By: Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations
LOGAN, Utah – Junior guard
Brock Miller scored 20 points, while junior center
Neemias Queta recorded his seventh double-double of the season as Utah State rolled to an 83-64 victory over Colorado State on Tuesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Queta finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for his 21st career double-double. He also had three blocks, two assists and one steal as the Aggies (12-3, 9-0 Mountain West) extended their winning streak to 11 games – their longest since the 2012-13 team won 13 in a row.
Senior forward
Alphonso Anderson added 12 points off the bench for Utah State, which snapped the Rams' winning streak at four straight.
"It was a great win for the Aggies," said USU head coach
Craig Smith. "We played well from start to finish in a lot of different phases. Colorado State is a very good team. They put a lot of pressure on you in a lot of different spots on the offensive end, and you really have to be on point with how you're guarding them. Fortunately for us, they missed some clean looks. We need to address that and be tighter with that going into the game on Thursday."
Colorado State was led by Isaiah Stevens, who had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Adam Thistlewood chipped in 14 points as the Rams shot just 32.1 percent in the first half in falling behind by 15 (44-29) at the break.
Junior forward
Justin Bean, junior guard
Marco Anthony and freshman guard
Rollie Worster chipped in eight points apiece for the Aggies, who shot a season-high 52.6 percent from the 3-point line (10-of-19). Miller led the way from downtown as he was 6-for-10.
CSU, which led just one time on the night – the Rams scored the first two points of the game on a basket by Kendle Moore, who finished with eight – became the first time in eight games to score 60 or more points against the Aggies.
"There are a lot of things that stand out, but the biggest thing that stood out to me was our defense," said Colorado State head coach Niko Medved. "We knew we had to rebound and I think they had four offensive rebounds at the first media timeout. Some of that was blocking out, some of that was poor ball-screen coverage. If
Neemias Queta is right there in the paint and you don't have a body on him early, unless you have a chainsaw, he's going to get the offensive rebound."
The Aggies outrebounded the Rams 44-25, including a 13-4 edge on the offensive glass. Utah State scored 12 second-chance points and tallied 21 points off of 15 CSU turnovers. Furthermore, the home team had 20 helpers, including a career-high nine from Worster, on 26 made baskets.
Leading 13-12 with 13:24 to go in the first half, Utah State broke the game open with a 27-12 run, expanding its lead to 16 with less than four minutes remaining until intermission.
The Rams shot 40.4 percent from the field (21-of-52), including 33.3 percent from the 3-point line (9-of-27), and 72.2 percent from the free throw line (13-of-18). USU shot 45.6 percent from the field (26-of-57) and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe (21-of-28).
Utah State concludes its series with Colorado State on Thursday, Jan. 21. The game, which will be televised live on Fox Sports 1, is slated to tip at 9 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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