Las Vegas • Remember this: Never underestimate Sam Merrill.
Merrill didn’t slay one-loss San Diego State all by himself. He couldn’t have. But the senior guard more than earned the chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” that the Hurd shouted from the stands when his Utah State team dug itself out of the deepest of holes Saturday afternoon to defend its Mountain West Conference Men’s Basketball Championship final with a 59-56 win over the Aztecs.
“I’ve been dreaming about this my whole life,” Merrill said when accepting the official MVP trophy.
At the very minimum, the Aggies needed a strong showing to prove to the NCAA selection committee that they deserve an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. To really seal the deal, they would be well served to turn in a truly awesome performance — one that committee members will be able to remember a week from now, even through the blur of at least 19 upcoming conference tournaments and dozens of high-intensity games.
Thanks in massive part to Merrill, who drained a long-bomb three with two seconds left to break the tie and seal the win, they did that and more. But the Aggies’ entrance into the national championships tournament no longer hinges on the whims of a committee. They punched their own ticket with the tournament title.
After coming out guns-a-blazing, USU went cold. More than cold, they went sub-zero. Over a span of 12 minutes, 55 seconds — remember, there are 20 minutes in a half — they didn’t score a single point from the field. Their only points during that stretch came from free throws, of which they made four of five. Merrill broke the ice with a fadeaway jumper with 2:11 to play and then went on to score as many baskets in the next minute as the entire Aggies team had scored in the rest of the half.
The Aztecs built a 16-point lead during the USU power outage. Yet as a testament to USU’s defense, or as a testament to the Aztecs’ own troubles with their shooting touch, depending on the perspective, the game never felt completely out of reach for the Aggies. And, with Diego Brito finally connecting at the buzzer for his first score of the night, USU entered the half down just 29-21.
A soon as the USU fixed that leak, though, another one sprung up. This time it was turnovers. Midway through the second half, the Aggies had dropped the ball 15 times while the Aztecs had turned it over on just four occasions. That led to 16 extra SDSU points.
A couple of fast and furious rallies kept the game interesting, though, and with 39 seconds left, the teams looked headed to overtime.
But don’t count out Merrill. He has long said he wanted to return to the NCAA Tournament to take care of unfinished business and his heavily guarded three, his game-leading 27th point of the night, did just that.
This story will be updated
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2IvR1TP
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