Fort Collins, Colo. • Sam Merrill made 6 of 10 3-pointers and scored 32 points with five assists and Utah State held off Colorado State 75-72 on Tuesday night to sweep the season series against the Rams.
Merrill, a senior guard, also scored his 2,000th career point, becoming the fourth Aggie in school history and the sixth player in Mountain West Conference history to accomplish the feat.
Colorado State closed to 73-72 on Adam Thistlewood’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, but Abel Porter made a pair of free throws for the final score and Thistlewood’s 3 with 4 seconds left missed.
Neemias Queta scored 14 points with 11 boards for the Aggies (20-7, 9-5), who outscored the Rams 14-7 on fast breaks. Diogo Brito added 11 points.
Isaiah Stevens scored 19 points and made seven assists and Nico Carvacho added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Rams (17-9, 8-5), whose only loss in their last nine outings was 77-61 on January 25 against Utah State. David Roddy and Thistlewood added 10 points apiece.
Utah State plays Fresno State on the road on Saturday. Colorado State faces Wyoming on the road on Saturday.
Utah St. 75, Colorado St. 72
UTAH ST. (20-7)
Bean 3-7 0-0 6, Queta 7-11 0-0 14, Merrill 12-18 2-2 32, Miller 1-7 0-0 3, Porter 3-9 2-2 9, Brito 5-9 0-0 11, Karwowski 0-1 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Bairstow 0-0 0-0 0, Dorius 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-62 4-4 75.
COLORADO ST. (17-9)
Thistlewood 3-7 2-2 10, Carvacho 5-10 2-5 12, Moore 2-9 0-0 6, Stevens 9-12 0-1 19, Roddy 5-8 0-0 10, Martin 3-4 0-0 9, Edwards 1-3 0-0 2, Thomas 2-3 0-0 4, Tonje 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-58 4-8 72.
Halftime—Utah St. 37-30. 3-Point Goals—Utah St. 9-27 (Merrill 6-10, Brito 1-4, Porter 1-5, Miller 1-6, Bean 0-1, Karwowski 0-1), Colorado St. 8-22 (Martin 3-4, Moore 2-6, Thistlewood 2-6, Stevens 1-3, Thomas 0-1, Tonje 0-2). Rebounds—Utah St. 28 (Queta 11), Colorado St. 28 (Carvacho 9). Assists—Utah St. 16 (Merrill 5), Colorado St. 16 (Stevens 7). Total Fouls—Utah St. 11, Colorado St. 10. A—4,038 (8,745).