Aggies Victorious In Laramie For First Time In 57 Years With Win Over Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. – For the first time since 1962, the Utah State Aggies get a win in Laramie with a 71-55 victory over the Wyoming Cowboys.

Utah State had four players score in double figures led by Sam Merrill with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, he scored 15 points in the second half.

Neemias Queta had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, Dwayne Brown Jr. added 13 points and 6 rebounds. Diogo Brito chipped in 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.

The Cowboys were led by Justin James with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks while playing every minute of the game. Wyoming had seven healthy players against the Aggies. T.J. Taylor added 14 points.

Slow Start For Utah State

Wyoming went on a 12-2 run by the first media timeout with 14 minutes left in the first half to lead 12-4. The Aggies started just 2-for-8 from the field with all four points coming from Queta.

The Aggies were scoreless for three minutes before Merrill hit a jump-shot. Utah State started the game, 0-for-8 from the three-point line and 3-for-13 from the field.

Shots were not falling for either team but Wyoming held a 16-10 lead with 7:54 left in the first half.

Brock Miller hit the Aggies first three-pointer 13 minutes into the game. Wyoming would answer with their own triple to put the lead back to six.

Utah State went on a 6-0 run while Wyoming remained scoreless for four minutes and the Aggies tied the game with three minutes left in the half.

The Aggies took the lead with 2:04 remaining in the first half when Diogo Brito nailed a three-pointer.

Merrill hit a three-pointer at the buzzer and Utah State ended the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 32-25 lead at halftime.

Merrill Shines In Second Half

Over a two minute stretch, Utah State went on a 9-1 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 48-37 with 11:48 remaining in the game.

The Aggies kept the Cowboys at a safe distance, keeping a double digit lead over the next five minutes, leading 59-46 with 6 minutes left.

From that point, Utah State outscored Wyoming 12-9 to end the game with a win.

Aggies win 71-55!

First win in Laramie since 1962. #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/kRNPMHGwVI

— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 13, 2019

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Utah State improved to 12-5 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference. They will travel to San Jose State on Wednesday to face the Spartans at 8 p.m.

The Spartans are 3-12 overall and 0-3 in conference play. Each team won at home last season with Utah State winning 86-72 in Logan and San Jose State picking up a 64-62 victory at home.

Another 5-0 run for Utah State inflated their lead to 66-48 with 4 minutes left in the game, Merrill was up to 14 second half points.