Koby McEwen, Utah State bring momentum into UNLV game

As the face of Utah State basketball, Jalen Moore started all but one game the past three seasons, becoming one of the top players in program history.

Sophomore guard Koby McEwen was there last year for Moore’s final season, and though he is reluctant to call himself the new face of Aggies basketball, the truth is this is McEwen’s team.

He showed why Wednesday night when he delivered the go-ahead layup in overtime to help defeat Fresno State 81-79. McEwen also scored 28 points in helping rally Utah State from 10 points down with 4:12 left in regulation, with the Aggies scoring the final 10 points to force overtime.

“It showed how poised we can be in tight situations,” McEwen said. “We showed a lot of maturity in those moments. I’m glad we got to go through that so if the time comes again we face that, we’re ready for it.”

McEwen hopes the Aggies (9-7, 2-1 Mountain West) build on that victory when they visit UNLV (12-3, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Thomas &Mack Center. The Rebels are 9-point favorites in the game, which will be televised by AT&T SportsNet.

“They’re a big, athletic team,” McEwen said of UNLV. “Can score from a lot of positions. They can rebound. A physical team, so we’ve got to match that. Obviously, we can’t match their size, but we’ve got to be able to be physical enough to make up for the lack of size that we have. We’ve got to execute the game plan almost to perfection, and I know we can do that because we did that in the Fresno game. If we do those things, we should be fine, but that’s a really good UNLV team.”

The 6-foot 4-inch McEwen made an immediate impact last season, becoming the Mountain West Freshman of the Year after averaging 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

He made 10 of 13 shots and scored a season-high 28 points last season to lead Utah State to a 79-63 victory over visiting UNLV. The Rebels won the rematch at the Thomas &Mack, beating the Aggies 66-59 and holding McEwen to 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

“He’s got a lot of attributes that make up a good basketball player, and he’s still very young and so he’s going to give them 2½ good years left of basketball,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “He does so many things well, it’s always tough to guard guys that both shoot it well and put it on the deck well. You can’t just jam him on the 3-point line because (he) can bounce as well. You’ve got be an elite defender to guard guys like that, and you’ve got to do it by committee.”

McEwen is averaging 14.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists, and as his performance against Fresno State suggests, is capable of stepping up in the clutch.

Getting to watch Moore go to work every day aided his development. Moore finished as the ninth-leading scorer in Utah State history (1,645 points) and tied for 15th in rebounds (654).

“Just watching him and how he approached the game and how he stayed consistent was something I try to emulate,” McEwen said. “He brought it every single night. I just want to be that same type of leader, that same type of player and try to be consistent night in and night out.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.