LAS VEGAS – There was something on the south side of the court in the Thomas & Mack Center.
You know the one when you were there. During the Mountain West tournament, the southern tip is the one where the orchestra plays during normal years and opens the long media tunnel of the Cox Pavilion into the arena for 19,522 seats where the UNLV basketball is hosted for men. If you were there during a Wyoming game, you could see the famous “Cowboy Ken” stepping in those seats – barrel and all.
It’s towards the end where Sam Merrill made his biggest memory last year, a three-point shot to beat San Diego State and give Utah State its second consecutive title in the Mountain West tournament. It was the last shot of his career.
Behind the basket lies an empty arena, with seats removed to make way for the Mountain West Network studio set. On the other side – the south side – there are a lot of seats, which are empty this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only a small tarpaulin that covers the entrance of the tunnel.
That was the end where Utah States found its shooting form in the second half of Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Marco Anthony scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, which was accompanied by 13 total rebounds and five assists as the second seeded Aggies pulled away from the seventh seeded Runnin ‘Rebels, 74-53 in the quarterfinals of the mountain. Western Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Neemias Queta had 18 points, 13 rebounds and three rebounds for the Aggies (19-7) and Brock Miller added 8 points – all in the second half – for Utah State.
“I thought we started slowly in the first half,” said Anthony, the former Virginia point guard who was named to the All-Mountain West defense team this week. “The meeting in the second half was to take it one more time, and we did it in the second half and it led to a victory against a very talented team.”
Justin Bean had 10 points and five rebounds, and Rollie Worster added 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists while still recovering from an injury for the Aggies. Like his teammates, Worster shot 2 of 4 in the second half and spread seven of those assists in the same arena where he suffered one setback and a shyness from his first college three-game double.
Bryce Hamilton had 16 points, five rebounds and two assists to lead UNLV (12-15), and Edoardo Del Cadia added 10 points and five rebounds.
After shooting just 32% off the field, the Aggies were mostly kept in check by the UNLV defense en route to a 24-24 halftime.
Then something happened after the break. Or more specifically, Anthony happened. Of Miller. Or any of the biggest shooters or offensive weapons in Utah States.
.@MarcoJAnthony GO IT GO‼ ️#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/t1QawgNrSE
– USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) 12 March 2021
“Marco had a heel of a game in every facet,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “That’s what he does. He’s had 15 points and 13 rebounds – six offensive – and five assists. He’s such a dynamic player, he’s been named in the defensive team and he’s very proud of him. He has a tonight again good work on the defensive side, just like our whole team.It was a very balanced attack on both sides of the ball.We are happy to win.It survives and progresses at this time of year, and we look wants to play a game again tomorrow, whether it’s against Colorado State or Fresno State.
During the first half – the one Smith said was like a root canal for both teams “, Utah State went more than five minutes late in the first half without scoring, until Anthony hit a ball from Queta with 4:19 left had to go to halftime.It attracted the Aggies within 3, 21-18 during an awkward first half.
UNLV’s defense was good. It was probably the best defense the Rebels have played all year, and only the third time the Aggies have been kept below 0.8 points per possession.
Despite shooting only 32% of the field against the aggressive UNLV defense, Utah finished on an 8-3 run to tie the game at 24-24. Worster had 9 points and three rebounds in the first half, and Queta added 5 points, seven rebounds and two blocks before halftime for the Aggies.
The Rebels held the Aggies pointless in the first half for 6:02 – and scored 6 points during the run-up. UNLV shot 9 of 30 from the field before the break, including 1 of 9 from the three-point series.
During the run, Utah States also began working on its defense. Miller was back in the starting lineup, despite struggling with a recurring back injury, so it took him maybe half to settle him down. But while it may be, the Aggies are defending their knowledge you know – the word Smith likes to use in his popular “GATA” mindset.
“Brock Miller has not played in two weeks, and he has not done anything for about a month. It’s hard to be realistic as a coach, but I had to step back and say, ‘Here we are?’
“I give our guys a lot of credit. I thought we could self-correct and really get along.”
When the teams swapped baskets, Utah State opened on a run. The Aggies used a 12-6 run to open the second half – all shooting on the south side of the field – while Anthony rained two tries and helped Bean on a bucket.
The Aggies have the Mountain West Network studio behind them and have shot 55.9% of the field. They also outscored UNLV 25-12 in the second half and helped on 13 of 19 field goals with just two turnovers, while shooting the Rebels to just 34.5% and 5 of 13 from the 3-point mark.
After struggling in the first half, the state of Utah took second place, making ten of the first 17 shots after halftime, including 4 of 6 3-pointers. Behind Miller and Anthony, the Aggies’ shooters woke up.
“We just had to get things going,” Anthony said. “If we play connected, then we play at our best. I feel like in the second half, we started doing it. And it showed on the scoreboard.”
Rollie Worster fights to tie it in half! pic.twitter.com/hDtsrmZGeU
– CBS Sport Network (@CBSSportsNet) 12 March 2021
Queta took a 14-5 lead with six consecutive free throws to leave Utah 65-46 with 4:30 left, and the Aggies pulled away for good. Miller finished just 3 of 10 off the field, but was 3 of 6 in the second half, including two of the Aggies’ four three-pointers.
The train rolled again.
As all teams began begging in March, the state of Utah survived, progressed and moved on to the next one – a semifinal of the mountain west against the state of Colorado. An appointment with the Rams is likely to be a one-team NCAA tournament elimination game, with both teams sitting just inside the “Last Four In” bubble in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi shackles.
“You need to be able to perform in March,” Smith said. “You have to do it most years, but you really have to do it when you play a team a third time like we were tonight.”
Mountain West Tournament
Friday’s semifinals
San Diego State no. 1 teen Nevada 5, 19:30 MT
No. 2 Utah State vs. No. 3 Colorado State, 22:00 MT