LAS VEGAS – There was something about the shootings at the southern end of the field at the Thomas & Mack Center.
You know, if you’ve been there. During the Mountain West tour, the southern end is where – in normal years – the band sings and the long media tunnel at Cox Pavilion opens into the 19,522-seat arena that hosts UNLV men’s basketball. If you happen to be there during a game in Wyoming, you can often see the famous “Cowboy Ken” stepping on those places – barrel and all.
It’s the end of Sam Merrill’s greatest memory last year, a 3-point shot to beat San Diego and hand Utah the second consecutive Mountain West tournament title. It was the last blow of his career.
Behind that basket is an empty arena, with chairs removed to make way for the studio set of the Mountain West network. At the other end – the southern end – are a pile of chairs, this year empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and only a small tarpaulin covering the entrance to the tunnel.
That was the end in which the state of Utah found its form of shooting in the second half of Thursday’s quarters.
Marco Anthony scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half to go with 13 total rebounds and five assists, while second-placed Aggies moved away from seventh-ranked Runnin ‘Rebels. 74-53 in the quarterfinals of the Western Mountain Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Neemias Queta had 18 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks for Aggies (19-7), and Brock Miller added 8 points – all in the second half – for Utah.
“I thought we started slowly in the first half,” said Anthony, a former Virginia goalkeeper who was named to the All-Mountain West defensive team this week. “The meeting in the second half was about taking another note and we did that 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 continuing to come back from injury for Aggies. Like his teammates, Worster shot 2 of 4 in the second half and distributed seven of the assists in the same arena where he got a rebound and a timid assist from his first triple-double collegiate.
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 only 32% of the field, Aggies were mostly kept under control by the UNLV defense, on their way to a 24-24 tie at the break.
Then something happened after the break. Or more precisely, Anthony happened. Or Miller. Or any of the biggest shooters or offensive weapons in the state of Utah.
.@MarcoJAnthony IT BEGINS‼ ️#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/t1QawgNrSE
– USU Men’s Circles (@USUBasketball) March 12, 2021
“Marco had a game in every way,” said Craig Smith, Utah’s head coach. “He does. He has 15 points and 13 rebounds – six of the offensive ones – and five assists. He is such a dynamic player, he was named in the full defensive team and he is proud of that. He did a great defensive job in new tonight, like our whole team, it was a very balanced attack on both sides of the ball, we are happy to win, it survives and advances at this time of year and we look before we play another game tomorrow, either that it is against the state of Colorado or the state of Fresno. “
In the first half – what Smith called “a root canal for both teams” – Utah went more than five minutes late in the first half without scoring, until Anthony introduced a ball from Queta. with 4:19 until the break. That shot Aggies 3, 21-18 during the first awkward half.
UNLV’s defense was good. It was, without a doubt, the best defense the Rebels played all year and only for the third time when Aggies was kept below 0.8 points in possession.
Despite shooting only 32% of the field against that aggressive UNLV defense, Utah ended in an 8-3 maneuver 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 the break for Aggies.
The Rebels kept Aggies without a score for 6:02 in the first half – and scored 6 points during the run. UNLV shot 9 of 30 from the field before the break, including 1 of 9 from the 3-point range.
During the run, the state of Utah also engaged in its defense. Miller returned to the starting line, despite struggling with a recurring back injury, so it may have taken him half to settle down. But, although he might, Aggies defended his science – what word Smith likes to use in his popular “READY” mentality.
“Brock Miller hasn’t played in two weeks and hasn’t done anything live in 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 boys a lot of credit. We thought we were able to self-correct and really settle down.”
When the teams changed baskets, the state of Utah opened a run. Aggies used a 12-6 run to open the second half – they all fired at the southern end of the field – while Anthony rained two 3s and assisted on a bucket at Bean.
Aggies had the Mountain West Network studio behind them and shot 55.9% of the field. They also beat UNLV 25-12 in the second half and assisted 13 of 19 field goals with just two runs, while keeping the Rebels at just 34.5% shooting and 5 of 13 from 3 points.
After fighting in the first half, Utah opened the second by making 10 of the first 17 shots after the break – including 4 of 6 triples. Behind Miller and Anthony, the Aggies shooters had woken up.
“We just had to get things up and running,” Anthony said. “When we play online, then we play the best. I feel like in the second half, we started doing that. And it showed on the scoreboard.”
Rollie Worster is struggling to tie it before the half! pic.twitter.com/hDtsrmZGeU
– CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) March 12, 2021
Queta finished a 14-5 run with six consecutive free throws to give Utah a 65-46 lead with the remaining 4:30, and the Aggies withdrew for good. Miller finished just 3 of 10 on the field, but was 3 of 6 in the second half, including two of Aggies’ four triples.
The train was running again.
As all teams ask to do in March, Utah survived, advanced and advanced to the next – a Mountain West semifinal against Colorado. A meeting with the Rams will likely be an elimination game from the NCAA Tournament for a single team, with both teams sitting right inside the balloon “The Last Four in” in the false parenthesis of Joe Lunardi on ESPN.
“You have to be able to run in March,” Smith said. “You have to do it most years, but you really have to do it when you play a team for the third time, like I was tonight.”
Mountain West Tournament
Friday’s semifinals
No. 1 San Diego State Vs. No. 5 Nevada, 7:30 p.m.
Nr. 2 State of Utah Vs. no. 3 Colorado state, 22:00 MT