Nevada 79, Utah State 62
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Nevada's Nick Fazekas is back to nearly full speed, which could be bad news for opponents of the 18th-ranked Wolf Pack.
Sidelined for two games with a sprained ankle earlier this month, Fazekas, a 6-11 senior, scored 24 points and tied his career high with 18 rebounds to lead Nevada past Utah State 79-62 in the Western Athletic Conference Saturday night.
"He's back to the old Nick," Nevada coach Mark Fox said.
"He's still in the brace and that limits his mobility quite a bit, but he's close to getting out of that I hope and it was nice to see him back," he said.
Junior Marcelus Kemp added 15 points, junior Ramon Sessions 13 and senior Kyle Shiloh 10 for the Wolf Pack (19-2, 7-1 WAC), the three-time defending league champions who went on a 10-0 run late in the game to avenge their last WAC home loss at the hands of Utah State, 59-53, on Jan. 23, 2006. They've won 12 of their last 13 and are now 56-6 at home since the start of the 2003-04 season.
Jaycee Carroll scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half and Chaz Spicer added 12 for Utah State (15-5, 4-3 WAC), which had won five in a row.
"They are good defensively and play very physical," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "They always put their hands on the ball."
Fazekas tied his career high for rebounds and recorded the 54th double-double of his career.
He moved into sixth on the all-time WAC scoring list with 2,195 points, passing Raymond Dudley, who had 2,178 for Air Force from 1986-90. He also moved into fifth place in the league in career rebounds with 1,123, passing Rice's Mike Harris, who had 1,111 from 2001-05.
"Because of my ankle, I haven't had much lift the last two games. I was relying on the ball to come to me," Fazekas said. "I did a much better job tonight, but I still have strides to make with my ankle."
Nevada led 49-33 early in the second half before Carroll brought Utah State back into the game scoring 11 points during a 17-6 run. The Aggies closed to 57-50 with 10:43 left.
Fazekas put together his own string of six straight points for Nevada on a dunk off a pass from Shiloh and a pair of hook shots, and Shiloh hit a 3-pointer to put Nevada up 64-53 at 8:02.
Nick Hammer's 3-pointer cut it to 64-56 but Nevada answered with 10 in a row, including 3-pointers by Shiloh and senior Denis Ikovlev to go ahead 74-56 with 5:19 left and put the game away.
"Any time you get a win, especially against a great team like Utah State, we'll take it," Sessions said. "We have a lot of respect for them."
Sessions had seven assists and Shiloh six for Nevada. Kemp moved into sixth on the school list for 3-point goals made with 125, passing Shawn Pughsley, who had 124 from 1992-95.
Morrill said he was especially impressed with Sessions, a junior point guard who was slowed by a hip injury last year after making the WAC's all-freshman team.
"He is better in every phase of the game. He is a classic example of a guy in a good program getting better every year," Morrill said.
Carroll entered the game fifth in the NCAA in free throws with 93.3 percent (83-of-89) and had made all 26 attempts from the free-throw line in WAC play this season, but made only 3-of-5 against Nevada. With Shiloh guarding him most the night, he was held well below his scoring average of 21.1 points per game (13th in the NCAA).
Carroll "runs around a lot to get open," Shiloh said. "He has a lot of different ways to get open, so I just kind of chased him around and stayed on his back everywhere he went."
Fox, who was upset when Shiloh was snubbed from the WAC's all-defensive team last year, said the senior guard did a great job.
"Kyle has gotten no credit from the WAC. Not a little - none," Fox said. "But that kid is a huge part of our team and he's been good in a lot of different ways."
Carroll said he was impressed with Nevada and that Fazekas "seems like he has just gotten better."
"They are at the top of the league defensively, especially on me," Carroll said. "They are good at avoiding screens and they are very physical. The only team that was more physical with me was Boise State."
Carroll hit a 3-pointer to give Utah State a 4-0 lead but Kemp made back-to-back 3-pointers and Fazekas scored nine points on a 17-6 run to put Nevada ahead 17-10 12:48 before the half.
Chris Session made a pair of baskets for the Aggies to cut the lead to 21-16 but Sessions, sophomore Lyndale Burleson and freshman Tyrone Hanson hit consecutive 3-point goals to cap an 11-2 run for a 32-18 lead at 6:04, and Nevada led 43-30 at the half.
New Mexico State 85, San Jose State 78
SAN JOSE, Calif. ? Junior Justin Hawkins scored 20 points and senior Shaun Davis added a season-high 17 as the New Mexico Sate men’s basketball team defeated San Jose State, 85-78, at the Events Center Saturday night in Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball action.
With just over 30 seconds to go in the game and the Aggies ahead six, junior Fred Peete (Memphis, Tenn.) was called for traveling, but the Spartans missed the ensuing 3-point attempt and NMSU hit 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to edge the hard-charging Spartans for the second time this season.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 17-4 this season and 7-1 in league play. NMSU has now won the last six meetings with San Jose State, which fell to 2-18 on the year and 1-7 versus WAC opponents.
“We played pretty well tonight, minus the last two minutes of the game,” head coach Reggie Theus said. “When you can score 85 points on the road that is a pretty solid effort. We had four guys score in double figures and a lot of other guys scored as well.”
Hawkins (Anaheim, Calif.), who has now scored in double-figures 16 times this season, shot 7-for-13 the field while hitting 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. Davis scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half as he finished 6-for-7 from the field, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc.
