Thursday's Games
Utah State 80, Boise State 79
LOGAN, Utah - Chaz Spicer's three-point play with seven seconds left in the game lifted Utah State to an 80-79 win against Boise State here Thursday night.
The Aggies improved to 14-5 overall and 3-2 in WAC play, while Boise State fell to 8-8 and 2-3.
Spicer scored 20 points to match his career high, while Jaycee Carroll scored 19 points and Durrall Peterson scored 18 for Utah State. Coby Karl and Reggie Larry each scored 17 points for Boise State.
Spicer also added a team-best eight rebounds as he reached double-figure points for the first time in four games.
Utah State led 16-15 at the 12:28 mark in the first half and did not lead again in the game until Spicer's final second heroics. After trailing by as many as seven points early in the second half, Utah State managed to tie the game at 47 apiece after a Jaycee Carroll layup at the 15:27 mark.
However, Boise State pushed its margin to as many as 13 at 73-60 and led 75-64 with 4:35 remaining. However, the Broncos would not score another field goal after Reggie Larry's jumper put them up 77-68 with 3:44 left.
BSU led 79-70 with 2:03 remaining before the Aggies finished the game on a 10-0 run.
Boise State dominated the boards in the first half, out-rebounding the Aggies 24-17, including grabbing 10 offensive rebounds. The visitors struggled shooting from the outside in the first period, making just three of 14 three-point attempts. However, the visitors heated up in the second half, making seven of nine from behind the arc.
The Aggies, who ended up matching Boise State in rebounding for the game at 34 apiece, had a season low eight turnovers in the game. Both team sshot well from the floor as USU hit 50.0 percent and Boise State made 51.7 percent.
USU improved to 9-0 at home this season and has now won 10 straight games in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Nevada 85, Fresno State 75
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Nevada coach Mark Fox wasn't sure how the 15th-ranked Wolf Pack would play with senior Nick Fazekas back in the lineup after missing the last two and a half games.
Very well, as it turned out.
Fazekas had 20 points and 10 rebounds, playing 25 minutes on his sore left ankle and junior Marcelus Kemp scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half to help Nevada win its 10th in a row Thursday night, 85-75 over Fresno State.
"I felt like it would be a little bit of an adjustment having Nick back because we hadn't had him for 10 days," Fox said. "He wasn't as healthy as we wanted him to be ... but I was really pleased that they played together."
Junior Denis Ikovlev scored a career-high 18 points and junior Ramon Sessions had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Wolf Pack (17-1, 5-0 in the Western Athletic Conference), who have won 15 in a row over WAC opponents. They are 54-6 at home since the start of the 2003-04 season and off to their best start in school history.
It was the 53rd career double-double and 12th of the season for Fazekas, a 6-foot-11 senior who played with a brace on the left ankle he hurt against Boise State on Jan. 8.
"I had the injury on my mind a little bit but then as the game got in a flow, I was all right," said Fazekas, who called the ankle "a little bit sore."
"It's going to take some time, but I felt good," he said.
Junior Dominic McGuire had 19 points to lead five players in double figures for Fresno State (13-5, 2-3), which has lost three in a row after winning its first seven.
Junior Hector Hernandez had 13 points, senior Quinton Hosley and senior Ja'Vance Colman 12 each and junior Eddie Miller 10 for the Bulldogs, who were outshot from the field 38 percent to 48 percent and outrebounded 45-35.
"We had 19 assists with only five turnovers, but shot about 35 percent and that's not good enough to win on the road," Fresno State coach Steve Cleveland said.
"Hosley had his shots around the basket but they didn't go down. Nevada has got size and can redirect shots," he said.
Fazekas, who entered the night second in the NCAA in rebounds at 12.1 per game, moved into sixth place on the WAC's all-time rebounding list with 1,091 and seventh in scoring with 2,137, surpassing Bob Elliott in both cases. Elliott had 1,083 rebounds and 2,131 points playing for Arizona from 1973-77.
Fox said it was a good outing for his three-time defending WAC champions, who are bidding for their fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament and haven't lost to a WAC team since falling to Utah State 59-52 last Jan. 23 at Reno.
"I see more poise," Fox said. "I thought we've always been confident. I think we're starting to show some experience from playing together."
Kemp made consecutive 3-pointers to put Nevada up 61-55 with 10:54 remaining. Hernandez answered with a 3, but sophomore Lyndale Burleson matched it, Kemp added another and senior Kyle Shiloh did the same to make it 72-61 with 5:54 left.
