Boise State 82, Louisiana Tech 56
BOISE, Idaho ? Coby Karl made a career-high eight 3-pointers to lead Boise State to an 82-56 Western Athletic Conference win over Louisiana Tech on Thursday night at Taco Bell Arena.
Karl, a senior from Mequon, Wisc., finished with 28 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 8-of-10 from three. He also had five rebounds and two assists for the Broncos, who shot 45.6 percent from the floor and 46.4 percent from 3-point range.
Junior Reggie Larry finished with his fourth double-double (points-rebounds) of the season. He had 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Junior Matt Nelson added 10 points and nine boards for the Broncos, who out-rebounded Louisiana Tech 45-36.
Boise State (8-6, 2-1 WAC) jumped out to 14-point lead in the first half, but Louisiana Tech (4-11, 2-1 WAC) cut the lead to seven at the half.
The Broncos responded outscoring the Bulldogs 39-20 after the break. The Broncos led by at least 20 points the last 12:08 of the game.
Nevada 72, San Jose State 63
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Junior Marcelus Kemp scored 21 of his season-high 33 points in the first half to help Nevada (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today; No. 19 AP) overcome the absence of star forward Nick Fazekas and beat San Jose State 72-63 Thursday night.
With senior forward Fazekas watching on the end of the bench with a severely sprained left ankle, Kemp took over the scoring load for the Wolf Pack (15-1, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference), who are off to the best start in school history.
Kemp scored on a wide variety of moves, including floaters, put backs, fast breaks, and most effectively on long 3-pointers to help Nevada win its eighth straight overall and ninth in a row against San Jose State (1-14, 0-3).
Playing without their best post player in Fazekas, the Wolf Pack relied heavily on the outside shot. They scored half of their points on 3-pointers, with Kemp hitting five of Nevada's season-high 12 long-range shots.
Fazekas, the two-time WAC player of the year, injured his ankle on Monday night against Boise State and is also expected to miss Saturday's game at Hawaii. Fazekas is second in the nation in rebounding (12.3 per game) and 17th in scoring (20.8), but Kemp made sure he would not be missed.
Kemp carried the Wolf Pack in the first half and then scored the final five points of a 7-0 run early in the second half that gave Nevada a 46-36 lead. The Wolf Pack led by at least seven the rest of the way.
Senior Kyle Shiloh added 14 points for Nevada.
Menelik Barbary led San Jose State with 23 points and Carlton Spencer added 16.
The Wolf Pack missed Fazekas more on the defensive end than on offense, as they had no answer early in the game for the inside play of Barbary. San Jose State's 6-foot-10 center overpowered fill-in junior David Ellis and scored 12 points in a span of 6:22 early in the game to give the Spartans a 19-11 lead.
Kemp then took over with a dazzling array of long-range shots. He scored all of Nevada's points during a 14-4 run that gave the Wolf Pack a 28-25 lead. He hit three 3-pointers during the spurt, including one from well behind the arc.
The back-to-back 3s to end the run put Kemp over the 20-point mark for the fifth straight game -- just 17:03 into the contest. Kemp's big half helped Nevada take a 34-32 lead at the break.
New Mexico State 61, Idaho 56
MOSCOW, Idaho ? Senior Elijah Ingram scored 15 points and the Aggie defense held the Vandals scoreless for over five minutes down the stretch as the New Mexico State men’s basketball team came from behind to defeat Idaho, 61-56, Thursday night at the Cowan Spectrum in Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball action.
The Aggies, who have now won 12 straight games this season, improved to 13-3 overall and 3-0 in the WAC. Idaho, who has now lost five straight games to NMSU, fell to 2-13 overall and 0-3 in league play with the loss.
With just over nine minutes to go in the game and down 51-40, junior Fred Peete (Memphis, Tenn.) hit a tough layup and was fouled. Peete hit the free throw to pull the Aggies to within eight and spark a 21-5 run to end the game. The Vandals went scoreless for 5:22 down the stretch and made just one field goal over the five seven minutes Thursday.
Ingram (East Orange, N.J.), who scored all his points from behind the 3-point line, was 5-for-9 from long range while dishing out five assists to just one turnover. Peete added 14 points, 11 of them in the second half, and senior Shaun Davis (San Diego, Calif.) finished with 12 points and four assists.
The Aggies, who entered the game leading the WAC in field goal percentage, struggled Thursday, shooting just 37.7 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from 3-point range. The NMSU defense did play well, forcing 22 Vandal turnovers and grabbing seven steals.
