# 2018–19 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Utah State Aggies men's basketball team represented Utah State University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by first-year head coach Craig Smith, played their home games at the Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah as members of the Mountain West Conference. The Aggies shared the regular-season Mountain West title with Nevada, and defeated New Mexico, Fresno State, and San Diego State to win the Mountain West tournament to earn the Mountain West's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for their first appearance since 2011. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Washington.

## Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2017–18 season 17–17 overall and 8–10 in conference play, finishing tied for 7th. In the Mountain West Conference tournament, they defeated Colorado State in the first round and Boise State in the quarterfinals before losing to New Mexico in the semi-finals.
On March 11, 2018, head coach Tim Duryea was fired after three seasons. He finished at Utah State with a three-year record of 47–49. On March 25, reports indicated that the school had hired South Dakota head coach Craig Smith as head coach, which was confirmed the next day.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| DeAngelo Isby | 0 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Declare for 2018 NBA draft |
| Koby McEwen | 1 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Sophomore | Toronto, ON | Transferred to Marquette |
| Julion Pearre | 5 | G | 6'3" | 205 | Senior | McKinney, TX | Graduated |
| Alex Dargenton | 11 | F | 6'8" | 205 | RS Senior | Ford-de-France, Martinque | Graduated |
| Taylor Larson | 13 | G | 6'4" | 210 | Sophomore | Highland, UT | Left the team |
| Norbert Janicek | 15 | F | 6'11" | 250 | Junior | Dražkovce, Slovakia | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Daron Henson | 23 | F | 6'7" | 205 | RS Freshman | Pasadena, CA | Transferred to Salt Lake CC |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous college |
| John Knight III | 3 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Sophomore | Jackson, MS | Junior college transferred from Southwest Mississippi CC |
| Ke'Sean Davis | 13 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, CA | Junior college transferred from Seward County CC |
| Roche Grootfaam | 15 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Sophomore | Paramaribo, Suriname | Junior college transferred from College of Southern Idaho |

### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Steven Ashworth PG | Highland, UT | Lone Peak High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Tauriawn Knight PG | Edmond, OK | Edmond Santa Fe High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Ben Fakira C | Sydney, Australia | Barker College | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 1, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Evergreen State | W 96–45 | | Smith Spectrum (5,744) Logan, UT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Montana State | W 101–71 | 1–0 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,354) Bozeman, MT |
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Hartford MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game | W 100–73 | 2–0 | Smith Spectrum (8,500) Logan, UT |
| Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Mississippi Valley State | W 94–59 | 3–0 | Smith Spectrum (5,133) Logan, UT |
| Nov 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, Stadium | | Utah Valley MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game | W 65–46 | 4–0 | Smith Spectrum (6,474) Logan, UT |
| Nov 19, 2018* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Saint Mary's MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight semifinals | W 80–63 | 5–0 | T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV |
| Nov 21, 2018* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Arizona State MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight championship | L 82–87 | 5–1 | T-Mobile Arena (3,157) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, Stadium | | Northern Iowa MW–MVC Challenge | W 71–52 | 6–1 | Smith Spectrum (5,134) Logan, UT |
| Dec 1, 2018* 8:00 pm | | at UC Irvine | W 89–65 | 7–1 | Bren Events Center (1,812) Irvine, CA |
| Dec 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, BYUtv | | at BYU Old Oquirrh Bucket | L 80–95 | 7–2 | Marriott Center (11,377) Provo, UT |
| Dec 8, 2018* 2:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | vs. Weber State Old Oquirrh Bucket/Beehive Classic | W 76–67 | 8–2 | Vivint Smart Home Arena (10,678) Salt Lack City, UT |
| Dec 15, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Alabama State | W 86–48 | 9–2 | Smith Spectrum (6,078) Logan, UT |
| Dec 20, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at No. 21 Houston | L 50–60 | 9–3 | Fertitta Center (6,264) Houston, TX |
| Dec 28, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Eastern Oregon | W 84–57 | 10–3 | Smith Spectrum (7,056) Logan, UT |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 6 Nevada | L 49–72 | 10–4 (0–1) | Lawlor Events Center (11,224) Reno, NV |
| Jan 5, 2019 7:00 pm | | Air Force | W 79–62 | 11–4 (1–1) | Smith Spectrum (8,412) Logan, UT |
| Jan 9, 2019 7:00 pm | | Fresno State | L 77–78 | 11–5 (1–2) | Smith Spectrum (6,379) Logan, UT |
| Jan 12, 2019 4:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Wyoming | W 71–55 | 12–5 (2–2) | Arena-Auditorium (3,426) Laramie, WY |
| Jan 16, 2019 8:00 pm | | at San Jose State | W 81–63 | 13–5 (3–2) | Event Center Arena (1,388) San Jose, CA |
| Jan 19, 2019 7:00 pm | | Colorado State | W 87–72 | 14–5 (4–2) | Smith Spectrum (7,509) Logan, UT |
| Jan 26, 2019 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at New Mexico | W 68–66 | 15–5 (5–2) | Dreamstyle Arena (10,752) Albuquerque, NM |
| Jan 30, 2019 7:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 103–73 | 16–5 (6–2) | Smith Spectrum (6,599) Logan, UT |
| Feb 2, 2019 2:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | UNLV | W 82–65 | 17–5 (7–2) | Smith Spectrum (7,157) Logan, UT |
| Feb 6, 2019 8:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Fresno State | W 82–81 | 18–5 (8–2) | Save Mart Center (5,091) Fresno, CA |
| Feb 9, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at San Diego State | L 63–68 | 18–6 (8–3) | Viejas Arena (10,631) San Diego, CA |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:00 pm | | Wyoming | W 76–59 | 19–6 (9–3) | Smith Spectrum (5,458) Logan, UT |
| Feb 16, 2019 2:00 pm | | at Air Force | W 76–62 | 20–6 (10–3) | Clune Arena (3,037) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 20, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | New Mexico | W 71–55 | 21–6 (11–3) | Smith Spectrum (6,273) Logan, UT |
| Feb 23, 2019 2:00 pm, Stadium | | at Boise State | W 78–71 $^{OT}$ | 22–6 (12–3) | Taco Bell Arena (6,581) Boise, ID |
| Feb 26, 2019 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | San Diego State | W 70–54 | 23–6 (13–3) | Smith Spectrum (8,160) Logan, UT |
| Mar 2, 2019 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | No. 12 Nevada | W 81–76 | 24–6 (14–3) | Smith Spectrum (10,387) Logan, UT |
| Mar 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Colorado State | W 100–96 $^{OT}$ | 25–6 (15–3) | Moby Arena (2,548) Fort Collins, CO |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | (2) | vs. (7) New Mexico Quarterfinals | W 91–83 | 26–6 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,518) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 15, 2019 9:30 pm, CBSSN | (2) | vs. (3) Fresno State Semifinals | W 85–60 | 27–6 | Thomas & Mack Center (8,764) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 16, 2019 4:00 pm, CBS | (2) | vs. (4) San Diego State Championship | W 64–57 | 28–6 | Thomas & Mack Center (8,969) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 22, 2019* 4:50 pm, TNT | (8 MW) No. 25 | vs. (9 MW) Washington First Round | L 61–78 | 28–7 | Nationwide Arena (19,426) Columbus, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Source. All times are in Mountain. ||||||