Boise State 65, San Jose State 64
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -Matt Nelson had 12 points and nine rebounds as Boise State barely held off San Jose State 65-64 on Saturday.
Eric Lane scored 11, Coby Karl and Seth Robinson each added 10 for the Broncos (13-10, 7-5), who trailed by as much as 13 points during the first half.
Menelik Barbary of the Spartans (4-20, 3-9) led all scorers with 15 points and Lance Holloway added 12.
The loss gave San Jose State their sixth straight 20 loss season. The last time San Jose finished a season with fewer than 20 losses was in 1999-2000 season when they were 15-15.
The Broncos who grabbed the lead with 28 seconds left in the first when Robinson made a layup to give Boise State a 31-30 lead.
Karl, who's Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl's son, entered the game needing just 14 points to tie Chris Childs for fourth on the all-time Broncos scoring list. However, Karl made just a 3-pointer from the field and finished the game with 1-for-10 from the floor but was 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. He now needs five points to pass Childs.
San Jose State had a last-second chance to win the game but Carlton Spencer missed a 10-foot jumper with three seconds left.
The Broncos are now 14-1 all-time against San Jose State and have won nine straight meetings since 2001.
Fresno State 75, New Mexico State 69
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Quinton Hosley scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Fresno State took advantage of 21 New Mexico State turnovers to defeat the Aggies 75-69 Saturday night.
Kevin Bell added 16 points and seven assists for Fresno State (17-8, 6-6 Western Athletic Conference), which led by 20 points with 2:19 left before New Mexico State made a late charge.
Tyrone Nelson had 12 points for the Aggies (18-6, 8-3), which dropped its second straight road game. Justin Hawkins and Shaun Davis added 11 apiece.
Eddie Miller had 14 points for the Fresno State, finishing 4-of-9 from 3-point range. Dominic McGuire had eight points and 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 points after taking control of the game midway through the first half.
Bell and Hosley combined on the game's prettiest play with Bell leaving the ball above the rim for Hosley on a fast break. Hosley's thunderous dunk brought the crowd to its feet and gave Fresno State a 57-36 lead with 9:17 left.
New Mexico State made a late charge thanks in large part to the Bulldogs' inability to make free throws. Fresno State finished 15-of-29 from the line, including 10-of-22 in the second half.
Fresno State overcame a sluggish start to lead 40-26 at halftime. The Bulldogs closed the half on a 13-3 run, highlighted by Hosley's three-point play with 57.8 seconds left.
Miller's third 3-pointer of the half gave Fresno State its first lead, 18-17, with 10:39 left. The Aggies led 11-3 before becoming turnover prone. New Mexico State scored nine points in the final 11:25 of the first half, all on 3-pointers.
Utah State 75, Idaho 66
MOSCOW, Idaho - Jaycee Carroll scored a game-high 28 points to lead Utah State to a 75-66 win against Idaho here Saturday night. With the win, Utah State improves to 18-7 on the season and 7-4 in the Western Athletic Conference, while Idaho falls to 3-21 overall and 1-11 in league play with the loss.
Arvydas Vaitiekus added a career-high 12 points for Utah State, while Kris Clark had nine points. Vaitiekus entered the game with 12 total points on the season.
Chaz Spicer, who is Utah State's second-leading scorer with 10.6 points per game, did not play due to an illness.
Keoni Watson led Idaho with 24 points, while Miles Webb added 18 points.
After Idaho scored the first two points of the game on a jumper by Darin Nagle, Utah State scored 10 straight points to take control of the game. USU increased its lead to 20 at 32-12 on a free throw by O.J. Harrison with 5:35 remaining in the period and went into the locker room up 20 at 43-23.
Carroll led Utah State in the first-half with 12 points, while Vaitiekus added 10 points as the Aggies shot 70.4 percent from the field (19-27), while limiting the Vandals to just 31.0 percent shooting (9-29).
Idaho fought back in the second-half as it made 9-of-18 three-pointers but could not get any closer than 10 points, before making the final basket of the game on a lay-up by O.J. Avworo to make the final margin nine points.
Utah State finished the game by shooting a season-high 63.8 percent from the field, while Idaho shot 41.4 overall, including shooting 40.0 percent from behind the arc.. USU also out-rebounded the Vandals 35-19.
Hawai'i 74, Louisiana Tech 50
HONOLULU - The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team solved its mystery against Louisiana Tech with a 74-50 victory, Saturday night, in a Western Athletic Conference match-up at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors (14-10, 5-6 WAC) snapped a six-game losing streak to its WAC nemesis.
Bobby Nash led the 'Bows with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. UH's two-headed point guard of Matt Gibson (16) and Dominic Waters (16) combined for 32 points, six assists and four steals, and 9-fo-10 shooting from three-point range.
The 'Bows had lost three straight to the Bulldogs in Honolulu. The 24-point margin of victory was the largest in the series. Tech's six-game win streak over UH were decided by a combined 13 points.
UH converted 53.2 percent from the field and had a season-high 12 three-pointers on 20 attempts. Gibson led the team with five long balls while Waters was a perfect 4-for-4.
The only downside for the 'Bows was on the glass, where they were out-rebounded 42-to-31. However, UH held Tech to 28.8 percent shooting, including a 23.7 clip in the second half.
The Bulldogs (7-17, 5-7) were led by Trey McDowell, who scored 18 points but only two in the second half.
Ahmet Gueye grabbed nine boards and three blocks for the 'Bows, who have won four of their last five games overall. Matt Lojeski had eight points and four assists while P.J. Owsley finished with nine points and five rebounds.
The first half was tightly contested until the final four minutes when the 'Bows closed out the period on a 13-2 run. Waters scored eight points during that stretch including consecutive threes that put UH ahead 40-28 at the half.
In the second half, Lojeski's three-point play put UH on top 45-33 five minutes in. UH maintained its double digit lead and after Owsley's dunk and lay-up, the 'Bows led 59-43. Nash's second three-pointer pushed the lead over 20.