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LOGAN — With a depleted roster, Utah State has to rely heavily on two players: sophomore guards Sam Merrill and Koby McEwen.
On Wednesday night in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the duo took it on themselves to stop a four-game losing streak.
Merrill and McEwen combined for 41 points and Utah State ended the skid with a 71-49 win over Air Force.
"A lot of credit to our guys," Utah State coach Tim Duryea said. "I thought they did a great job handling the game plan and really being focused defensively every possession."
Following an ugly first half that saw USU go into the locker room with a 29-25 lead, the Aggies turned it on to start the second half.
Merrill started off the second half with a 3-pointer and a layup before the Falcons knew what hit them. The outburst pushed the USU lead to eight at the 17:29 mark.
Merrill went on to score 16 of his 21 points in the second half on 6-of-7 shooting that included a 4-of-6 performance from beyond the arc.
"Obviously, Sam Merrill was unreal," Duryea said. "Leading our defense, communicating, and then offensively, I mean, 8-for-10, 21 points, that's as efficient as you can be as a player. I thought he was tremendous."
McEwen got into the picture with a 3-pointer that pushed the Aggie lead to 13 with 16:26 to play, and USU never looked back.
The sophomore who prepped at Wasatch Academy scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half while also finishing with seven rebounds and three assists.
It wasn't just the performances of Merrill and McEwen that helped USU snap its losing streak.
The Aggie defense held Air Force to just 32 percent shooting and a 3-of-22 performance from beyond the arc.
"Our defense was really good this game," McEwen said. "We prepped really well. Coaches know how to guard that Princeton system. We executed the defensive game plan. It was hard for them to get buckets."
Quinn Taylor was also in double digits for the Aggies with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Ryan Swan was the only Falcon to finish in double figures as he finished with 10 points to go along with five rebounds.
With the win, USU gets back to .500 at 11-11 overall and 4-5 in the Mountain West. Next up for the Aggies is a road contest at Fresno State on Saturday.
Injury bug biting USU
Utah State has been hampered with the injury bug all season, especially to the front court.
The injuries have led to the USU starters having to play more minutes. All five starters in Wednesday night's win played 25 minutes or more despite being up big late in the second half.
"That's the only path we have," Duryea said in regard to his starters playing a lot of minutes. "We've cut practice down. I'm doing as little as possible. Tomorrow will be a total day off. Obviously, we're playing those guys a lot of minutes but that is the only path we have."
Center Nobert Janicek (knee) and forward Klay Stall (back) are both out for the season. Senior forward Alex Dargenton has dealt with a variety of injuries and isn't at 100 percent.
Freshman guard Brock Miller is out for the season with a foot injury and senior guard Julion Pearre has been sidelined with a calf injury since early December.
The lack of depth could come back to haunt the Aggies, but for now a win is a win.
Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias
