2018–19 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team represented Utah State University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by first-year head coach Craig Smith, played their home games at the Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah as members of the Mountain West Conference. The Aggies shared the regular-season Mountain West title with Nevada, and defeated New Mexico, Fresno State, and San Diego State to win the Mountain West tournament to earn the Mountain West's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for their first appearance since 2011. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Washington.

2018–19 Utah State Aggies men's basketball
Mountain West regular season co-champions & tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
ConferenceMountain West Conference
Ranking
APNo. 25
Record28–7 (15–3 MW)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Austin Hansen
  • Eric Peterson
  • David Ragland
Home arenaSmith Spectrum
2018–19 Mountain West Conference
men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 20 Nevada153 .833295  .853
No. 25 Utah State153 .833287  .800
Fresno State135 .722239  .719
San Diego State117 .6112113  .618
UNLV117 .6111714  .548
Air Force810 .4441418  .438
New Mexico711 .3891418  .438
Boise State711 .3891320  .394
Colorado State711 .3891220  .375
Wyoming414 .222824  .250
San Jose State117 .056427  .129
Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2017–18 season 17–17 overall and 8–10 in conference play, finishing tied for 7th. In the Mountain West Conference tournament, they defeated Colorado State in the first round and Boise State in the quarterfinals before losing to New Mexico in the semi-finals.

On March 11, 2018, head coach Tim Duryea was fired after three seasons.[1] He finished at Utah State with a three-year record of 47–49. On March 25, reports indicated that the school had hired South Dakota head coach Craig Smith as head coach, which was confirmed the next day.[2][3]

Offseason

Departures

NameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownReason for departure
DeAngelo Isby0G6'5"200JuniorChicago, ILDeclare for 2018 NBA draft
Koby McEwen1G6'4"200SophomoreToronto, ONTransferred to Marquette
Julion Pearre5G6'3"205SeniorMcKinney, TXGraduated
Alex Dargenton11F6'8"205RS SeniorFord-de-France, MartinqueGraduated
Taylor Larson13G6'4"210SophomoreHighland, UTLeft the team
Norbert Janicek15F6'11"250JuniorDražkovce, SlovakiaLeft the team due to personal reasons
Daron Henson23F6'7"205RS FreshmanPasadena, CATransferred to Salt Lake CC

Incoming transfers

NameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownPrevious college
John Knight III3G6'2"195SophomoreJackson, MSJunior college transferred from Southwest Mississippi CC
Ke'Sean Davis13F6'7"210SophomoreLos Angeles, CAJunior college transferred from Seward County CC
Roche Grootfaam15F6'8"230SophomoreParamaribo, SurinameJunior college transferred from College of Southern Idaho

Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Steven Ashworth
PG
Highland, UT Lone Peak High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Tauriawn Knight
PG
Edmond, OK Edmond Santa Fe High School 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Ben Fakira
C
Sydney, Australia Barker College 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (110 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout:   Rivals:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018.

