m., as part of the annual Beehive Classic. Fans can watch the game live on AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 683, Dish 414, Comcast 52).

Opening Tips
• Utah State and Weber State will be meeting for the 71st time on Saturday, marking the eight-longest series in USU history. The Aggies lead the all-time series 42-28, but the Wildcats have won each of the last two.

• Utah State is 3-5 all-time at Vivint Smart Home Arena with victories over Southern Utah (76-63) during the 1994-95 season, Wyoming (73-72) during the 1996-97 season and San Diego State (64-61) during the 1997-98 season.

• Utah State has outrebounded every opponent this season and ranks sixth in the nation in rebounding margin (+13.2).

• Utah State has recorded double-digit offensive rebounds in all but two games this season and has pulled down 30 or more defensive rebounds in all but one game this season.

• Utah State has recorded 40 or more rebounds in a game six times already this season, matching the entirety of the 2017-18 campaign.

• Utah State has had four different players score 20 or more points over the opening nine games. Furthermore, USU has had five different players lead the team in scoring over the first nine games of the season.

• Utah State has limited seven of its nine opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor and ranks 25th in the nation and leads the Mountain West in field goal percentage defense (.379).

• Junior guard Sam Merrill became the 38th Aggie to surpass 1,000 points in his career with his 17 points at UC Irvine. Merrill currently has 1,024 career points to rank No. 34 in school history.

• Freshman center Neemias Queta has recorded at least one block in every game this season, making it the longest streak for an Aggie since the 2014-15 season.

Scouting Weber State
Weber State enters the game with an overall mark of 5-3 and coming off of a loss at Fresno State, 71-52, on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats are scoring 85.5 points per game and shooting 48.7 percent (239-of-491) from the floor, 38.6 percent (64-of-166) from behind the 3-point line and 72.1 percent (142-of-197) at the free throw line. Junior guard Jerrick Harding leads WSU individually with 22.7 points per game, followed by junior guard Cody John with 17.0 points per game and senior post Zach Braxton with 10.4 points per game. Braxton also paces the Wildcats on the glass, averaging 7.9 rebounds per game. Senior forward Brekkott Chapman leads Weber with 22 assists, averaging 2.8 per game.

Defensively, teams are averaging 74.0 points per game against the Wildcats and shooting 42.7 percent (220-of-515) from the floor, 32.7 percent (50-of-153) from behind the 3-point line and 64.2 percent (102-of-159) at the free throw line. Chapman leads the team with 14 blocks and is second on the team with 11 steals, trailing only Harding with a team-best 13.

Big Sky Opponents
Weber State will mark the second opponent from the Big Sky Conference that the Aggies will have faced this season. USU opened the year with a 101-71 victory at Montana State and is 251-116 all-time against the Big Sky, making it the second-most played conference in USU history.

Looking Back at the Beehive
Utah State lost 77-67 to the University of Utah in last year's Beehive Classic. USU's Quinn Taylor celebrated his birthday that night and scored a career-high 22 points, knocking down a then-career-high four 3-point field goals.

The Utah State/Weber State Series - Did you know?
• The team that has had the lead at the half has won each of the last three.

• The team that has had the better second half in scoring has gone on to win the game five of the last six contests.

• Weber State's average margin of victory in its three wins over the last 10 is 7.3 points, while Utah State's average margin of victory in its seven wins over the last 10 is 7.7.

• Weber State's largest margin of victory in the all-time series is 32, a 108-76 victory in Ogden on Dec. 14, 1985. Utah State's largest margin of victory in the all-time series is 26, posted twice in a 92-66 victory on Jan. 22, 1975 and a 75-49 win on Nov. 25, 2008.

• The team that has out shot its opponent from the floor has won the game nine of the last 10 meetings.

• The team that has converted more free throws has lost each of the last three.

• The battle of the boards has won the war over the last 10 as the team that has won the rebounding battle has won the game eight of the last 10 meetings.

• The same can be said of assists, as the team with more assists has won the game nine of the last 10 meetings.

• The game features a pair of former members of the Utah State coaching staff in Weber State head coach Randy Rahe, who was an assistant coach at USU from 1999-2004, and Weber State assistant coach David Marek, who was on the USU coaching staff from 2015-16.

• Utah State guards Sam Merrill and Abel Porter were on the same AAU team as Weber State senior forward Brekkott Chapman.

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