Hosley's 3-point goal pulled the Bulldogs to 74-67 at 4:31. But Kemp drove the lane for a basket, Ikovlev scored inside off a pass from Fazekas and Fazekas tipped in a lob from Sessions to make it 80-68 at 2:04.
McGuire scored six points in the final 54 seconds, but Sessions made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch and Shiloh added one to seal the win.
Fresno State junior guard Kevin Bell said the Wolf Pack showed why they are nationally ranked.
"They made the tough shots and we didn't," he said. "Sessions is a smart guard and knows how to run a team. He is tall and a good mid-range player."
Fazekas had his first two shots blocked but made his next five in a row, including back-to-back 3-pointers from the left baseline and a hook in the lane to give Nevada it's first lead, 21-19 in the first half.
Nevada opened a 52-46 lead early in the second half when Fazekas made a pair of free throws after the Bulldogs were called for a technical foul for sending six men on the court.
Hernandez made a 3-pointer, McGuire drove the baseline for a slam dunk and Hernandez stole the ball and fed Coleman for a dunk to tie it for the last time, 55-55 at 12:33.
Ikovlev, who surpassed his career high with 10 points in the first half, made 6-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-8 on 3-pointers.
"I was just open and I was just hitting shots," he said.
Kemp made 4-of-6 from behind the arc for the Wolf Pack, who made 11-of-25 from long range for 44 percent on the game.
Idaho 76, Hawai'i 75
MOSCOW, Idaho ? Trailing by two with eight second remaining, Clyde Johnson nailed a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining to lift the University of Idaho men’s basketball team over the Hawai`i Rainbow Warriors, 76-75.
It was Idaho’s (3-14, 1-4) first Western Athletic Conference win of the season and the team’s second since joining the WAC last season. Hawai`i falls to 10-8, 1-4 and remains winless on the road in five games.
“He told me to go to the right wing, Trevor to the left wing. They collapsed and I was wide open and O.J. (Avworo) found me. I made my first two so I just shot it. It went in, all net. It felt good,” Johnson said.
“I wish I could take credit for that,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said of the play call. “We were going to run a double-out to Keoni coming out the other side. O.J. wasn’t a freshman in that moment. He saw the open guy and Clyde stepped up. It’s not a surprise that Clyde made that because he has been shooting a good percentage from there.”
Keoni Watson tied the game at 73-73 with a 3-point field goal with 14 seconds remaining in the game, but Idaho was called for a foul on the in-bounds play, sending Hawai`i’s Dominic Waters to the free-throw line with eight seconds on the clock. Waters hit both free throws to put the Rainbow Warriors ahead before Johnson’s heroics capped one of Idaho’s best-played games of the season.
“It feels good for our players,” Pfeifer said. “To go through everything they have been through from August until now and not receive reward as far as what they got tonight. The fans were here, they were cheering and slapping them on the back. It was an exciting basketball game. They have stayed the course. We talked about it on Wednesday, if you stay the course and keep fighting good things can happen and tonight good things happened for us.”
The Vandals had four players score in double figures and tied their highest scoring output of the season. The team also earned season-highs in free throws made and attempted (19-of-28) and committed just seven turnovers; including just one in the second half.
Leading the charge was Watson with 16 points and zero turnovers. Darin Nagle finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals, while Johnson added 15 points and was 6-of-7 shooting in the game. Desmond Nwoke chipped in a career-high 14 points ? nine in the second half ? and grabbed eight rebounds in 21 minutes. He also earned a career best with six made free throws before fouling out with 1:54 to play.
“It was (Desmond’s) twin brother that showed up tonight,” Pfeifer said. “As far as I’m concerned that was his best game in a Vandal uniform. He was aggressive and went at them. We did a good job as a basketball team of getting the basketball to him and I think it surprised them that he was as aggressive as he was. What was really impressive is he was below 50-percent from the free throw line (coming into the game) and he was 6-for-7 tonight.”
The Vandals opened the game with a 7-0 run, but Hawai`i came back to tie the score at 10-10 at the 14:17 mark. The Vandals kept the Rainbow Warriors at bay with two free throws, but a Matt Lojeski 3-pointer on the next possession gave Hawai`i its first lead with 13:51 remaining in the half. Hawai`i pulled ahead by six points on two occasions before Idaho was able to fight back and take a 28-27 lead thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers. The Rainbow Warriors later regained the lead with a basket and eventually moved ahead 40-31 with 2:59 remaining. Idaho closed the gap with the final four points of the half and trailed 40-35 at halftime.
