Louisiana Tech outlasted Hawaii in the final minutes to beat the Warriors 65-62 and earn sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference tonight.
The Bulldogs (10-6, 3-0 WAC) jumped on top of Hawaii (8-5, 2-1 WAC) early, as junior forward Paul Millsap scored eight of Tech's first 11 points, and Tech maintained the lead throughout the entire first half to gain a 36-30 halftime advantage.
Tech continued its edge into the second half until Hawaii's Deonte Tatum hit two free throws to put the Warriors up 47-48 with 10:24 remaining in the game. Hawaii's Matthew Gipson slammed one home to put the Warriors up by three on their next possession, while the Bulldogs went through a five-minute drought with no points.
With Tech down 51-53 with 5:04 left to play, Millsap drilled a three-pointer to put the Bulldogs back ahead by one. The two teams gutted it out for the final five minutes, as the season-high crowd of 2,916 roared behind the Bulldogs.
Hawaii's Ahmet Gueye made a jumper to cut Tech's lead to one point at 63-62 with 28 seconds remaining. Then, Tech junior guard Marcus Elliott and senior guard Corey Dean both made one free throw to put the Bulldogs on top by three.
After Dean's free throw, the Warriors had seven seconds to drive down the court and fire up a game-tying three-pointer, but the WAC's best three-point field goal percentage shooter, Matt Lojeski, missed the final shot.
Tech advanced to 3-0 in WAC play for the first time ever, and the Bulldogs are in first place in the conference standings with Fresno State on the slate for Saturday.
Millsap recorded his 55th career double-double with 23 points and 18 rebounds. The Grambling, La., native earned his second WAC Athlete of the Week award for his performances against Boise State and Idaho last week, and he helped his chances for another award with the double-double and two blocks, two steals and one assists to boot.
Other highlights from Thursday night:
New Mexico State 73, Fresno State 70
Las Cruces, N.M. ?“ The New Mexico State men?™s basketball team committed seven turnovers in the final eight minutes of play, but managed to top the Fresno State Bulldogs 73-70, Thursday night in the Pan American Center. After squandering a 14-point lead in the second half, the Aggies found themselves down by one with under a minute to play, but turned up their offense and grabbed key rebounds to come out on top as they improve to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in WAC play while the Bulldogs fall to 8-6 on the season and 1-2 in WAC games.
Elijah Ingram (East Orange, N.J.) led the Aggies with 17 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc while Tyrone Nelson (Hempstead, Texas) dropped in another double-double with 15 points and 12 boards. In all, five Aggies scored in double figures as David Fisher (Dallas, Texas) scored 13, Mike Mitchell (San Antonio, Texas) added 12 and Ted Knauber (Albuquerque, N.M.) had 10 as the Aggies shot 52 percent from the field and 55 percent from the three-point line hitting 6-of-11 attempts. NMSU also out-rebounded Fresno State 38-29.
Ja?™Vance, Coleman led the Bulldogs with 26 points while Quinton Hosley added 14 and Dwight O?™Neil dropped in 12. Fresno State shot 43 percent from the floor and only 35 percent from behind the arc hitting only 8-of-23 shots.
Utah State 75, Boise State 69
LOGAN, Utah - Nate Harris scored 20 points to lead Utah State to a 75-69 win against Boise State in the Aggies' first ever Western Athletic Conference home game. With the win, Utah State improved to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the WAC. Boise State fell to 8-6 and 1-2.
Harris hit seven of 11 field goal attempts and added eight rebounds in the game. USU had three other players in double figure scoring as Jaycee Carroll had 14, David Pak 11 and Durrall Peterson 10. Boise State was led by Coby Karl, who scored a game-high 23 points.
Utah State held Boise State to 35.5 percent shooting from the field after the Broncos entered the game second in the conference in shooting percentage. Boise State hit just 28 percent in the first half and trailed 41-33.
Nevada 70, Idaho 44
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Kyle Shiloh scored a career-best 20 points and keyed a big first-half run to lead Nevada to a 70-44 victory over Idaho on Thursday night.
Nick Fazekas added 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Wolf Pack (12-3, 2-1 WAC), who never trailed in the game.
Tanoris Shepard scored 15 points to lead the Vandals (3-10, 0-3).
Nevada went on a 13-0 run midway through the first half to take a 22-6 lead. Shiloh scored eight points in the spurt, including a pair of 3-pointers. His previous career high was 14 points earlier this season against Georgia. Shiloh shot 7-for-8 from the field, including 6-of-7 on 3-pointers.
Idaho cut the lead to 24-14 on a 3-pointer by Aaron Smith with 4:56 left in the half, but could get no closer the rest of the game.
Nevada led 33-20 at halftime and opened a 40-20 on a 3-pointer by Shiloh with 16:56 left in the game. The Wolf Pack's biggest lead was 69-42 with 2:09 left in the game.
The Wolf Pack held the Vandals to 29.6 percent shooting, including 2-for-17 in the first 14 minutes of the game. Nevada shot 46.8 percent from the field, making 10 of 24 3-pointers.