Roster

2018–19 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 0 Klay Stall 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)240 lb (109 kg) RS FrBasha HS Chandler, AZ
G 1 Tauriawn Knight 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)170 lb (77 kg) FrEdmond Santa Fe HS Edmond, OK
G/F 2 Dwayne Brown Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)220 lb (100 kg) SrRockdale County HS
Northern Oklahoma CC
Conyers, GA
G 3 John Knight III 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoCallaway HS
SW Mississippi CC
Jackson, MS
G 4 Crew Ainge (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)180 lb (82 kg) RS SoKimball Union Academy Wellesley, MA
G 5 Sam Merrill 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)210 lb (95 kg) JrBountiful HS Bountiful, UT
F 10 Quinn Taylor 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)240 lb (109 kg) RS SrLangham Creek Houston, TX
F 12 Justin Bean 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)205 lb (93 kg) RS FrSouthmoore HS Moore, OK
F 13 Ke'Sean Davis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)225 lb (102 kg) JrTaft Charter HS
Seward County CC
Compton, CA
F 14 Roche Grootfaam 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)220 lb (100 kg) JrCovenant Christian Academy
College of Southern Idaho
Paramaribo, Suriname
G 15 Abel Porter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)195 lb (88 kg) RS SoDavis HS Farmington, UT
F 21 Ben Fakira 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)240 lb (109 kg) FrBarker College Sydney, Australia
G 22 Brock Miller 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)200 lb (91 kg) RS FrBrighton HS Sandy, UT
G 24 Diogo Brito 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)205 lb (93 kg) RS JrMountain Mission School Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal
C 23 Neemias Queta 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)225 lb (102 kg) FrBenfica (basketball) Barreiro, Portugal
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
Nov 1, 2018*
7:00 pm
Evergreen State W 96–45 
Smith Spectrum (5,744)
Logan, UT
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018*
7:00 pm
at Montana State W 101–71  1–0
Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,354)
Bozeman, MT
Nov 9, 2018*
7:00 pm
Hartford
MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game
W 100–73  2–0
Smith Spectrum (8,500)
Logan, UT
Nov 13, 2018*
7:00 pm
Mississippi Valley State W 94–59  3–0
Smith Spectrum (5,133)
Logan, UT
Nov 16, 2018*
7:00 pm, Stadium
Utah Valley
MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game
W 65–46  4–0
Smith Spectrum (6,474)
Logan, UT
Nov 19, 2018*
9:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. Saint Mary's
MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight semifinals
W 80–63  5–0
T-Mobile Arena 
Paradise, NV
Nov 21, 2018*
9:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. Arizona State
MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight championship
L 82–87  5–1
T-Mobile Arena (3,157)
Paradise, NV
Nov 28, 2018*
7:00 pm, Stadium
Northern Iowa
MW–MVC Challenge
W 71–52  6–1
Smith Spectrum (5,134)
Logan, UT
Dec 1, 2018*
8:00 pm
at UC Irvine W 89–65  7–1
Bren Events Center (1,812)
Irvine, CA
Dec 5, 2018*
7:00 pm, BYUtv
at BYU
Old Oquirrh Bucket
L 80–95  7–2
Marriott Center (11,377)
Provo, UT
Dec 8, 2018*
2:30 pm, ATTSNRM
vs. Weber State
Old Oquirrh Bucket/Beehive Classic
W 76–67  8–2
Vivint Smart Home Arena (10,678)
Salt Lack City, UT
Dec 15, 2018*
7:00 pm
Alabama State W 86–48  9–2
Smith Spectrum (6,078)
Logan, UT
Dec 20, 2018*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at No. 21 Houston L 50–60  9–3
Fertitta Center (6,264)
Houston, TX
Dec 28, 2018*
7:00 pm
Eastern Oregon W 84–57  10–3
Smith Spectrum (7,056)
Logan, UT
Mountain West regular season
Jan 2, 2019
9:00 pm, ESPNU
at No. 6 Nevada L 49–72  10–4
(0–1)
Lawlor Events Center (11,224)
Reno, NV
Jan 5, 2019
7:00 pm
Air Force W 79–62  11–4
(1–1)
Smith Spectrum (8,412)
Logan, UT
Jan 9, 2019
7:00 pm
Fresno State L 77–78  11–5
(1–2)
Smith Spectrum (6,379)
Logan, UT
Jan 12, 2019
4:00 pm, ATTSNRM
at Wyoming W 71–55  12–5
(2–2)
Arena-Auditorium (3,426)
Laramie, WY
Jan 16, 2019
8:00 pm
at San Jose State W 81–63  13–5
(3–2)
Event Center Arena (1,388)
San Jose, CA
Jan 19, 2019
7:00 pm
Colorado State W 87–72  14–5
(4–2)
Smith Spectrum (7,509)
Logan, UT
Jan 26, 2019
2:00 pm, CBSSN
at New Mexico W 68–66  15–5
(5–2)
Dreamstyle Arena (10,752)
Albuquerque, NM
Jan 30, 2019
7:00 pm
San Jose State W 103–73  16–5
(6–2)
Smith Spectrum (6,599)
Logan, UT
Feb 2, 2019
2:30 pm, ATTSNRM
UNLV W 82–65  17–5
(7–2)
Smith Spectrum (7,157)
Logan, UT
Feb 6, 2019
8:30 pm, ATTSNRM
at Fresno State W 82–81  18–5
(8–2)
Save Mart Center (5,091)
Fresno, CA
Feb 9, 2019
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at San Diego State L 63–68  18–6
(8–3)
Viejas Arena (10,631)
San Diego, CA
Feb 13, 2019
7:00 pm
Wyoming W 76–59  19–6
(9–3)
Smith Spectrum (5,458)
Logan, UT
Feb 16, 2019
2:00 pm
at Air Force W 76–62  20–6
(10–3)
Clune Arena (3,037)
Colorado Springs, CO
Feb 20, 2019
9:00 pm, ESPNU
New Mexico W 71–55  21–6
(11–3)
Smith Spectrum (6,273)
Logan, UT
Feb 23, 2019
2:00 pm, Stadium
at Boise State W 78–71 OT 22–6
(12–3)
Taco Bell Arena (6,581)
Boise, ID
Feb 26, 2019
7:30 pm, CBSSN
San Diego State W 70–54  23–6
(13–3)
Smith Spectrum (8,160)
Logan, UT
Mar 2, 2019
6:30 pm, CBSSN
No. 12 Nevada W 81–76  24–6
(14–3)
Smith Spectrum (10,387)
Logan, UT
Mar 5, 2019
7:00 pm, ATTSNRM
at Colorado State W 100–96 OT 25–6
(15–3)
Moby Arena (2,548)
Fort Collins, CO
Mountain West tournament
Mar 14, 2019
7:00 pm, CBSSN
(2) vs. (7) New Mexico
Quarterfinals
W 91–83  26–6
Thomas & Mack Center (7,518)
Paradise, NV
Mar 15, 2019
9:30 pm, CBSSN
(2) vs. (3) Fresno State
Semifinals
W 85–60  27–6
Thomas & Mack Center (8,764)
Paradise, NV
Mar 16, 2019
4:00 pm, CBS
(2) vs. (4) San Diego State
Championship
W 64–57  28–6
Thomas & Mack Center (8,969)
Paradise, NV
NCAA tournament
Mar 22, 2019*
4:50 pm, TNT
(8 MW) No. 25 vs. (9 MW) Washington
First Round
L 61–78  28–7
Nationwide Arena (19,426)
Columbus, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest Source[4].
All times are in Mountain.

References

  1. Greene, Dana (March 11, 2018). "Utah State fires head basketball coach Tim Duryea". Good4Utah. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  2. "Source: Utah State set to hire South Dakota's Craig Smith as new basketball coach". Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  3. Garry, Mick (March 26, 2018). "South Dakota's Craig Smith named men's basketball coach at Utah State". Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  4. "Utah State 2018–19 schedule". UtahStateAggies.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015.
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