Utah State vs. Nevada: 2018-19 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

The Nevada Wolf Pack take on the Utah State Aggies Saturday night. Who will take round 2 of this huge MW matchup?

TV Schedule: Saturday, March 2, 8:30 pm ET on CBSSN

Arena: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah

Utah State has been patient. It has been two months since the Aggies suffered a 72-49 loss to Nevada on January 2 to open MWC play. This time the two teams will meet in Utah and the stakes are much higher.

Nevada (26-2, 13-2) sits atop the Mountain West, and a win would mean clinching no worse than a share of the regular season crown. For Utah State (23-6, 13-3) a win keeps them in the running to finish 1st in the MWC. While both teams have shared big-time success in league play, each came into the season with vastly different expectations.

Nevada was viewed by many as a National Championship contender due to an arrival of new talent as well as the return of seasoned veterans. Caleb Martin (19.4 PPG) and Jordan Caroline (18.4 PPG) have piggy-backed on excellent 2017-18 campaigns as the two account for over 46% of the Wolf Pack’s scoring. Transfers Trey Porter and Tre’Shawn Thurman have been consistent starters this season by providing some much needed help in the paint on defense and Jazz Johnson has been the most reliable three-point shooter for the Wolf Pack.

A lack of quality non-conference wins means some of the buzz for Nevada has subsided. Also, the overall lack of depth in the Mountain West hasn’t exactly benefitted the Wolf Pack. But this group has shown itself to be a deep, well-balanced squad with an extremely high ceiling.

Utah State was simply not talked about as a team to contend in the Mountain West and especially not on the horizon as a NCAA Tournament team, which is why not enough good things can be said about first year coach Craig Smith. After spending four years at South Dakota, Smith has excelled in a hurry in Logan and should be the favorite to win coach of the year in the MWC and also deserves to be in the conversation for national coach of the year.

Junior Sam Merrill is a fantastic scorer and all-around player, leading the Aggies in scoring with 20.2 PPG. As good as Merrill has been, arguably equally important for this team is Neemias Queta. The 6-11 freshman from Portugal leads the league in blocked shots and has helped Utah State hold its opponents to just 41.2 2P%, good for 3rd best in the entire nation.

The Aggies have enough size and talent to take down Nevada but need to take care of the basketball this time around. They committed a season high 20 turnovers in the first matchup. Shooting better than 4 of 23 from beyond the arc also feels like an obvious must for Utah State to score the win. However, Nevada does not get enough credit defensively this season.  Last season the Wolf Pack were rated 108th in adjusted defense via KenPom. In 2018-19 Nevada is 27th, showing Coach Musselman is getting his team to buy in defensively.

Besides the regular season title being still up for grabs, a win for either team has huge postseason implications. Utah State is already in the bubble conversation, but a Q1 win at this time of the year could vault them right into the field. Nevada’s glaring weakness at this point is a lack of quality wins. Landing a win on the road vs. a solid team feels pretty important if Nevada still hopes to secure a top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It would be somewhat surprising to see anything other than a close game for this one.

Prediction: Nevada 74 – Utah State 70