LOGAN – Nevada knew he could finally score for Utah as he entered the penultimate week of the regular season with a trip to the Cache Valley.
What Wolf Pack couldn’t do was come back.
Thanks to Neemias Queta and Justin Bean, Aggies made sure of that.
Queta had 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists; and Justin Bean added 17 points, 13 rebounds and four assists to help the Utah state complete the two-game 87-66 fight on Sunday night at the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum in Logan.
Aggies collected 30 rebounds on 33 missed shots from Nevada and added 17 offensive plates, led by six from Queta and Bean. Even the Portuguese 7-meter center acknowledged that Bean was the key to this offensive dominance.
“Bean is just a player who works hard and it’s so hard to stop him,” Queta said. “Sometimes, when I have to close it in the middle of training, even I try to do it.
“He’s really important to us and he makes the tough ones play, so it’s a great experience to play with him.”
Bean’s double-double was the sixth of the season for Utah and the 23rd of his career, after also earning 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-72 victory over Wolf Pack on Friday. The 13 rebounds of his season broke the tie with most fifth-place games with double-digit pictures in the history of Aggie basketball with Bob Lauriski (1971-73) and Wayne Estes (1963-65).
💪 @ justinbean34 leaving everything on the ground for @USUBbasketballpic.twitter.com/DP9ERMI05A
– FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 1, 2021
Bean is now tied with Mike Santos (1975-78) for the fourth most double-digit recovery game in school history.
“He’s had some huge offensive rebounds today, and when he shoots down such shots, it’s fun to be on the field,” Utah senior Alphonso Anderson said of Bean. “We’re trying to get a little mojo to go to the yard.”
Queta, of course, was not bad himself. The NBA junior’s draft prospect, who tied his career to the maximum with six assists, had the 11th double-double of the season, the 25th of his career and moved in Bean’s place on the recovery list. two-time all-time – now sixth overall – recorded his fifth career game with a double-double in the same game as Bean.
Marco Anthony won 11 points and three assists for Utah State (16-7, 13-4 MW), and Anderson added 12 points for Aggies, scoring in doubles just for the sixth time this season as a Tacoma native. Washington celebrated Senior Day with a rare start.
Utah remained a home game, a make-up meeting with Wyoming on Thursday, which was added late due to the cancellation of the series by COVID-19, but opted to celebrate its senior class on Sunday.
“I worked hard, worked hard in practice and it was interesting,” Anderson said. “When he told me, I was very excited. But that doesn’t mean the job is done.
“We just have to keep working hard so we can keep winning games.”
Desmond Cambridge scored 13 points and four rebounds for Nevada (14-9), who fell three games behind the game to third-placed Aggies in Mountain West with a 9-7 record and a week until the Mountain West Tournament from Las Vegas.
After a slow start, Utah completed a 15-2 run to take a 23-10 lead at Anderson’s layup, with 10:08 remaining in the half.
The offense Aggies clicked, despite shooting only 1 of 7 from 3 points. But more importantly, nothing worked for Nevada, who opened the game by shooting just 4 of 13 from the field and did not collect an offensive conundrum in the first half.
Queta had 8 points, six rebounds and a block in just nine minutes as the Aggies advanced 15, 25-10, and Utah continued to outscore the 23-15 package, assisting 11 of the 13 halves in the first place. buckets on the way to a 39-23 lead at the break. The Wolf package briefly escaped the break, but pulled out a 47-24 comeback deficit, keeping the visitors away for most of the half.
rumors say the rim is still shaking
⚡️ @ nemi1599#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/LN83KMXmMU
– USU Men’s Circles (@USUBasketball) March 1, 2021
“We just have to get stuck in defense,” Anderson said. “When a team is down, the first minute deal is crucial; either you give them life or you take it.
“I knew we had to be better defensively (than Friday) … and after that timeout, I think we got together really offensively and defensively.”
Returning from an injured leg that kept him out for three weeks, Rollie Worster returned to the group for Aggies. The freshman did not start, but shot down a 3-pointer with just under three minutes left in the first half for his first February 4 bucket at Fresno State.
Worster finished with 3 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 14 minutes.
“From day one, Rollie was a talented kid with moxia, toughness, and an extraordinary calm as a player – for any age, let alone a freshman,” said Utah coach Craig Smith. “I thought you could feel it tonight. All our boys believe in him; he’s a great defensive player and we really missed him on the defensive end of the floor, especially with Brock’s (Miller) back problem.
“Brock is sick and I think you could see that tonight. So I thought it would be good to turn him over (Worster).”
Welcome back @ rworster24‼ ️#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/y8F4IzQjZU
– USU Men’s Circles (@USUBasketball) March 1, 2021
The state of Utah kept its foot on the gas outside of the break, largely because of the comeback. Nevada had only one offensive plate in the first eight minutes of the half, shooting just 6 of 13 from the field to keep Aggies in the lead, despite shooting just 31.3% of the field at the start of the half.
Utah led by up to 26 points in a game he led for all but 51 seconds, and moved the ball with 22 assists on 29 field goals.
Aggies shot just 4 of 22 from the 3-point range, but forced 19 turnovers with 11 steals, outscored the pack of wolves 42-24 in the paint and added 24 second-chance points from 17 offensive rebounds.
“I never thought we were really getting started,” said Nevada coach Steve Alford. “We were absolutely destroyed on the glass and in transition. These were the two biggest keys in this game and we were just badly beaten there.”
Aggies made a lot of “tough” pieces, Smith said. And few were tougher than Bean.
“We eliminated the losses,” added third-year coach Aggie. “I thought we did a very good job of taking care of the ball and playing at an excellent pace in this way.
“I didn’t film it great; last night I was 11 for 21, but tonight I probably forced a few three … and I took some out of the rhythm. But I did a lot of strength, I got a a lot of balls, they forced 19 turnovers and they were really very active on the ball. “