by: Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's men's basketball team stretched its winning streak to six in a row as the Aggies rolled to a 94-56 Senior Night victory over San José State on Tuesday inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Utah State (23-7, 12-5 Mountain West) honored its three seniors, guards
Sam Merrill and
Diogo Brito, and forward
Roche Grootfaam, along with junior guard
Abel Porter, prior to the game. Those four Aggies combined for 34 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists.
USU sophomore center
Neemias Queta led all scorers in the game with a season-high 23 points, to go along with 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. Sophomore forward
Justin Bean notched his 15th double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Following a tip-in by Queta with 17:34 remaining in the second half, the Aggies led the Spartans 58-16. In fact, Queta was leading SJSU all by himself at that point, 18-16.
In the final home game of his illustrious Aggie career, Merrill had 18 points, seven assists and one rebound. Porter had six points, six rebounds and two assists, while Brito chipped in six points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
With his 18 points, Merrill has now scored 2,096 points to rank third all-time in school history behind Jaycee Carroll (2,522) and Greg Grant (2,127). The native of Bountiful, Utah, also ranks fourth all-time in Mountain West history in career scoring.
The only other Aggie to score in double figures was junior forward
Alphonso Anderson, who had 11 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
Seneca Knight, coming off a career-high 37-point outing at Colorado State last Saturday, was held to 13 points on Saturday against USU. Omari Moore and Richard Washington chipped in 12 points apiece for the Spartans (7-22, 3-14 MW), who lost their seventh in a row.
Utah State dominated from start to finish, opening the game by scoring the first 19 points. During that stretch, San José State turned the ball over four times and was 0-for-6 from the field.
The Aggies' 19-0 start to the game was their best since March 1, 2010, when they led 22-0 against Fresno State.
The Spartans finally broke their scoring drought on a jumper by Trey Smith at the 14:05 mark for what proved to be his only basket of the game.
Utah State, which led 51-14 at halftime, shot 48.6 percent from the field (35-of-72), including 47.6 percent from 3-point range (10-of-21). The Aggies, who had 22 assists on 35 baskets, made 66.7 percent of their free throws (14-of-21).
SJSU was cold all night long, shooting just 28.4 percent from the field (19-of-67), including 30.8 percent from beyond the arc (12-of-39). The Spartans made 75.0 percent of their foul shots (6-of-8).
Utah State owned the paint and the glass, outscoring San José State 50-12 down low, and nearly doubling the Spartans on the boards (58-31). The Aggies, who led by as many as 43 on the night, also scored 24 second-chance points.
Winners of nine out of their last 10 games, the Aggies conclude the regular season on the road when they travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to face New Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 29. The game, which is slated to begin at 8 p.m., will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
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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