Louisiana Tech 92, San Jose State 56
RUSTON - Louisiana Tech controlled the opening tip and the rest of the game followed suit as the Bulldogs (3-10; 1-0 WAC) blew out the San Jose Spartans (1-12; 0-1 WAC) in both teams’ Western Athletic Conference opener Thursday night in the Thomas Assembly Center by a final score of 92-56.
“I’m really happy for these players,” Tech head coach Keith Richard said. “This gives success for us to build on as conference starts. This is how I envisioned this team at the beginning of the year. We had five guys in double figures, and we had quick and high scoring. Everybody played will tonight. I saw a lot of energy on the floor.”
Senior Chad McKenzie put the Bulldogs on the board first with a free-throw at the 19:35 mark for a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Drew Washington added to the lead with 19:02 on the clock with a jumper for a 3-0 lead. Junior Keith Smith knocked down his first basket of the night in the paint to go up 5-0, and senior Trey McDowell got his first basket for a 7-0 lead.
San Jose State guard Carlton Spencer halted the Tech run with a jumper with 17:44 on the clock to cut the Bulldog lead to 7-2. After another San Jose bucket, McDowell scored a fast-break lay-up at the 14:54 mark to put Tech ahead 9-4 and followed shortly after with a three-pointer to extend the lead to 12-4 with 13:39 in the first half before San Jose took a time out.
The time out could not stop Tech’s scoring, however, as senior Jerome Richardson knocked down a lay-up with 11:14 on the clock, which was followed by a three-pointer from senior Marcus Elliot at the 11:00 mark to give Tech a commanding 17-4 lead. The Bulldogs put together a total run of 21 unanswered points before the Spartans finally scored with 6:25 left in the half for a 28-6 Bulldog lead and eventually took a 42-21 lead into halftime.
Tech’s offense could not be extinguished in the second half, as the Spartans were outscored 50-35 to give the Bulldogs a 92-56 win.
The Bulldogs were led by Washington and McKenzie with 17 points apiece. McDowell finished 14, and both Elliot and Smith finished the game with 10. Spencer led the Spartans with 23 points.
“This win came at the perfect time,” Richard said. “They really earned this victory tonight.”
Boise State 77, Utah State 66
BOISE, Idaho - Four players scored in double figures as Boise State raced past Utah State 77-66 at Taco Bell Arena in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night.
Junior Matt Nelson paced the Broncos with 18 points, on 7-of-9 shooting, and seven rebounds with three assists, two blocks and one steal.
Reggie Larry added 16 points, on 7-of-11 shooting, with six boards and two assists, while Coby Karl had 13 points and Tyler Tiedeman finished with 12 points.
The Broncos (7-5, 1-0) jumped out to a 20-4 lead just 7:28 into the game, but the Aggies (10-4, 0-1) narrowed the lead to seven before Boise State finished the first half with a 10-2 run to take a 15-point lead into the half.
Boise State built the lead to as many as 22 in the second half. The Broncos made 54.9 percent of their field goals, while holding the Aggies to just 37.1 percent shooting.
Jaycee Carroll, the WAC’s leading scorer, led Utah State with 18 points but committed four turnovers.
New Mexico State 92, Hawai'i 86
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - Martin Iti scored 14 points as New Mexico State extended its win streak to 10 Thursday night with a 92-86 victory over Hawaii to open Western Athletic Conference play.
Iti scored 10 of his points in the second half, all except one coming on dunks. Justin Hawkins added 18 points for the Aggies (11-3, 1-0 WAC), who have now won 13 consecutive home games dating back to last season.
NMSU's win also ended a five-game win streak for Hawaii (9-5, 0-1 WAC).
Matt Lojeski led Hawaii with 22 points.
The lead had changed nine times when NMSU took the advantage for good following Iti's third dunk in as many minutes to make it 65-64 with 7:35 left in the second half.
Iti's dunks were part of a 21-10 Aggie run that was capped by Tyrone Nelson hitting a close jumper with 5:05 left on the clock. The basket put the Aggies up 77-66.
Hawaii pulled within 86-82 with 24 seconds to play on a breakaway dunk by Matt Gibson. The Rainbow Warriors were forced to foul the rest of the way and the Aggies hit 4 of 6 free throws and an uncontested Shaun Davis dunk clinched the win.
The Rainbow Warriors held the Aggies to 40 percent shooting in the first half and went into the locker room leading 38-34.
Hawaii's first half shooting wasn't spectacular either. The team shot 42 percent but was able to outscore the Aggies 12-5 on points off turnovers.
NMSU kept the game within reach going into the second half by outscoring the Warriors 10-2 on second-chance point opportunities in the opening half.
Fresno State 60, Idaho 41
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Kevin Bell scored 14 points to lead Fresno State past Idaho 60-41 on Thursday night in both teams' Western Athletic Conference opener.
Hector Hernandez added 11 points and Quinton Hosley had 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who limited the Vandals to 26.3 percent shooting. Keoni Watson scored a game-high 17 points for Idaho (2-11, 0-1 WAC), and Darin Nagle had 15 rebounds.
Fresno State (12-2, 1-0) opened the second half with a 14-3 scoring run, keyed by six straight points by Bell and five by Hosley.
Ja'Vance Coleman's fall-away 3-pointer with 11:36 left put Fresno State ahead 48-28, and the Bulldogs never looked back. Coleman finished with 10 points.
Dominic McGuire had six points and seven blocked shots, giving the 6-foot-8 junior 17 blocks in Fresno State's last two games. McGuire entered the game averaging 3.38 blocks per game, tops in the WAC.
Idaho struggled to find any rhythm on offense, shooting 21.9 percent in the second half and making just 3 of 21 3-pointers. Nagle, the Vandals' 6-10 center, went 0 for 9 from the field. David Jackson had 10 points for Idaho. Watson and Jackson were the only Vandals with multiple field goals.
Fresno State led 29-21 following a sluggish first half highlighted by poor shooting and extended scoring droughts. Hernandez's 3-pointer with 2 seconds left capped a 7-0 Bulldogs scoring run to close the half.
Fresno State led 20-13 following an 8-0 run but then went 5:35 without scoring. Idaho went 6:26 without scoring until Watson hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second coming with 3:08 left. Watson's 10 first-half points were nearly half of the Vandals' total.