Utah State Drops Second Straight Close Game To Boise State Despite 30 From Queta
Feb 19, 2021, 10:17 PM
Neemias Queta #23 of the Utah State Aggies scores on a layup against the New Mexico Lobos during their game at Dreamstyle Arena - The Pit on February 29, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – For the second straight time this week, Utah State lost a close contest to Boise State, this time by a final score of 81-77 on Friday night.
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Neemias Queta had a career-high 32 points on Wednesday night and followed up with 30 points on Friday as Utah State was swept by Boise State. Justin Bean added 11 points and 5 rebounds, while Brock Miller nailed a couple of threes to go with his 10 points.
Derrick Alston recorded 23 points to lead the Broncos. Abu Kigab chipped in 19 points, while Mladen Armus contributed 13 points and 9 rebounds.
The Aggies were on fire to start as they made seven of their first eight shot attempts, including two three-pointers. They jumped out to an early 17-7 lead at the first media timeout. Boise State responded with a 9-2 run to cut the Aggies’ lead to three.
FINAL | Aggies fall 81-77 to Boise State. @nemi1599 led the way with his second straight 30 point game.#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/wF7rGsTwFh
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 20, 2021
Utah State took a 37-30 lead to the halftime break after Neemias Queta made a bucket at the buzzer. Queta finished the first half with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Brock Miller and Justin Bean added 7 points apiece. Utah State made 50 percent (17-34) of their field goals and went 2-for-5 from the three-point line.
Derrick Alston had 9 points to lead Boise State in the opening half. The Broncos shot just 38 percent (12-31) from the field and 27 percent (3-11) from downtown.
Utah State had to weather through a 14-3 Boise State run early in the second half in which they took a five point lead. The Aggies started making shots to slow down the run by the Broncos.
From that point, it was a close contest throughout. Utah State made their last four field goals and had a one-point lead over Boise State with 5:06 left. The Broncos made five of their last seven shots. Utah State went on a scoring drought of over two minutes while the Broncos went on a 7-0 run. Boise State had a 71-68 lead with 3:51 to play in the game.
The slump ended with a made free throw by Queta. He missed the second one and Justin Bean go the offensive rebound. Bean found Queta for a wide open dunk to tie the game with two minutes left.
The Broncos made another bucket before Marco Anthony split his two free throws. BSU went up by three with a layup by Armus. Utah State turned the ball over and committed a foul. Boise State made both free throws to go up by five points with 1:23 left.
The Broncos missed a shot and gave the Aggies a chance to tie the game but both Miller and Ashworth missed their three-point attempts.
Utah State dropped their record to 14-7 overall and 11-4 in Mountain West play. They will return home for their final two games of the regular season against Nevada on Friday, February 26 at 7 p.m. MST and Sunday, February 28 at 5 p.m. MST. Both games will be televised on FS1.
