San Jose State 64, Fresno State 61
San Jose, Calif. - A basket by Carlton Spencer with 21 seconds remaining in the game helped the San Jose State University men’s basketball team knock off Western Athletic Conference rival Fresno State for the first time in seven years and 16 tries, 64-61, at The Event Center on Saturday, January 13. Spencer led the Spartans with 20 points, 15 of which came in SJSU’s rallying second half of play. The senior also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, a season-high for him.
At the half, the Spartans trailed the Bulldogs, 31-29 following a final minute of lead changes.
“That was the key to everything," said Spencer about being right in the game at the break. "And then we came out with high energy in the second half.”
Julian Richardson started the second half off with a three-pointer for San Jose to take the lead the team would maintain for the next 14:31. Richardson had led the Spartans in scoring during the first half, tallying eight points, including a three-pointer with 2:01 remaining in the half that gave the Spartans their first lead of the game.
SJSU’s defense held Fresno to just 36.5 percent from the floor. In the first half, the Spartan defense held the Bulldogs scoreless from the floor for 7:50. Fresno State scored five points in that time, all of which came from the charity stripe.
In the second half, Fresno State took the lead, 59-58, at 5:29 and held it until 3:46 when Lance Holloway recorded his second dunk of the game for SJSU to spark the Spartans in the final minutes of play.
Spencer’s jumper at the 1:55 mark made it a 62-59 game, with Eddie Miller answering for the Bulldogs with 50 ticks left on the clock. Spencer’s next basket with 21 seconds remaining set up a final possession for Fresno State with a chance to tie and send the game into overtime.
Kevin Bell’s three-pointer was deflected by Richardson, but Fresno State retained possession with the ball going over the endline. Miller’s effort from distance as time expired was off target.
“This afternoon was a continuation of what we’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks," said San Jose State head coach George Nessman. "We are really starting to grow as a team. We’re real young. We only have two veterans, and they are starting to really show leadership. Carlton (Spencer), the difference he’s making, should be apparent to everybody. We’ve only had him for four or five games, but he’s made a huge difference. So I’m real proud of our team. They hung in there. Fresno State is one of the contenders for the WAC title, and they will be when they leave here. That won’t change.
“Obviously for us, this is our rival. The streak (of losses to Fresno State) was at 15 or 16 in a row. For us to have a true rivalry with Fresno State in basketball, we have to beat them sometimes. That also was a big positive for our guys.”
“Especially against Fresno State, our rival, this is a beautiful thing, but we just need wins," added Spencer. "It doesn’t matter how, or versus who, we need wins.”
The Spartans stepped up on both defense and offense in the game. Jamon Hill matched his season-high of twelve points and also recorded four rebounds. Menelik Barbary notched his eleventh double-digit scoring game this afternoon with 18 points.
“This is a relief," said Hill. "We realized what we can do as a team, that we can come out and play with anybody, if we just do what we do for 40 minutes.
The win improves the San Jose State record to 2-14 overall, 1-3 in the WAC. Fresno State’s second straight league loss away from home drops the Bulldogs to 13-4 overall, 2-2 in conference play.
New Mexico State 73, Boise State 69
BOISE, Idaho ? In a game that should not have been decided by free throws, that is exactly what happened Saturday night as the New Mexico State men’s basketball team escaped with a 73-69 win over Boise State at Taco Bell Arena in Western Conference men’s basketball action.
With the win, the Aggies now hold a share of the nation’s longest winning streak at 13 straight games. NMSU is now 14-3 overall and 4-0 in league play. Boise State is now 8-7 overall and 2-2 in the WAC.
“This was a huge road win for us,” head coach Reggie Theus said. “We did not shoot the ball well from the line, but down the stretch our guys did what they needed to do to win an important game. For at least tonight, the Aggies have a share of the nation’s longest winning streak and I am very proud of my team.”
After hitting just 11-of-25 free throws, the Aggies made nine of their last 10 attempts down the stretch, including 7-of-8 in the final 33.5 seconds, to hold off numerous Boise State charges. Senior Elijah Ingram (East Orange, N.J.) led NMSU with 15 points and hit 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Despite not shooting well from free-throw line, the Aggies did hit 43.1 percent from the field, including 10-for-22 in the second half. NMSU also hit the boards hard, out-rebounding Boise State, 42-32, including 18-9 on the offensive glass.
Junior Hatila Passos (Rio Janeiro, Brazil) led the Aggies on the boards, finishing with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Senior David Fisher (Dallas, Texas) also played well with 11 points and four rebounds on the night.
The Broncos were led in the loss by junior Reggie Larry, who paced the home team with a game-high 19 points on 8-for-13 from the field. Senior Coby Karl finished with 14 points while guard Eric Lane posted 13.
Boise State, unlike NMSU, shot well from the free-throw line, connecting on 80.8 percent of its attempts. The Broncos finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field, but hit just 4-of-18 3-point attempts.
The Aggies opened the second half as hot as they did the first as they outscored the Broncos, 11-4, to open the frame. After Passos opened the scoring with a tough layup in traffic, Fisher converted on his own layup to put NMSU ahead 10 at 40-30 just 38 seconds into the second half.
Larry scored the first Bronco points of the half and was fouled on Boise State next possession, but failed to make the free throw and NMSU went up 43-32 next trip down as Fisher nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 17:50 to go.
