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Utah State vs Fresno State: 2018-19 College basketball game preview, TV schedule

FULLERTON, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Deshon Taylor #21 of the Fresno State Bulldogs reacts after scoring a basket and a foul in the second half of the game against the Hawaii Warriors during the Wooden Legacy Tournament at Titan Gym on November 25, 2018 in Fullerton, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
FULLERTON, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Deshon Taylor #21 of the Fresno State Bulldogs reacts after scoring a basket and a foul in the second half of the game against the Hawaii Warriors during the Wooden Legacy Tournament at Titan Gym on November 25, 2018 in Fullerton, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

Utah State and Fresno State sit near the top of the Mountain West; can the Aggies avenge a January loss in an exciting Tuesday night match-up?

TV schedule: Tuesday, February 5, 10:30 pm ET.

Arena: Save Mart Center in Fresno, California

Riding a six-game winning streak, Utah State (17-5) finds themselves tied for second place in the Mountain West. The program is experiencing a revival under first-year coach Craig Smith. They have a nice win over Saint Mary’s and have been playing well in conference play with their losses to Nevada and Fresno State. They have a very solid chance to avenge their most recent loss, though face a tough road test.

The Aggies top scorer is junior guard Sam Merrill (19.4 ppg). He’s surpassed 20 points in each of the team’s last three games and his 3-point shooting has been improved. The other player to watch is freshman center Neemias Queta (10.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg), who has double-doubles in three of their last four contests. This is a relatively young team, as forwards Quinn Taylor (8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Dwayne Brown Jr. (8.4 ppg) are the only seniors.

After a .500 record in 2017-18, the Aggies are in much better shape, currently sitting at 41st in KenPom with a much-improved defense. That firm defense is second in the nation in defensive rebounding and defensive 2-point field goal percentage. They may have been rocked by Nevada a month ago, but have been taking care of business throughout the rest of conference play.

On the other side, the Fresno State (16-5) program continues to be solid under first-year coach Justin Hutson. Owning the tiebreaker over Utah State, the Bulldogs sit in second place behind Nevada, who knocked them off by ten a few weeks ago. They do boast a win over Cal, but that’s not very impressive these days. Aside from a slip-up against Utah Valley in late December, the Bulldogs have been taking care of business, putting themselves in a great position in MWC play.

The Bulldogs are led by a talented pair of senior guards. Braxton Huggins (17.8 ppg) and Deshon Taylor (16.2 ppg) have scored in bunches all year, with both players over 20 points in the Bulldog’s most recent game against New Mexico. Junior forward Nate Grimes (12.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg) is the big man to watch, having grabbed 19 boards in that win against the Lobos.

The Fresno State defense is solid, sitting at 47th in defensive efficiency. The team is top ten on defense in giving up 3-pointers, locking down on outside shooters. They play at a slightly slower pace than the Aggies, but this should be a great defensive effort from both teams.

For the Aggies, they’ll need to get Merrill going early, especially against Fresno State’s strong outside defense. They’ll also need Queta to take advantage of opportunities down low, especially as the defense rotates to cover Merrill. For the Bulldogs, they need their guards to get going early because the Aggies’ defense is for real.

If Nevada didn’t exist, this would be the best match-up in the Mountain West. Fresno State already won impressively on the road back in January. A late Huggins 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs the win in a game they led for only 5 seconds. I expect Utah State will be ready to deliver some revenge, expecting them to pull out a close win.

Prediction: Utah State 73, Fresno State 71