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LOGAN — Alan Herndon had a game-high 21 points and Hayden Dalton chipped in 20 points as Wyoming held off Utah State 85-77 Saturday night in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
It was another Mountain West Conference game and another loss for the Aggies. After starting conference play 3-1 and a big road win at UNLV, the Aggies have lost four straight, with two of those coming at home.
Saturday night, Dalton scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half and Wyoming jumped out to a 22-point lead with 4:20 left in the first half. The Cowboys out-rebounded the injury-depleted Aggies 25-15, forced 10 USU turnovers and led for almost 17 minutes of the half.
However, USU came out firing in the second half. The Aggies erased a 17-point halftime deficit in about 10 minutes when free throws by Dwayne Brown Jr. made it a 59-58 game with 10:42 to play.
USU even took the lead back at 62-61 on two free throws by Koby McEwen and then again at 64-63 on free throws by Brown with 5:50 to play.
Unfortunately, Wyoming is a good free-throw shooting team, and once Herndon threw down a dunk that gave the Cowboys a 74-68 lead with 1:25 remaining, the game was all but sealed. Wyoming went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to hold off the comeback effort by the Aggies.
Sam Merrill finished with a team-high 19 points for USU. Koby McEwen chipped in 17 points despite shooting just 3 of 14 from the field. Daron Henson and Diogo Brito were also in double figures for the Aggies with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Some might not have seen it, but Merrill quietly held Hayden Dalton to just four points in the second half. Dalton looked unstoppable in the first half as he was 7 of 9 from the field and 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. However, Merrill held Dalton to just 1-of-5 shooting in the second half and 0 of 3 from downtown. Merrill's defense helped USU get back in the ballgame.
What at one time looked like a promising season has turned into a fight for USU. The Aggies have had to battle the injury bug as the front court of Norbert Janicek and Klay Stall is out for the season. Janicek had his knee operated on in the offseason and Stall recently had back surgery. Guards Julion Pearre and Brock Miller have both been sidelined with injuries, as has forward Alex Dargenton.
The absence is noticeable as Merrill and McEwen both played 39-plus minutes Saturday night. Diogo Brito has had an increased role as he played 35 minutes against Wyoming.
Utah State fell to 10-11 overall and 3-5 in Mountain West Conference play. Next up for the Aggies is a Wednesday night home game against Air Force. Unfortunately, unless the government gets back to work and recovers from the shutdown, there might not be any game on Wednesday because all Air Force athletic events have been canceled, according to the academy.
Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias
