“First of all, that was fun,” USU forward Alphonso Anderson said. “I want to thank the crowd, thank my family for coming out, thank my teammates and coaches. That was a fun win on Senior Night. We beat a good team tonight. They had some big wins, so it was important for us to get back on track.”

Before the game tipped, Anderson, Kuba Karwowski and student manager Ryan Corbett were honored as seniors.

For the second straight game Anderson started and made an impact. The forward finished with 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. Karwowski got in at the end and scored to the delight of the crowd. Corbett was blamed for a technical foul with 5:52 to play, but it actually was on someone else on the bench.

“I have put in a lot of work and it’s exciting (to be starting), but that doesn’t mean the work is over,” Anderson said. “I need to keep getting better and working hard.”

From the five-minute mark of the first half on, the Aggies (16-7, 13-4 MW) held a double figure lead. It ballooned to 26 with 7:47 to play in the game.

“It was a great team win, great balance,” USU head coach Craig Smith said. “It was a great team effort and an excellent win, and it felt good to be at home. ... Tonight we eliminated losing. We did a really good job of taking care of the ball.”

The Aggies did cut their turnovers down and took advantage of 19 Wolf Pack (14-9, 9-7) turnovers. USU also dominated the boards and made their foul shots.

“That was a great win for the Aggies tonight,” Smith said. “I thought we played very well for 36 minutes or so. Great team effort. We did a lot of good things out there against a very good opponent. I’ve said it many times, Nevada is a very good team. They put a lot of pressure on you, they have size, they have great guard play. It’s great to win back-to-back against those guys.”

Neemias Queta finished with another double-double with a game-best 26 points and a game-high tying 13 rebounds. The center also tied his career high with a team-best six assists.

“We did a good job of sharing the ball tonight,” Queta said. “Twenty-two assists on 29 makes is pretty good. We played really good defense as well, got back to where we needed to be.”

Justin Bean also had a big night, matching his teammate with 13 boards and scoring 17 points. He also dished out four assists and came up with three steals.

Joining Queta, Bean and Anderson in double-figure scoring was Marco Anthony with 11 points. Anthony also had three assists, blocked two shots and played tight defense on one of the best scoring guards in the conference in Grant Sherfield.

Sherfield came into the series averaging 18.9 points a game, but was held to 11 on Friday and just five on Sunday.

“I thought we defended really well,” Smith said. “Our screen-and-roll defense was excellent and that’s a big thing. Grant Sherfield is such a dynamic player, there’s a lot of talk he could be the conference player of the year, he’s really good. Marco Anthony did a great job, as did everyone with our screen-roll coverages to make it difficult on him. I was proud of our guys,”

Sherfield did have team highs in rebounds (5) and assists (7), but was 2 of 8 from the field.

Nevada did have five players reach double digits in Desmond Cambridge (13), Warren Washington (12), Tre Coleman (12), Kane Milling (11) and Daniel Doster (10).

“Tough one for us,” Nevada head coach Steve Alford said. “I never thought we really got going. We got absolutely destroyed on the glass and in transition. I thought those were the two biggest keys in this game, and we just did a really bad job in transition. Utah State is a big team, a strong team, and we didn’t handle that very well today.”

The Wolf Pack did enjoy the early lead, scoring first.

Anderson scored six quick points as the Aggies reeled off eight unanswered points to take a 8-2 lead two-and-a-half minutes into the contest.

Coleman made back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game up at eight. But that was the last highlight of the first half for the Wolf Pack.

Trevin Dorius sparked an 11-0 run with a dunk off a pass from Bean. Queta also had a slam and another bucket, while Bean hit a jumper and Steven Ashworth sank three free throws to give the hosts a 19-8 lead at the 11:29 mark of the opening half.

After a Nevada field goal, USU scored six straight for a 25-10 lead as Queta had four more points.

Rollie Worster quickly made his presence felt after checking in by drilling a 3-pointer as USU scored six straight again for its largest lead of the first half, 39-22. The Aggies took a 39-23 lead into the break, and it could have been much worse for the visitors as USU was just 2 of 15 from long range.

