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
Conference	Mountain West Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 25
Record	28–7 (15–3 MW)
Head coach	Craig Smith (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Austin Hansen Eric Peterson David Ragland
Home arena	Smith Spectrum
Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Mountain West Conference
men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 20 Nevada	15	–	3		.833			29	–	5		.853
No. 25 Utah State †	15	–	3		.833			28	–	7		.800
Fresno State	13	–	5		.722			23	–	9		.719
San Diego State	11	–	7		.611			21	–	13		.618
UNLV	11	–	7		.611			17	–	14		.548
Air Force	8	–	10		.444			14	–	18		.438
New Mexico	7	–	11		.389			14	–	18		.438
Boise State	7	–	11		.389			13	–	20		.394
Colorado State	7	–	11		.389			12	–	20		.375
Wyoming	4	–	14		.222			8	–	24		.250
San Jose State	1	–	17		.056			4	–	27		.129
† Mountain West 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

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
DeAngelo Isby	0	G	6'5"	200	Junior	Chicago, IL	Declare for 2018 NBA draft
Koby McEwen	1	G	6'4"	200	Sophomore	Toronto, ON	Transferred to Marquette
Julion Pearre	5	G	6'3"	205	Senior	McKinney, TX	Graduated
Alex Dargenton	11	F	6'8"	205	RS Senior	Ford-de-France, Martinque	Graduated
Taylor Larson	13	G	6'4"	210	Sophomore	Highland, UT	Left the team
Norbert Janicek	15	F	6'11"	250	Junior	Dražkovce, Slovakia	Left the team due to personal reasons
Daron Henson	23	F	6'7"	205	RS Freshman	Pasadena, CA	Transferred to Salt Lake CC

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous college
John Knight III	3	G	6'2"	195	Sophomore	Jackson, MS	Junior college transferred from Southwest Mississippi CC
Ke'Sean Davis	13	F	6'7"	210	Sophomore	Los Angeles, CA	Junior college transferred from Seward County CC
Roche Grootfaam	15	F	6'8"	230	Sophomore	Paramaribo, Suriname	Junior 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
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Klay Stall 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Fr Basha HS Chandler, AZ G 1 Tauriawn Knight 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Edmond Santa Fe HS Edmond, OK G/F 2 Dwayne Brown Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Rockdale County HS Northern Oklahoma CC Conyers, GA G 3 John Knight III 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Callaway HS SW Mississippi CC Jackson, MS G 4 Crew Ainge (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So Kimball Union Academy Wellesley, MA G 5 Sam Merrill 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Bountiful HS Bountiful, UT F 10 Quinn Taylor 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Sr Langham Creek Houston, TX F 12 Justin Bean 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Fr Southmoore HS Moore, OK F 13 Ke'Sean Davis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Taft Charter HS Seward County CC Compton, CA F 14 Roche Grootfaam 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Covenant Christian Academy College of Southern Idaho Paramaribo, Suriname G 15 Abel Porter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Davis HS Farmington, UT F 21 Ben Fakira 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Barker College Sydney, Australia G 22 Brock Miller 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Brighton HS Sandy, UT G 24 Diogo Brito 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Mountain Mission School Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal C 23 Neemias Queta 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Benfica (basketball) Barreiro, Portugal	Head coach Craig Smith (North Dakota) Assistant coach(es) Austin Hansen (South Dakota State) Eric Peterson (UW–La Crosse) David Ragland (Southern Indiana) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt 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. . UtahStateAggies.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015.