Nevada @ Utah St. preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2019 ) Utah St. 49, Nevada 72

Nevada completed a regular-season series sweep of in-state rival UNLV on Wednesday night for just the sixth time in the 32 seasons that they've played twice. But the stakes will be even higher for the 13th-ranked Wolf Pack on Saturday night when they travel to Utah State.

A win over the Aggies would earn at least a share of a third consecutive Mountain West regular season championship for Nevada as well as clinch the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Las Vegas. Utah State, which is 13-1 at home this season, would leapfrog the Wolf Pack into first place with a victory. "I'm really looking forward to it," Nevada forward Jordan Caroline told nevadasportsnet.com. "It's a really talented team. They have a lot of good players, a lot of competitive players. It definitely won't be an easy thing to do, but it's another big game and another chance to prove ourselves." Utah State comes in riding a five-game winning streak including an impressive 70-54 home win over San Diego State on Tuesday night but dropped the first meeting with the Wolf Pack, 72-49, back on Jan. 2 in Reno.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network

ABOUT NEVADA (26-2, 13-2 MW): Caroline had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting with the Aggies, one of his 16 double-doubles this season and a Mountain West record 43 in his Wolf Pack career. Reigning Mountain West Player of the Year Caleb Martin leads the team in scoring (19.4 points per gamw) followed by Caroline (18.4), who also leads the team in rebounding (9.6). Senior point guard Cody Martin, twin brother of Caleb, also is averaging in double figures (11.2 points) while dishing off a Mountain West leading 5.3 assists per contest and had 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals in the first game against the Aggies.

ABOUT UTAH STATE (23-6, 13-3): The Aggies held San Diego State to 35 percent shooting and finished with a 44-30 rebounding edge in Tuesday night's victory, the first in 12 MW meetings with the Aztecs. Forward Quinn Taylor led the way with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while junior guard Sam Merrill, who leads the team in scoring with a 20.2 average, added 19 points but was just 6-of-20 from the floor and 1-of-9 from 3-point range. Neemias Queta, a 6-11 freshman from Portugal who has an NBA future, and is second in scoring (11.6) while also pulling down a team-best 8.9 rebounds to go along with 72 blocks.

TIP-INS

1. Caroline, who played his freshman season at Southern Illinois, needs two points to hit the 2,000-point mark for his career. He also has 1,116 career rebounds.

2. Nevada is 5-19 all-time at Utah State but has won two of the last three games in Logan.

3. The Wolf Pack's 26-2 record is the best after 28 games in school history and is just three wins away from matching the school record for wins in a season (29) accomplished by both the 2006-07 and 2017-18 squads.

PREDICTION: Nevada 71, Utah State 66