If the old cliche of “Defense wins championships” has any truth to it, then coaches around the Mountain West Conference must be wary of Utah State during this week’s conference tournament.

The Aggies secured two of five spots on the MWC Defensive Team when all-conference awards, voted on by coaches, were released Tuesday. Neemias Queta and Justin Bean joined San Diego State’s Malachi Flynn and KJ Feagin and Nevada’s Lindsey Drew on the team.

Flynn, a junior guard, was named Player of the Year by the coaches. He was also named Defensive Player of the Year, a title that one day earlier the MWC media awarded to Queta, a sophomore center.

The media also named Queta, who leads the league with 27 blocks, a first-team all-conference selection in those awards announced Monday, while coaches moved him to the second-team Tuesday. Aggies teammate Sam Merrill, a senior guard who leads his team with 18.8 points and 4.0 assists per game, meanwhile, was a first-team all-conference pick in both. Bean (12.3 points and 10.3 rebounds pre game) was named a third-team pick by coaches Tuesday.

USU (23-8) boasts the second-most all-conference honorees alongside Nevada, though the Wolfpack also walked away with two special honors. Newcomer of the year went to junior goard Jalen Harris and Sixth Man of the Year went to senior guard Nisré Zouzoua. SDSU received four all-conference selections and three honors — the two for Flynn and Coach of the Year for the Aztecs’ Brian Dutcher.

Those teams hold the Nos. 1-3 seeds in the MWC tournament at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas this week and received byes for Wednesday’s first round. The Aggies are aiming for a rematch of last year’s title game, when they edged SDSU 64-57. They’ll most likely need to at least get to that game if they want to have a shot at joining the March Madness frenzy again.

Andy Katz’s most recent predictions had the Aggies as a No. 10 seed despite USU receiving no votes in this week’s AP Top 25 poll. Meanwhile Katz had the Aztecs, ranked No. 5 in the poll, as one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament.

To get to that pivotal game, though, USU must win its first two games. The first, on Thursday, will be against the winner of Wednesday’s game between New Mexico and San Jose State. The second would most likely be against Nevada. The Aggies have only played the Wolfpack once, beating them 80-70 with the Hurd behind them at the Spectrum in Logan on Jan. 20.

All quarterfinal and semifinal games will be aired on CBSSN. The MWC tournament championship is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday and will be aired on CBS.

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE HONORS





Player of the Year: Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State

Defensive Player of the Year: Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State

Freshman of the Year: Isaiah Stevens, Fr., G, Colorado State

Newcomer of the Year: Jalen Harris, Nevada

Sixth Man of the Year: Nisré Zouzoua, Nevada

Coach of the Year: Brian Dutcher, San Diego State





First Team

Sam Merrill, Sr., G, Utah State

Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State

Jalen Harris, Jr., G, Nevada

Matt Mitchell, Jr., F, San Diego State

Bryce Hamilton, So., F, UNLV





Second Team

Neemias Queta, So., C, Utah State

Yanni Wetzell, Sr., F, San Diego State

Nico Carvacho, Sr., C, Colorado State

Justinian Jessup, Sr., G, Boise State

Derrick Alston, Jr., F, Boise State

Jazz Johnson, Sr., G, Nevada





Third Team

Justin Bean, So., F, Utah State

Lavell Scottie, Sr., F, Air Force

Seneca Knight, So., G, San José State

Isaiah Stevens, Fr., G, Colorado State

Amauri Hardy, Jr., G, UNLV





Honorable Mention

KJ Feagin, Sr., G, San Diego State

Hunter Maldonado, So., G, Wyoming

Lindsey Drew, Sr., G, Nevada

Nate Grimes, Sr., F, Fresno State]

Orlando Robinson, Fr., F, Fresno State





Defensive Team

Neemias Queta, So., C, Utah State

Justin Bean, So., F, Utah State

Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State

KJ Feagin, Sr., G, San Diego State

Lindsey Drew, Sr., G, Nevada









