Utah State Dismantles Fresno State, Eyes Title Game With San Diego State
Aggies destroyed the Bulldogs to move the Mountain West championship game
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Utah State is on to the title game
So much for another one-point game.
Utah State crushed Fresno State 85-60 Friday night to advance to the Mountain West Tournament championship game.
Sam Merrill had 22 points and Diogo Brito added 20 for the dominant Aggies. Three other USU players finished in double figures as Abel Porter had 11 and Quinn Taylor and Neemias Queta recorded 10 apiece.
The two regular season matchups provided far more entertainment and drama than Friday’s beatdown. Splitting the season series, Utah State dropped a 78-77 heartbreaker to Fresno State at home on January 9 but Craig Smith’s team returned the favor in Fresno on February 5, an 82-81 USU victory.
Though the Aggies looked scrambled at times Thursday in a hard-fought victory against New Mexico, it was an efficient and composed performance against the Bulldogs.
Utah State raced out to a quick 9-2 advantage and never looked back, leading wire to wire. Fresno State failed to grab a lead or even tie the entire night.
The Aggie scoring attack was on full display, knocking down 13 three-point attempts and finding open looks on seemingly every possession. Fresno State had no answers for USU, which recorded 23 assists on its 32 made field goals.
Next up for No. 2 seed Utah State is a championship game date with No. 5 San Diego State.
Eli Boettger is the lead basketball writer at Mountain West Wire. He’s covered Mountain West basketball since 2015 and his work has been featured on Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and other platforms. Boettger is a current USBWA member.