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LOGAN (AP) — Sam Merrill had 20 points and five assists, Utah State built a 20-point halftime lead, and the Aggies defeated UNLV 82-65 on Saturday.
The Aggies outscored the Runnin' Rebels 27-10 over the final 10 minutes of the first half to lead 48-28. Utah State shot 55 percent in the period and UNLV hit only 31 percent. The lead reached 29 with about eight minutes remaining in regulation and the Aggies led 82-56 at 2:51 before going scoreless the rest of the way.
"I thought it was a great game defensively," Merrill said. "Focusing on our keys, our keys were to get back in transition defense and keep them off the offensive boards. I don’t know how many they scored in transition, but it wasn’t a lot, and they only had nine offensive rebounds. We did a great job there and did a great job defensively all game. They ended up shooting 37 percent, which is really good. Offensively, we’re continuing to play well, but on the defensive end is where we’re going to win the majority of our games and we did that tonight.”
Diogo Brito had 15 points and five rebounds, and Neemias Queta added 10 points and 16 rebounds for Utah State (17-5, 7-2 Mountain West). Utah State has won six in a row and is 10-1 at home.
Joel Ntambwe had 18 points for UNLV (11-10, 5-4). Kris Clyburn and Amauri Hardy scored 14 apiece, Clyburn adding nine rebounds.
For the game, Utah State shot 49 percent and made 10 of 23 3-pointers (44 percent) . UNLV shot 37 percent, 9 of 24 (38 percent) from 3-point distance.
"First of all, that’s a great win for our program," Utah State coach Craig Smith said. "They have a good team. They’re very young, they’re athletic and can do a lot of things to you. I thought our guys played with great force tonight. From the opening tip we were really aggressive and in attack mode all night. You think of UNLV, they have the fifth-most wins in the history of Division I basketball.
"Anytime you look online or think of UNLV, you think of really good basketball. Great tradition and all that stuff. It’s a marquee win for us."
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