By: Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State matched its longest winning streak of the season at five with a dominating 103-73 victory over San José State on Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Junior guard
Sam Merrill led all scorers in the game with 29 points and eight assists as the Aggies (16-5, 6-2 Mountain West) recorded their most wins in the month of January (six) since the 2010-11 campaign, when that club went 7-0.
All 11 Aggies that checked into the game scored at least two points, including three others that joined Merrill in double figures in redshirt freshman guard
Brock Miller (14), freshman guard
Tauriawn Knight (11) and freshman center
Neemias Queta (11).
Queta recorded his fourth double-double of the season as he also grabbed 11 boards, helping Utah State outrebound SJSU 38-35 as every Aggie that played also logged at least one rebound. The 6-foot-11, 225-pounder also had three of the Aggies' six blocks on the night.
Quinn Taylor filled the stat sheet for the Aggies and nearly recorded a triple-double in doing so. The senior forward had eight points, eight rebounds, a career-high nine assists, two blocks and one steal in 25 minutes of action.
Michael Steadman scored 20 points off the bench to lead the Spartans (3-16, 0-7 MW), who lost for the 11th consecutive time. Noah Baumann added 15 points for SJSU, which shot 45.5 percent on the field (25-of-55).
Utah State improved to 62-22 all-time against San José State, including 35-4 at home. The Aggies have won 27 straight at home over the Spartans.
USU shot 48.6 percent from the field on the night (35-of-72), including 29.7 percent from 3-point range (11-of-37), and 91.7 percent from the free throw line (22-of-24). Of the Aggies' 35 made baskets, 28 were assisted as eight different players recorded at least one dime.
The Aggies led 51-33 at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half. Merrill's final two points of the night gave Utah State its largest lead of the game, 92-61, with 5:40 remaining. USU then hit the century mark on a layup by Knight, making it 101-73 with 64 seconds left.
It marked the third time this year and 100th time in program history that the Aggies have scored 100 or more in a game.
The Spartans scored the first three points of the game on an old-fashioned three-point play by Baumann just 25 seconds into the contest. Taylor got the Aggies on the board at the 19:08 mark with a jumper along the right baseline, but another basket at the other end by SJSU's Craig LeCesne made it 5-2 for the visitors.
The Spartans took their final lead of the game at 14-13 when Ashtin Chastain scored on a layup with 14:12 to go in the first half, but the Aggies took control from there.
Utah State used a game-changing 24-5 run to open up a 37-19 lead with 4:04 remaining in the first half. That's the same margin the Aggies took into the break with them after Merrill hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send USU into the break with a 51-33 lead.
Merrill's fourth 3-pointer of the half came after first-year Utah State head coach
Craig Smith called a timeout with 2.6 seconds showing on the clock following a pair of free throws by SJSU's Brae Ivey.
In taking their 18-point lead at the break, the Aggies shot 55.6 percent from the field (20-of-36) in the first half and had 16 assists on those 20 made baskets.
Utah State will remain at home on Saturday, Feb. 2, when the Aggies welcome UNLV (11-9, 5-3 MW) to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The game, which will be televised live on AT&T SportsNet, is slated to tip at 2:30 p.m.
Utah State men's basketball news and information is available on Facebook (facebook.com/usumensbasketball), on Twitter (@usubasketball) and on Instagram (@usubasketball). Fans can also get USU men's basketball highlights on YouTube (youtube.com/utahstateathletics). Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter (@usuathletics), on Facebook (facebook.com/usuathletics) or on Instagram (@usuathletics).
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