Aggies win back-to-back MW MBB titles - Mar 8, 2020

Utah State senior guard Sam Merrill (6'5''-G-96) hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to knock off top-seeded San Diego State in the title game of the 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship. Merrill was named Tournament MVP after averaging 27.7 points per game, becoming the first player to be named Mountain West Tournament MVP in back-to-back years. Utah State earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Utah State-San Diego State quick hitters below:
Utah State wins the 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship and secures the Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Utah State is the first back-to-back MW tournament champions since New Mexico won three straight in 2012, '13 and '14.
This is also the first time Utah State has won back-to-back conference tournament championships since it won the Big West tournament back-to-back in 2000 and 2001.
Utah State's senior guard Sam Merrill was named the 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship MVP. Merrill is the first back-to-back tournament MVP in Mountain West history.
In the championship game, Merrill led the way with 27 points and six rebounds. In the second half, Merrill scored 17 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left.
For the tournament, Merrill averaged 27.7 points per game while shooting 55.8 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from 3-point range.
In the title game, Merrill tied a finals record with six made 3-pointers, while his 15 3-point attempts are tied for second-most in Mountain West tournament history.
This marked the sixth straight Mountain West tournament game that Merrill scored at least 20 points and the seventh time in his 11 career Mountain West tournament games. For his career, Merrill averaged 20.7 points per game in the Mountain West tournament.
Utah State sophomore center Neemias Queta (7'0''-C-99) was also named to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team, joining Merrill in double figures with 15 points and eight rebounds. For the tournament, Queta averaged 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game.
The No. 2 seed is now 42-10 all-time in the Mountain West tournament and has won the title a league-best 10 times.
San Diego State's junior guard Malachi Flynn (6'1''-G-98) and senior guard KJ Feagin (6'1''-G) were also named to the Mountain West All-Tournament team. Flynn scored a team-high 16 points in the championship while Feagin added 11 points.
SDSU senior forward Yanni Wetzell (6'10''-F) recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
In the first half, Utah State went 12:55 without a made field goal and were just 3-of-18 from the field until Merrill made a basket with 2:07 left in the first half to make it 27-13 for SDSU. The Aggies then went on to hit 15 of their next 20 shots to take a 50-47 lead with
All tournament, SDSU had caused havoc for opposing teams in the second half, holding opponents to just 25 percent shooting in the second half. Utah State flipped the script though by shooting 56 percent from the field and connecting on 6-of-10 from 3-point range in the second half.

MWC Tournament Final: San Diego State - Utah State 56-59
MWC Tournament Semifinals:
San Diego State - Boise State 81-68
Utah State - Wyoming 89-82

Courtesy of themw.com

Tags : SAM MERRILL, UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY, NCAA1 BASKETBALL