Merrill leads Utah State past NAIA Eastern Oregon, 84-57

Dec 29, 2019, 12:10 pm

LOGAN, Utah -- Sam Merrill scored 28 points and Utah State closed out its nonconference schedule by walloping NAIA-member Eastern Oregon, 84-57 on Friday night.

The Aggies (10-3) open Mountain West Conference play Wednesday at Nevada.

Utah State built a 19-point advantage in the first half, taking a 45-26 lead at the break.

Merrill hit 9 of his 14 field goal attempts and was 4 of 7 from distance. Neemias Queta and Justin Bean added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Collectively, the Aggies were 30 of 67 from the field, including 7 of 24 from behind the arc.

The Mountaineers got 16 points from Jordan May and 10 from Jarek Schetzle.

Utah State is now 2-0 all-time against Eastern Oregon, with the first win coming in the 1941-42 season. The Aggies have never lost to a regular season game to a non-Division I opponent and they are 26-0 against teams from the NAIA.