A quick basket to open the half pulled the Vandals within three points, but Hawai`i fended off the attack and moved ahead by eight points at 45-37. Idaho could not come any closer than five points, doing so on four occasions over the next nine minutes, before Hawai`i regained its largest lead of the night at 59-50 with 8:20 remaining. After a media timeout it was Johnson’s dunk on the in-bounds play that sparked the home crowd and helped Idaho pull to within three points at 62-59 with just under five minutes to play. The teams traded points on the next two possessions and after Ahmet Gueye made just one-of-two free throws, Nagle hit a jumper to pull Idaho within two points at 65-63 with 3:35 remaining. Gueye then hit two free throws and Watson responded with a lay in to keep the margin at two. After a Lojeski turnover, Nwoke used a jumper in the lane to tie the score at 67-67 with 2:13 remaining. Hawai`i missed two chances on its next possession, but Nwoke was called for a foul on the rebound, giving him five and sending Gueye to the free-throw line again. Gueye hit one-of-two and Waters fouled Watson in transition to send him to the line and give him a chance to put Idaho ahead. Watson missed his second free throw and the score remaining tied at 68-68 with 1:46 remaining. Hawai`i missed a 3-pointer and Watson’s shot on the other end was blocked by Gueye. After a Hawai`i timeout, Gueye scored the go-ahead basket with 55-seconds remaining. Nagle missed a dunk with 32-seconds remaining and then a 3-pointer after Avworo chased down the offensive rebound. The Vandals were forced to foul, sending Gueye to the line where he nailed both shots to put the Rainbow Warriors ahead 72-68 with 22-seconds remaining. Watson drew a foul on the next possession and calmly sank both free throws. Another Idaho foul sent Lojeski to the line where he missed his first attempt. After Lojeski made the second attempt, Watson found himself with the ball and drained the game-tying 3-pointer from straight on to tie the score at 73-73 with 14 seconds remaining and set up the end-game heroics.
Hawai`i had five players in double-figures, led by Waters’ 18 points. Lojeski finished with 17 points and nine rebounds while Gueye used an 11-of-14 performance from the free-throw line to score 15 points and added 14 rebounds.
Wednesday's Game
Louisiana Tech 73, New Mexico State 71 (OT)
RUSTON -- A career-high 33 points from senior Trey McDowell propelled the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-12; 3-2 WAC) over the New Mexico State Aggies (14-4; 4-1 WAC) 73-71 in overtime Wednesday night in the Thomas Assembly Center.
“I’m very proud of this team,” Tech head coach Keith Richard said. “This team just would not quit. I feel good for these players. We protected our home court. It’s been tough to squeak out wins, and this helps keep us alive for another day.”
McDowell connected on 14-of-26 shooting for the night and 4-of-10 from the three-point line for his 33 points and added six rebounds and six steals for the night.
“McDowell was special tonight,” Richard said. “This win shows what good guard play can do for you. He really took this team on his back and carried us down the stretch.”
After New Mexico State got to a 7-0 lead, senior Chad McKenzie connected on a free-throw after a made basket to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 16:12 to go in the first half for the Bulldogs’ first points of the night. The Aggies answered with a basket on the ensuing possession, which sophomore Drew Washington repaid the favor with a jumper with 15:35 on the clock for a score of 9-5.
Tech tied the game at 17-17 over four minutes later with a three pointer from McDowell, but the Aggies wasted no time getting a three of their own at the 11:26 mark for a 20-17 lead. The basket sparked a 7-0 run before Tech scored again for a score of 24-19.
Tech had followed with a 7-2 run of its own to cut its deficit to 26-25 with 8:13 in the first half. New Mexico State followed with a 12-0 run over the next six minutes and extended the lead to 38-25. The Aggies took a 40-28 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with an 8-2 run that lasted over five minutes and trailed 42-36 with 15:00 to go in the game. Over the following seven minutes, the Bulldogs scrapped their way back up, and with 7:22 left in the game, senior Trey McDowell connect on a lay-up to pull the ?Dawgs within three at 52-49. Washington pulled the Bulldogs within one point at the 5:53 mark with a fast-break lay-up.
A pair of three-pointers from McDowell down the stretch helped tie the game at 65 to send the game into overtime, and it was McDowell that hammered the nail into the coffin with 13 seconds on the clock that led to the 73-71 win that snapped the nation’s longest winning streak by New Mexico State.
McDowell’s 33 points led all scoring in the game, while Tyrone Nelson led the Aggies with 18.