“We didn’t play well at all tonight, but we were able to pull out the win and that is what is important,” head coach Reggie Theus said. “Getting a win on the first game of a road trip is really important and we were able to accomplish that tonight.”
The Aggies, who turned the ball over nine times in the first half, had just three miscues in the second as they outscored Idaho 34-25 in the final 20 minutes.
Idaho was led by senior Keoni Watson’s 17 points while forward Darin Nagle recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Nagle also led the team with six blocks as the Vandals finished the game with 10 rejections.
The Vandals opened the second half on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 40-27 with 16:04 to go in the game, forcing a NMSU timeout. The Idaho run was sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from Nagle, the team’s nine and 10th treys of the game.
The Aggies halted the run at 15:41 and junior Justin Hawkins (Anaheim, Calif.) cut into the lane and hit a floater while being fouled. Hawkins completed the old-fashion 3-point to pull NMSU to within 10 at 40-30.
After Hawkins picked up his fourth personal foul with 15:37 to go in the game, the Aggies cut further into the Idaho lead as Davis took a great pass in transition from Ingram for the easy layup that made the score 40-32.
With just over 14 minutes to go in the game, Ingram hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game off a Davis assist, but the Vandals responded minutes later as Watson nailed a trey from way downtown as the shot clock expired to make the score 47-35 in favor of the home team.
The Aggies, who have not led at intermission in three WAC games this season, trailed by four, 31-27, at halftime Thursday night against Idaho. It was the first time this season that the Vandals led after 20 minutes of play as the home team was on fire from long range, hitting 8-for-17 from the 3-point line.
The Vandals, who made a total of 10 buckets in the first half, were led by Watson’s eight-point effort as seven of nine Idaho players that played in the first half scored at least three points. The Aggies were led in the half by Ingram’s three treys and four assists in the opening half.
The Aggies shot just 37 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, but did hit 4-of-6 free throws and out-rebounded the Vandals, 18-15, in the first half.
After a David Fisher (Dallas, Texas) layup gave the Aggies the first points of the ballgame, two quick 3-pointers from Watson and O.J. Avworo put the Vandals ahead 6-2 just minutes into the contest. Idaho continued to hit big shots from downtown, seven of the nine Vandals to play in the first half hit a trey.
With just over eight minutes to go in the half, Nagle hit a three from straight away center to put Idaho ahead 22-15, but a 7-2 run by the Aggies, sparked by a 3-pointer from Ingram in the corner, pulled the visitors to within a deuce at 24-22 with 4:09 to go in the period.
Idaho continued its assault from outside as two more threes put the Vandals up, 31-26. The last three came from forward David Jackson as the shot clock expired with just over a minute to go in the half.
Hawai?i 83, Fresno State 66
HONOLULU - The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team returned to the Stan Sheriff Center for its Western Athletic Conference home opener against Fresno State, Thursday night, and got back on the winning track after an 83-66 victory. After dropping their first two WAC games last week, the Rainbow Warriors (10-6, 1-2 WAC) routed the Bulldogs as six players scored in double figures.
The 'Bows led by 20 at the half and out-played the Bulldogs in every facet of the game. UH out-rebounded Fresno State, 41-to-37, and shot 50 percent from the floor compared to 32 percent for the Bulldogs.
Six 'Bows scored in double figures led by sophomore guard Dominic Waters, who scored a career-high 15 points to lead the way. Bobby Nash scored 14 points and Matt Lojeski added 13 points, four rebounds, and six assists. Ahmet Gueye continued his solid play with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. P.J. Owsley and Riley Luettgerodt had 12 and 11, respectively.
The game was decided in the early moments of the game after UH scored the first eight points and the Bulldogs missed on their first 10 attempts. The 'Bows extended their lead to 17-8 and 21-10. Matt Gibson's deep three-pointer put UH on top 24-12 and a 15-5 run to close out the half, gave the 'Bows a 44-24 halftime lead.
At the half, six 'Bows scored six or more points led by Lojeski's eight. As a team, UH shot 56 percent compared to 30 percent for the 'Dogs. Hawai'i also out-rebounded Fresno State, 27-to-10.
UH poured it on in the second half leading by as many as 29 points at 61-32 with 14:23 to play. The Bulldogs (13-3, 2-1 WAC) never got within 20 until scoring the game's final seven points.
Eddie Miller came off the bench and led the 'Dogs with 13 points. Fresno State, who led the WAC in three-pointers made and attempted, finished 8-of-25.