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Logan • Koby McEwen went on a heat-check for three consecutive possessions late in the second half. And on each, the freshman backpedaled down the court at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum having just watched a deep 3-point shot pass smoothly through the net.

After the last one of his three heat-checks, the one that brought the Utah State faithful to their feet in elation, McEwen held out three fingers of his right hand before balling up his hot-shooting hand into a fist and thrusting it toward the court in celebration.

"It feels like the basket is the ocean, and you're throwing rocks in it," McEwen said. "Like you're never going to miss."

McEwen single-handedly put away the visiting UNLV Runnin' Rebels on Saturday evening, netting a career-high 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Aggies — after starting their Mountain West Conference season 0-2 — have rebounded with back-to-back victories in Logan. Utah State (8-7, 2-2) topped UNLV (8-9, 1-3) 79-63 behind McEwen and a barrage of second-half 3-pointers.

"The rim gets a lot bigger when one guy is stroking it like that," USU coach Tim Duryea said.

In all, the Aggies went 13-for-21 from deep.

The three-guard lineup of Utah State helped the Aggies take a 53-48 lead with 10:05 left in the second half. McEwen was the beneficiary of a couple of slick passes from senior Jalen Moore (12 points, six assists) and freshman Sam Merrill (14 points, five rebounds, five assists), which led to a wide-open 3-pointer that the point guard drained. When Merrill picked up his fourth foul with 7:49, USU was left to make up for the loss of the freshman guard in crunch time up 57-50.

McEwen picked up the slack by sinking back-to-back 3-pointers. The Wasatch Academy graduate had 24 second-half points.

"That kid is special," said junior guard Julion Pearre of McEwen. "He can do it all. He can shoot, drive, at the free-throw line. It's not a surprise that he did what he did tonight, because he kind of does it on a nightly basis."

Utah State closed the first half on a 13-3 run, punctuated by a corner 3-pointer by Moore. The Aggies started off cold from beyond the arc, going 3 of 10 from distance, but in the final three minutes went 3 for 3 with big shots from McEwen, Julion Pearre and Moore.

As the USU offense stalled midway through the first half, UNLV took advantage. The Rebels went on a 12-1 run during a four-minute stretch that erased an eight-point Aggie lead. Kris Clyburn's layup with 7:29 left forced USU to call a timeout and gather itself after a bevy of turnovers (nine in the first half) allowed the Rebels to claw back and take the lead.

Twitter: @chriskamrani —

Utah State 79, UNLV 63

UNLV (8-9)

Jones 5-11 7-7 17, Green 1-9 0-0 2, Poyser 3-9 1-2 9, Clyburn 2-6 0-0 4, Ofoegbu 4-6 0-0 8, Coupet 0-0 0-0 0, Dembele 2-4 1-2 5, Baxter 4-9 0-0 8, Bush 0-0 1-2 1, Mooring 2-7 0-0 5, Z.Morgan 1-4 2-3 4. Totals 24-65 12-16 63.

UTAH STATE (8-7)

Taylor 3-7 0-0 7, Dargenton 1-3 1-2 3, Moore 4-10 2-2 12, Merrill 6-10 0-1 14, McEwen 10-13 3-5 28, Barnaba 1-4 0-0 2, Janicek 1-2 0-0 2, Brito 0-1 0-0 0, Rector 1-2 0-0 3, Pearre 3-5 0-0 8. Totals 30-57 6-10 79.

Halftime—Utah St. 37-31. 3-Point Goals—UNLV 3-18 (Poyser 2-4, Mooring 1-3, Z.Morgan 0-1, Baxter 0-2, Clyburn 0-3, Green 0-5), Utah St. 13-21 (McEwen 5-7, Pearre 2-3, Merrill 2-3, Moore 2-5, Taylor 1-1, Rector 1-2). Fouled Out—Merrill. Rebounds—UNLV 28 (Dembele 6), Utah St. 38 (McEwen, Dargenton 7). Assists—UNLV 15 (Mooring 8), Utah St. 20 (McEwen 6). Total Fouls—UNLV 11, Utah St. 19.