The State of Utah is the first official team in this year’s NCAA tournament. The Aggies won the Mountain West Conference tournament on Saturday, thrilling the state of San Diego 59-56 in an exciting way, to secure the country’s first automatic bid for March Madness.
Sam Merrill of Utah State broke a 3 point winning pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining to help his team overcome the upheaval in Las Vegas.
“The state of Utah has not won a tournament game since 2001,” Merrill said in an interview after the game. “It’s our time, and (winning at the NCAA tournament) is what we’re going to do.”
The State of Utah (26-8, 43 NET) participated in the contest as a bubble team with a 50/50 shot to hear its name called Sunday selection. Instead of a week filled with anxiety, the Aggies secured their inclusion by beating a team that was in the mix for a No. 1 seed. SDSU, the last undefeated team in college basketball before its first loss against UNLV two weeks ago, will likely now drop to No. 2 seed with their last loss.
The Utah State victory will likely push the other bubble teams out of contention, making the Aggies a dreaded bid thief. Additionally: Utah State could very well be a Cinderella from E-major in this year’s tournament, possibly earning a # 11 or # 12 seed when all the teams are announced next Sunday. It’s just around the starting line where there are many breakthroughs against vulnerable seeds # 5 or # 6 (seeds # 12 have won first round matches in 30 of the last 35 tournaments).
“We had a rough time in January, but we didn’t budge,” said Craig Smith, Utah State coach after the game, referring to a streak where the Aggies lost four out of five to start the game. month. “We put on our dance shoes.”
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Behind Merrill, senior standout (27 points against SDSU # 5 on Saturday and 19.4 points per season), this USU team can be very dangerous in March Madness. The state of Utah is also solid at both ends of the floor, ranking in the top 10 in terms of margin of play and assists, while also containing teams with a defense percentage of 25 goals.
Merrill had six three-point points on Saturday and can complete it beyond the arc (he had 83 points in three MWC tournament games). While the state of San Diego grabbed the spotlight in Mountain West for most of 2019-20, Merrill and the Aggies have a chance to make a name for themselves now in the NCAA.