Trailing 49-34, the Broncos cut the lead back to single digits on back-to-back 3-pointers from Karl and Matt Bauscher that made it a 49-40 game with just over 15 minutes remaining.
With just over 12 to go in the game, Larry put back a miss and Lane converted on two free throws as the Broncos cut the Aggie lead to six at 56-50.
Trailing 63-55, the Broncos scored four straight points, capped by a floater in the lane from Karl, to four at 63-59 with under five to go in the game.
Moments later, Boise State cut the lead to two at 64-62 as Larry hit one of two free throws with 2:09 to go.
The Aggies opened the game quickly, climbing to an early 9-4 lead on a 3-pointer from junior Fred Peete (Memphis, Tenn.), just three minutes into the game. The NMSU run continued after a dunk from Larry as Ingram nailed two treys to push the advantage to 17-6 with 14:50 to go in the half.
With just over 13 to go in the opening period, junior Tyrone Nelson (Hempstead, Texas) made back-to-back layups to give NMSU a 21-8 lead and force a Boise State timeout. Out of the stoppage, Ingram was fouled and hit both free throws to give the Aggies their biggest lead of the half at 15, 23-8.
The Aggies continued to dominate the opening half thanks to four first-half 3-pointers and a 24-16 rebounding edge, including a 12-5 showing on the offensive glass. NMSU shot 41.7 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range in the opening half while forcing eight Bronco turnovers.
Out of a timeout and with just four seconds on the shot clock, Davis drained an off-balance 3-pointer from the elbow to put the Aggies back ahead 14 at 34-20.
Late in the half, Boise State put together a run and cut the deficit back to six points at 36-30, on a Matt Bauscher tip in off a missed shot. Ingram hit third 3-pointer with under 30 secoonds to go in the half, but an offensive foul on Nelson negated to bucket and sent the teams to the locker room separated by just six points.
NMSU was led in the half by Ingram and Nelson’s eight points apiece while Larry led all scorers with 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
Utah State 69, Louisiana Tech 49
LOGAN, Utah - Jaycee Carroll scored 27 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double as he led Utah State to a 69-49 win against Louisiana Tech here Saturday night. The Aggies improved to 12-5 overall and 1-2 in WAC play, while LTU fell to 4-12 and 2-2.
Utah State used a 15-0 run midway through the second half to turn a 46-45 lead into a 61-45 advantage. The Aggies kept the visitors off the scoreboard for nearly eight minutes as LTU went from the 12:55 mark to the 5:05 mark without a point.
In fact, Louisiana Tech scored just four points in the last 12:55 of the game as USU closed the contest on a 23-4 run.
Durall Peterson added 11 points for USU, while Louisiana Tech had three players in double figures, including Chad McKenzie, who scored a team-high 13 points. Harry Disy added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.
The teams stayed even throughout the first half as the biggest lead by either squad was six points until 1:15 remained. LTU jumped out to a 10-4 lead, but the Aggies battled back and the visitor's last lead of the half was 16-15.
LTU did not lead again until Drew Washington hit a three-pointer to put LTU ahead 43-42. USU responded with a Peterson four-point play, which led into the game-ending run.
The physical game featured 21 fouls called on Louisiana Tech and USU hit 19 of 25 from the free throw line, while LTU made seven of 11.
USU shot 48.9 percent from the field and limited the Bulldogs to 36.5 percent, including just 25.0 percent in the second half.
Carroll, who made nine of 15 shots en route to his 27 points, which were two shy of his season best, was the only Aggie to make more than three baskets during the game. Carroll's nine rebounds were just one shy of his season high and he added a season-best five assists.
Nick Hammer provided a spark off the bench, scoring seven points as he made two of three three-pointers for his best offensive output since the season opener when he scored 12 points.
Nevada 68, Hawai'i 66 (OT)
HONOLULU (AP) -- Ramon Sessions scored 19 points, including the go-ahead basket in overtime, to give No. 19 Nevada a 68-66 victory over Hawaii on Saturday night.
Playing without injured star forward Nick Fazekas, Nevada (16-1, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference) relied on Sessions and Kyle Shiloh, who scored 18 points.
Hawaii (10-7, 1-3) led for most of the game until Sessions made the tying layup with 18 seconds left in regulation. His winner came with 27 seconds remaining in overtime.
In Fazekas' absence, the Wolf Pack squeaked by despite being outrebounded 42-33. Nevada extended its winning streak to nine straight.
The Rainbows were led by Ahmet Gueye, who had 20 points and 14 rebounds. Matt Lojeski scored 17 points.
The game featured eight lead changes and 12 ties.
Hawaii, which led 30-26 at halftime, seemed to control the pace of the game until Nevada came back in the second half.
Marcelus Kemp finished with 11 points for the Wolf Pack, who haven't lost since Dec. 9 against UNLV.
Fazekas missed his second straight game after he severely sprained his ankle when he landed on another player's foot during Nevada's win over Boise State on Monday.
Sessions' go-ahead basket came after Lojeski had a chance to give Hawaii the lead but missed a field goal. The game ended with a scramble for a loose ball under the basket, and Nevada was awarded the final possession.
The Wolf Pack, who average 77.4 points and 49.1 percent shooting from the field, only made 43.1 percent of their shots. Hawaii sunk 40 percent.
Nevada forced 15 turnovers and capitalized on close shots. But the Wolf Pack were only 4-of-18 from 3-point range.