After two quick 3-pointers by the Wolf Pack to start the second quarter, Smith called for a timeout. USU had enjoyed a 21-point lead on Friday in the second half before Nevada got back to within two in the final seconds.

“We just had to lock in on defense,” Anderson said. “When a team is down, that first five minutes are crucial. You either give them life or you take it away. … Coach got on us a little, but we got together offensively and defensively after that timeout.

The Aggies built a 61-38 lead with 10:45 to play after an 11-1 run as Bean had nine points and was very active on the boards.

A rebound bucket by Queta gave the hosts their largest lead of the game, 70-44, with 7:49 to play. In the final minutes, Smith went deep on his bench.

With the win, the Aggies kept a grip on third place in the MW standings.

TIP-INS

Utah State began the day at No. 50 in the NET rankings, while Nevada checked in at No. 102. … The Aggies won the rebound battle, 47-24, for the 23rd straight game this season and are 68-15 under head coach Craig Smith when that happens. USU also had double-digit offensive rebounds (17) for the 19th time this season. The Aggies have now outrebounded its opponent by double-digits 12 times this season. … Nevada had just one offensive rebound, a season low for a USU opponent. … The Aggies shot a season-high 92.6 percent from the free throw line as they were 25 of 27 from the charity stripe. Those 25 made free throws are the second-most in a game this year. … USU had a season-high-tying 11 steals. … For the fourth straight game Rollie Worster did not start as he was replaced in the starting lineup by Alphonso Anderson, but Worster did play 14 minutes and had three points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. … Neemias Queta had his 25th career double-double to move into 10th place on the career list. He also joins Wayne Estes and Bob Lauriski for No. 6 on the career 10-rebound games with 32. … Justin Bean recorded his 23rd double-double of his career to rank 11th on the career list. He also moved into a tie with Mike Santos at No. 4 for career 10-rebound games with 33. … Max Shulga played a career-high 24 minutes and also had career highs in rebounds (8), steals (4) and assists (2). ... The Aggies lead the all-time series with the Wolf Pack, 39-23, and are 23-5 in the Spectrum.

GAME BALL

Really hard to decide, but the big guy gets the nod. Neemias Queta finished with a game-best 26 points on 9 of 19 shooting from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line. The junior recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 13 rebounds. Queta dished out a team-best six assists, blocked a shot and came up with a steal in 33 minutes of action.

AGGIE DUNK COUNT

After no dunks in the previous game, the Aggies had two within the first seven minutes of the game. Trevin Dorius threw down a pass from Justin Bean. A minute later Neemias Queta hustled and was rewarded on a fastbreak with a pass from Marco Anthony for a slam. Queta had another dunk just before the break off another pass from Anthony.

Anthony got into the action in the second half when Queta found him open on a long pass. Queta threw down one late in the game on a pass from Rollie Worster.

Season dunk count: Queta 38, Dorius 7, Bean 6, Anthony 5, Alphonso Anderson 3, Szymon Zapala 2, Sean Bairstow 1, Brock Miller 1.

UP NEXT

The Aggies remain at home for a make-up game with Wyoming on Thursday. The Cowboys (12-9, 6-8) last played on Feb. 19, beating New Mexico 79-67. The contest will tip at 7:30 p.m and be televised on FS1.

AGGIE WOMEN

Before the men took the court at the Spectrum, the women’s basketball team hosted conference foe New Mexico Sunday afternoon. It did not go well for USU.

The Lobos cruised past the Aggies, 93-55. It was the 14th straight loss for USU (4-18, 2-15 MW).

Aggie forward Taylor Franson finished with the first double-double of her career as she finished with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. She was joined in double figures by forward Jessica Chatman with 13 points.

USU finished the game shooting 31.7 percent from the floor, including 13.6 percent (3 of 22) from behind the 3-point line.

The Lobos (11-3, 8-3) finished with five players in double digit, led by LaTascya Duff with a game-high 28 points. New Mexico led wire-to-wire in the contest, shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and made 15 of 37 from behind the 3-point line.

The teams return to the Spectrum on Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock, for the second and final game of the series.