USU Tournament Notes | Listen Live | Live Stats
Utah State (25-6, 15-3 MW) enters the Mountain West Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will open play against either New Mexico (13-17, 7-11 MW) or Wyoming (8-23, 4-14 MW) on Thursday, March 14, at 7 p.m. (MT).
Opening Tips
• Utah State's No. 2 seed is its highest since joining the Mountain West. However, USU has been the No. 2 seed heading into a conference tournament seven times in school history and is 13-4 overall as the second seed.
• Utah State is among the others receiving votes for the second straight week in the Associated Press Top 25 poll as it received 34 votes to rank 29th in the nation. USU last received votes in the AP poll during the 2013-14 season, when the team received votes in back-to-back weeks in early January as it was tied for 37th with one vote. The last time USU was nationally ranked was during the 2010-11 season, when the team entered the NCAA Tournament ranked 19th in the nation.
• Utah State is one of only four teams in the nation ranked in the top 30 of the NET rankings with a top-25 non-conference schedule with 10 wins away from home, joining Duke, North Carolina and LSU.
• Utah State's 25 victories this season are the most for the Aggies since the 2010-11 season, when USU finished with a school-record 30-4 mark.
• Utah State finished the 2018-19 regular season with a 15-3 mark in conference play and those 15 league wins are tied with the 2010-11 team for the third-most in school history. The 2003-04 team set the school record with 17 league wins, while the 1999-2000 team went 16-0 in league play.
• Utah State head coach Craig Smith has won more games than any other head coach in their first year in school history, passing the previous school record of 22 games set by Ladell Andersen during the 1961-62 season. In addition, Smith has the best winning percentage and the most wins for any head coach in their first year in the country this season.
• Freshman center Neemias Queta has rewritten the single-season block record at Utah State with his 73 blocks this season, shattering the previous single-season record of 59. Queta also recorded a MW freshman-record six blocks against Fresno State on Jan. 9.
Sweeping Mountain West Awards
Utah State earned four of the six individual awards to go along with a pair of all-conference honors as announced by the Mountain West.
MW Player of the Year Sam Merrill
MW Coach of the Year Craig Smith
MW Freshman of the Year Neemias Queta
MW Defensive Player of the Year Neemias Queta
First-Team All-Mountain West Sam Merrill
Second-Team All-Mountain West Neemias Queta
MW All-Defensive Team Neemias Queta
Leaving Las Vegas
Utah State is the only team in the Mountain West that did not play at the Thomas & Mack Center this season. The Aggies hosted UNLV in Logan in the only meeting between the two teams this season on Feb. 2.
Winning at No. 2
Utah State is 13-4 all-time as the No. 2 seed in a conference tournament. The Aggies have won their conference tournament three times as the No. 2 seed.
Winning at No. 2 - Part II
The second seed has the best winning percentage in the history of the Mountain West Tournament, as the No. 2 seed has compiled an overall mark of 36-10.
Conference Championships
All-time, Utah State has won 17 conference championships with its last coming during the 2010-11 season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.
Field Goal After Field Goal
Junior guard Sam Merrill made a career-high 15 field goals in the season finale at Colorado State on March 5, marking the first time since the 2005-06 season that an Aggie has made 15 or more field goals in a single game (Nate Harris, 15).
Marathon Merrill
Merrill has played every minute in each of the Aggies' last four games. Merrill has only missed four minutes over the last seven games, playing in 286 of a total of 290 minutes (98.6 percent).
Youth Movement
Utah State entered the 2018-19 season with just four returning players that averaged more than seven minutes a game (Dwayne Brown Jr., Quinn Taylor, Sam Merrill, Diogo Brito).
Youth Movement - Part II
Utah State was the 55th-youngest team in the nation going into the 2018-19 season with a roster made up of two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen.
Streaking Sevens
Utah State will enter the Mountain West Tournament on a seven-game winning streak, the longest active winning streak among every MW program.
Streaking Sevens - Part II
Utah State has posted a pair of seven-game winning streaks this season, and has won 14 of its last 15 games. The streak is the longest by the Aggies since USU won 14 of 15 games to open the 2012-13 season.
Streaking Sevens by the Numbers
During its recent seven-game winning streak, Utah State is shooting 46.2 percent (191-of-413) from the floor, 33.1 percent (52-of-157) from behind the 3-point line and 74.2 percent (118-of-159) at the free throw line. USU opponents are shooting 41.3 percent (161-of-390) from the floor, 39.3 percent (59-of-15) from behind the 3-point line and 67.2 percent (92-of-137) at the free throw line over the same stretch.
Streaking Sevens by the Numbers - Part II
The following is what the top-five Utah State players are averaging over the last seven games.
Sam Merrill - 24.3 ppg; 4.7 rpg; 3.6 apg; .416 FG%; .386 3PTFG%; .936 FT%
Neemias Queta - 14.0 ppg; 8.0 rpg; 1.4 bpg; .700 FG%; .483 FT%
Diogo Brito - 11.0 ppg; 5.9 rpg; 2.6 apg; 1.6 spg; .434 FG%; .375 3PTFG%; .710 FT%
Quinn Taylor - 8.7 ppg; 6.9 rpg; 3.1 orpg; .463 FG%; .214 3PTFG%; .667 FT%
Abel Porter - 7.9 ppg; 4.4 rpg; 4.6 apg; .366 FG%; .385 3PTFG%; .789 FT%
