LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men’s basketball (15-7, 12-4 MW) used a hot start to earn a 75-72 home win over Nevada (14-8, 9-6 MW) Friday night inside of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies scored 42 points over the opening 20 minutes, while holding the Wolf Pack to 25, their second-lowest point total of the first half this season.
Junior center Neemias Queta was dominant on the glass for the Aggies, pulling down a season-high 17 rebounds, the second-most in his career. Queta also went for 16 points to record his third consecutive double-double and 10th of the season. Junior forward Justin Bean also had a double-double as he scored a team-high 19 points to go along with 10 boards and three steals. The game marked the fourth time that the duo has each logged a double-double in the same contest, including three times this season.
As a team, the Aggies recorded 20 assists on 23 made shots, led by a career-best eight assists from redshirt junior guard Marco Anthony.
In what was the fifth start of his career and the first start since Dec. 14, 2019, senior forward Alphonso Anderson scored 10 points while logging a season-high 26 minutes. Junior guard Brock Miller also reached double-figures, finishing with 10 points.
USU led by as many as 21 points two minutes into the second half, however Nevada found its rhythm from 3-point range, shooting 9-of-18 from behind the arc in the second half to cut into the Aggie lead and eventually close the gap to just two points with 30 seconds to play. Utah State relied on free throw shooting down the stretch, hitting four shots from the charity stripe in the final 23 seconds to maintain its advantage.
Nevada junior guard Desmond Cambridge led the Wolf Pack in scoring, finishing with a game-high 23 points.
Utah State finished the game shooting 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the field, 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from the 3-point line and 66.7 percent (18-of-27) at the charity stripe. Nevada shot 41.4 percent (15-of-32) from the floor, 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from behind the arc and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) at the free throw line.
The Aggies return to the court on Sunday night for the second leg of the two-game series against the Wolf Pack, tipping off at 5 p.m. (MT) on Fox Sports 1 (Comcast Ch. 265/HD691, DirecTV Ch. 219, DISH Ch. 150).
Utah State men’s basketball news and information is available on Facebook (facebook.com/usumensbasketball), on Twitter (@usubasketball) and on Instagram (@usuaggiebasketball). 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).