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LOGAN, Utah - Utah State (14-6, 3-4 MW) men's basketball continues its 2019-20 season, hosting Air Force (9-10, 3-4) on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 9 p.m. Fans can watch the game on ESPNU (Comcast Ch. 400, DirecTV Ch. 208, Dish Ch. 141).
Opening Tips
• Utah State leads the all-time series against Air Force, 18-6, and is a perfect 11-0 all-time against the Falcons in Logan.
• Utah state is 22-2 at home under head coach Craig Smith and has won eight of its last nine conference games at home.
• Utah State is 18-7 against Mountain West opponents over the last two years, including an 10-2 mark at home. All-time, USU is 58-57 in the MW since joining the league in 2013-14.
• Utah State is third in the nation with 351 makes at the free throw line this season, while opponents have attempted a total of 317 free throws against the Aggies.
• Utah State has been most successful this season when its starting frontcourt has outscored the opponent's frontcourt, carrying an overall mark of 8-2. All-time, USU is 23-3 under head coach Craig Smith when getting more production from its starting bigs than the opposition.
• As of Jan. 19, Utah State is among the Top-10 in the nation in five different statistics. The Aggies are third in the nation in total free throws made (351), fifth in the nation in total rebounds (824), seventh in the nation in total free throw attempts (462), eighth in the nation in total assists (331) and ninth in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (29.55).
• Utah State is also among the Top-25 in five other statistics, including assists per game (16.6, 15th), rebound margin (+8.2, 15th), total rebounds per game (41.20, 16th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.33, 18th) and scoring margin (+13.0, 20th).
• The Aggies are 37-5 over the last two seasons when scoring 70 or more points in a game.
• Utah State is 28-3 when holding teams to less than 70 points, including a perfect 17-0 mark when holding teams to less than 60 points.
• Utah State is undefeated this season (10-0) when shooting a better percentage than its opponent from the floor.
• USU senior guard Sam Merrill is four points away from moving into fifth place on USU's all-time scoring list and 14 points away from moving to fourth.
• Merrill has scored in double figures in each of the last 11 games, increasing his total of 94 career games in double figures, moving to fourth in school history.
• Merrill has also moved to No. 4 on the all-time minutes played list in school history with 3,870 career minutes played.
• Junior guard Abel Porter and Merrill are the only sets of teammates in the Top-5 of the MW in assist-to-turnover ratio, averaging 2.11 (4th) and 2.10 (5th).
• Although appearing in limited games this season, sophomore center Neemias Queta has moved to No. 5 all-time in Utah State history with 91 career blocks.
• Queta made the most of his rehab, increasing his free throw percentage from 56.5 (78-of-138) a season ago to 73.7 percent (28-of-38) this season.
• Senior guard Diogo Brito has surpassed 100 career steals this year, totaling 105 during his career. Brito and Merrill are the first USU teammates to surpass 100 career steals in the same season since 1987-88 (Kevin Nixon, Jeff O. Anderson).
• Sophomore forward Justin Bean, a former walk-on, is one of only two active players in the MW averaging a double-double, turning in 13.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Bean is fifth in the nation with 11 double-doubles this season, the most by an Aggie since Eric Franson logged 15 double-doubles during the 1994-95 season.
• Utah State has had a player log a double-double in five of its seven conference games this season (Bean - 4, Queta - 1).
The Utah State/Air Force Series
• Utah State leads the all-time series against Air Force, 18-6, and has won four of the last six and eight of the last 11.
• Utah State is averaging more than 10 3-point baskets per game against Air Force since joining the Mountain West, including a series-best 14 3-point baskets on March 1, 2016. The Aggies have hit 10 or more 3-point baskets against the Falcons in each of the last four games and in seven of the last eight.
• Utah State has had at least one player make at least five threes in seven of the last 10 games. Chris Smith was 5-of-7 on March 1, 2016 and 6-of-7 on Jan. 17, 2015, and Julion Pearre was 5-of-9 on Feb. 28, 2015. Jalen Moore hit five 3-point shots against Air Force in both games during the 2016-17 season. Senior guard Sam Merrill and sophomore guard Brock Miller has also hit 5 3-point baskets against the Falcons during their careers. In the last game against the Falcons on Jan. 7, Miller hit a team-best five 3-point shots against AFA.
• Utah State has won the battle of the boards in nine games of the last 10 games.
• Utah State has had one player hit the 20-point mark in eight of the last 11 games against Air Force. Jalen Moore did it four times, while Julion Pearre did it once. Chris Smith eclipsed the 20-point mark, scoring 23 and 20 against the Falcons in two games during his career. Koby McEwen led the Aggies with 22 points against AFA on Dec. 31, 2016, and then recorded 20 points against the Falcons on Jan. 24, 2018. Senior guard Sam Merrill has recorded a pair of 20-point games against the Falcons.
• Utah State has recorded double-digit victories in eight of the last 11 games against the Falcons. In the last contest, USU lost by its largest margin in series history.
