New Mexico State 80, Nevada 73
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -Justin Hawkins scored 19 of his career-high 29 points in the first half and New Mexico State used its quickness and second chance shooting to beat No. 15 Nevada 80-73 Saturday night.
NMSU (15-4, 5-1 WAC) had 23 offensive rebounds and consistently turned them into points to give second-year head coach Reggie Theus his first win over a Top 25 team.
Hawkins added 11 rebounds - nine of them offensive.
Nevada (17-2, 5-1) got 21 points and seven rebounds from Nick Fazekas and 23 points from Ramon Sessions.
But Nevada, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped, was no match for the Aggies on the boards and Hawkins' quick hands and quicker release.
Hawkins' back-to-back offensive rebounds and layups sparked a 9-0 run by the Aggies midway through the second half that put New Mexico State in front 62-52 with less than eight minutes left.
Elijah Ingram scored 14 points and Tyrone Nelson scored 12 for the Aggies, who have won 14 of their last 15.
Hawkins hit eight of his first nine shots and scored seven straight points in the first half to give the Aggies a 21-12 lead. Nevada countered with an 11-0 run sparked by Fazekas.
Wearing a brace on the left ankle he sprained two weeks ago, Fazekas had trouble early on getting shots against the Aggies' frontline of 6-foot-10 Hatila Passos and 6-9 Nelson, Fazekas moved out to the perimeter and hit back-to-back 3-pointers. They came early in the run that ended with a free throw by Sessions for a 28-26 Wolf Pack lead, their first, with 4:23 left in the first half.
The Aggies took the lead for good at 46-44 on a 3-pointer by Fred Peete with 13:49 left. The Wolf Pack got within 74-70 with 43 seconds left, but the Aggies held them off by hitting 18 straight free throws in the final seven minutes.
Boise State 73, Hawai'i 62
BOISE, Idaho ? Matt Nelson and Anthony Thomas combined for 46 points to lead Boise State to a 73-62 Western Athletic Conference win over Hawaii in front of 10,190 fans at Taco Bell Arena, the 26th largest crowd to see a Bronco game in the building.
Nelson scored a season-high 25 points, just one shy of his career mark set while he was playing at Eastern Washington, while grabbing 10 rebounds. The junior converted on 9-of-13 shots from the field and 7-of-12 from the free throw line.
Thomas, a freshman, scored a career-high 21 points, making 5-of-8 from the floor and 11-of-11 from the line. He matched his season high playing 26 minutes, sparking the Broncos offense.
Junior Reggie Larry added seven points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Broncos, who outscored Hawaii (10-9, 1-5 WAC) 42-22 in the paint. The Broncos (9-8, 3-3 WAC) also outscored the Rainbow Warriors 25-5 in bench points.
Hawaii jumped to an early five point lead, but Boise State went on a 21-9 run to take the lead for good midway through the first half. The Broncos hit on 47.8 percent of their shots before the break compared to just 32.3 percent by the Rainbow Warriors.
The Broncos finished shooting 52.3 percent from the floor and 75.8 percent from the line, while Hawaii made just 33.8 percent of its shots and 14.3 percent of its 3-pointers.
Louisiana Tech 73, Idaho 72
MOSCOW, Idaho -- Even after a late Vandal surge, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-12; 4-2 WAC) held off Idaho (4-13; 1-5 WAC) 73-72 in the Cowan Spectrum Saturday night for Tech’s second win in a row.
“I was listening for the buzzer,” Tech head coach Keith Ricard said of the closeness of the game. “This was our first road win in conference play. It was a great effort after a long trip.”
Senior Harry Disy put the ?Dawgs on the board first with a lay-up at the 19:01 mark in the first half for a 2-0 lead. Senior Keoni Watson answered for the Vandals less than 30 seconds later to tie the game a two points apiece.
After a Vandal three-pointer, senior Trey McDowell knocked his first three of the night to tie the game 5-5 with 17:15 on the clock. Disy got another lay-up soon after to give the Bulldogs to 7-5 lead to add to the 10-0 Tech run over the next four minutes for a 12-5 score.
Idaho eventually tied the game at 21-21 with 5:40 with an alley-oop to junior Darin Nagle, but sophomore Drew Washington got the lead back with a jumper on the ensuing possession. Nagle, shortly after, converted a three-point-play with 4:20 left in the half for a 24-23 Idaho lead.
Senior Jerome Richardson reclaimed the lead with a dunk for a 25-24 score. The Bulldogs edged the Vandals offensively for the remainder of the half and took a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs extended their lead in the second half thanks to an offensive rebound and lay-up from Richardson for a 47-40 score with 12:28 left in the game. The Vandals used a 5-0 run to pull within two points over the next minute and trailed 47-45, but Tech answered with an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 55-47 with 8:01 on the clock.
The Vandals, however, outscored the Bulldogs 25-18 for the remainder of the game, but Tech proved too much and held on for the win.
“This was a tail of two halves,” Richard said. “The first half was great defense, while the second was great offense. I thought the entire team played well tonight.”
McDowell led Tech with 25 points, while Richardson finished the night with 15 points and eight rebounds. McKenzie gave the Bulldogs 12 points before fouling out on a questionable call in the final seconds. The Vandals were led in scoring by Watson with 21.
Utah State 57, San Jose state 56
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Jaycee Carroll scored 22 points, including 16 in the second-half to lead Utah State to a 57-56 road win at San Jose State Saturday afternoon.
Utah State, who had lost four straight road games, improves to 15-5 overall and 4-2 in Western Athletic Conference play with the win, while San Jose State falls to 2-15 overall and 1-4 in league play with the loss.
Chaz Spicer added 18 points for Utah State.