The Aggies went to the free throw line an Event Center record 49 times Saturday. NMSU shot 67.3 percent from the charity stripe and shot 51.1 percent from the field. NMSU also hit the boards hard, out-rebounding San Jose State, 42-33.
The Spartans were led by guard Carlton Spencer, who finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting. Julian Richardson, who was 5-for-12 from the field and had six rebounds, finished with 12 points in the loss.
San Jose State shot just 39.7 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line.
The Aggies opened the second half quickly with five straight points to stretch the lead to 15 at 37-22 less than two minutes into the period. Davis broke the seal with a 3-pointer from the elbow and Hawkins capped the speedy barrage with a layup in transition.
After Barbary cut the Aggie deficit back to single digit with a free throw off the three-point play, the Aggies erupted with a 13-1 run, sprinting to a 51-31 lead with just over 13 minutes to go in the game. The backbreaker came with at the 14:50 mark as Ingram nailed a three from the elbow off an assist from Peete to put NMSU up 48-31.
The Spartans responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Aggie lead to 51-39 with 12:30 to go in the game. After Spencer hit a long ball of the in-bounds, Julian Richardson drained a second from the top of the key next trip down.
The Aggies did a lot of damage at the free-throw line in the second half, shooting 70.3 percent from the stripe with 26 makes to hold off the Spartans.
With just over six minutes to go in the half, Davis sunk a 3-pointer in transition off an Ingram assist to push the NMSU led to 67-49 and lift NMSU to its third straight win
After starting the game 3-for-14 from the field, the Aggies shot 9-for-12 the rest of the way and ended the period on a 16-5 run to take a 32-22 lead into halftime. It is the first time since NMSU entered the WAC that they led San Jose State at intermission.
The Aggies out-rebounded the Spartans, 19-15, as San Jose State shot just 34.5 percent in the period.
After the Spartans jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, the Aggies responded with six straight point of their own to pull within one at the 14:01 mark of the half. Davis capped the run with a driving layup in transition.
NMSU took its first lead of the contest at 16-15 as Peete drained a 3-pointer in transition off an assist from Ingram.
The Spartans answered with dunk from Spencer, but from there is was all Aggies as the visitors scored 10 straight points to grab a commanding lead at 26-17 lead with under two minutes to go in the half.
The Aggies were led in the half by Hawkins’ 10-point effort while Nelson added seven. The Spartans, who did not attempt a free throw in the opening 20 minutes, were led by nine points from Spencer.
Fresno State 70, Louisiana Tech 64
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Quinton Hosley scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday night to lead Fresno State past Louisiana Tech 70-64.
Eddie Miller had 15 of his 17 points in the second half for Fresno State (15-6, 4-4 WAC), all coming on 3-pointers.
Louisiana Tech led 57-54 with 8:30 left before Fresno State got consecutive 3-pointers from Hosley and Hector Hernandez to begin an 8-0 run. Dominic McGuire then hit a bank shot in the lane with 6:07 left, putting Fresno State ahead 62-57. McGuire finished with 13 points.
Louisiana Tech (6-14, 4-4 WAC) got to within 65-63 with 2:44 remaining but couldn't stop Fresno State from scoring down the stretch. Chad McKenzie had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Louisiana Tech, which shot 37.7 percent from the field. Chad Smith added 14 points.
After trailing by as many as seven points, Louisiana Tech went on an 11-2 run midway through the second half to lead 55-51.
But Fresno State suddenly got hot from outside with Miller, Hosley and Hernandez all hitting 3s. Miller came out red hot in the second half, hitting three 3-pointers on Fresno State's first four possessions. He finished 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Fresno State prevailed despite being dominated on the glass. Louisiana Tech outrebounded the Bulldogs 41-33, including a 16-4 edge on the offensive end. Trey McDowell added 13 points for Louisiana Tech on 6-of-18 shooting.
Louisiana Tech led 30-28 following a closely contested opening half that featured 12 lead changes and eight ties. Neither team led by more than four points. McKenzie had 13 first-half points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left.
Boise State 75, Idaho 57
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) - Coby Karl scored 24 points to lead the Boise State Broncos past the Idaho Vandals 75-57 Saturday night.
Reggie Larry added 14 points and Seth Robinson added 13 for the Broncos (11-8, 5-3 WAC).
Keoni Watson led Idaho (3-17, 1-7) with 21 points. Trevor Morris added 11 points for the Vandals, which have now lost 11-straight games to their southern rivals in the Western Athletic Conference, dating back to 2001.
Boise State ran wild in the second half, while Idaho fell apart. The Broncos quickly overcame an 8-point Vandal lead at the half, opening the second half on a 9-0 run. BSU's Kenny Wilson hit a 3-pointer with 14:45 left in the game and gave his team a 43-42 lead it never relinquished.
Karl and Robinson led the Broncos after halftime, scoring 16 and 11 of their total points after the break.
Idaho, which led by as many as 10 points twice in the first half, floundered after halftime. The Vandals hit just three second half field goals, shooting 16 percent (3-for-19). Two of Idaho's three field goals came from 3-point land.
The Vandals also turned the ball over nine times in the second, while BSU committed just three miscues.
The Broncos struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 33 percent (11-for-33). That included a 1-for-8 performance from the 3-point line. BSU hit six 3-pointers in the second half.
Idaho connected on six first-half 3-pointers, but finished the game 8-for-25 from beyond the arc.