Utah State Beats Top 25 Team For First Time In 12 Years

LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies knocked off the 12th ranked Nevada Wolfpack 81-76. With that win, the Aggies have taken down a ranked opponent for the first time since 2007.

Sam Merrill scored 29 points to lead Utah State past the Wolfpack and potentially taking the regular season title in the Mountain West Conference and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

The last time the Aggies beat a team that was ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll was 2007 when they were victorious was against the Wolfpack when they were No. 10 in the country. It was a 79-77 win in overtime at the Spectrum. The Aggies finished the season with a 23-12 record and a first round exit in the National Invitational Tournament.

Entering the Saturday matchup, the Aggies were 4-23 against ranked teams since the 2000-01 season. Two of those victories were at home and the other two were in conference tournaments.

MORE: History Against Top 25 Opponents Hasn’t Bode Well For Aggies

The win put Utah State in first place in the Mountain West Conference with a 24-6 record and 14-3 in conference play. Nevada dropped to 26-3 overall and 13-3 in the MWC. The Aggies have one more game in the regular season, which is on Tuesday at Colorado State at 7 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.

Nevada still has two games remaining on their schedule as they will face Air Force on the road on Tuesday and at home against San Diego State on Saturday.

This was the scene on the court at the Spectrum after the Aggies complete their 81-76 upset of 12th ranked Nevada. @USUBasketball @USUAggies #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/hlOttSd4Ds

— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) March 3, 2019

If Utah State and Nevada both win the rest of their games, the Wolfpack will get the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, but Utah State will get a share of the Mountain West regular season title. The Aggies will get the No. 1 seed if they beat CSU and Nevada loses one of their next two games.