Fresno State 64, Louisiana Tech 63
Ruston, La. - Dominic McGuire needed three blocks to become Fresno State's single-season blocks leader, and Thursday night, the junior forward turned back six Louisiana Tech shots in a 64-63 Fresno State victory at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La.
McGuire held Fresno State in suspense, as the 6-8 junior didn't record any blocked shots in the first half and then stepped up the defense in the second half, blocking six shots. McGuire passed former Bulldog Melvin Ely, who recorded 92 blocked shots in 2000.
But that wasn't all McGuire did in the victory. McGuire scored a game-high 19 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. With the win the Bulldogs improve to 19-8 on the season and 7-6 overall.
Four Bulldogs scored in double figures, as Kevin Bell paced the offense and played an excellent all-around game. Bell matched his career-high with 16 points and played 38 minutes.
Hector Hernandez played solid on both ends of the floor, recording 15 points, including three 3-pointers and added five rebounds. Quinton Hosley, battling foul trouble early in the second half, scored 12 points and added nine rebounds.
Hosley had a key free throw for the Bulldogs, putting them up 64-63 with 34.9 second left in the game. After Hosley missed the first, the senior sank the second, forcing Louisiana Tech to take a timeout.
Fresno State held Louisiana Tech to a short jumper by Chad McKenzie, but McGuire grabbed the rebound and was tied up by a Louisiana Tech player with two seconds remaining. Louisiana Tech got a good 3-point shot off, but it was just long and Fresno State hung on for the win. Louisiana Tech fell to 9-18 overall and 6-8 in WAC play.
In the first half, the Bulldogs came on strong after the eight-minute media timeout. Fresno State took its first lead of the game after a McGuire basket to make it 21-20.
Offensively the Bulldogs were led by McGuire, who had 12 points and four rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. Hernandez had nine points and three rebounds and Bell had six points.
Fresno State shot 44.8 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range. Louisiana Tech went 0 for 7 from 3-point range and 2 of 7 from the free throw line in the first half.
New Mexico State 76, Utah State 73
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -Justin Hawkins scored 23 points, including a crucial pair of free throws late in the game, as New Mexico State held on for a 76-73 win over Utah State on Thursday night.
With seven seconds left and New Mexico State (21-6, 10-3 Western Athletic Conference) ahead 74-73, Jaycee Carroll had a chance to put Utah State (20-8, 8-5) in the lead but he dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds.
Hawkins, a 73 percent free throw shooter, took the ball on the inbounds play and was fouled. He hit both free throws to seal the win. Utah State's Durrall Peterson launched a desperation 3-point shot at the buzzer but it hit nothing but air.
Carroll, who scored a career-high 44 points in a win over New Mexico State on Feb. 5, had another strong performance Thursday. He finished with 30 points on 11 of 19 shooting and added 2 assists.
New Mexico State started the game hitting its first 10 of 12 shots. NMSU used a 17-2 run to pull away to a 43-26 halftime lead. During that streak, Utah State failed to hit on a single field goal attempt.
Stephen DuCharme broke that drought with a layup early in the second half. It was Utah State's first field goal since the 8:25 mark of the first half.
Fourteen turnovers by New Mexico State in the second half opened the door for Utah State, which got as close as four points on two occasions before NMSU's lead all but disappeared late in the game.
Boise State 83, San Jose State 64
BOISE, Idaho ? It was a night to remember for Eric Lane. The senior not only scored a season-high 22 points to lead Boise State to an 83-64 win over San Jose State at Taco Bell Arena on Thursday, but Lane became just the 18th player in school history to break the 1,000-point barrier.
It didn’t take Lane long to spark the Broncos to an early lead or to score the 1,000th point. Lane nailed two 3-pointers in the first 1:02 of the game to push his career point total to 1,001 and give the Broncos an early 6-2 lead. He added 16 more points to run his career total to 1,017, passing Jason Ellis for 17th all time. He needs nine more to pass Booker Nabors for 16th in school history.
Lane wasn’t the only Bronco to reach a milestone. The win was the 100th of Greg Graham’s career with 82 of those coming at Boise State.
The Broncos (16-10, 8-5 WAC) moved into a third-place tie with Utah State in the WAC standings after the Aggies lost at New Mexico State. San Jose State (4-23, 3-11 WAC) sits alone in eighth place.
While lane sparked the Bronco offense, defense turned out to be the key in Boise State’s win. The Broncos held San Jose State to 37.1 percent shooting (15.0 percent from 3-point range), while the Broncos blocked a school record 12 shots. The old record of 11 was set against Wyoming on Dec. 12, 1992 and matched against Idaho State on Dec. 10, 1997.
Reggie Larry led the block party with five. Coby Karl added three, Eric Lane two and Matt Nelson and Tyler Tiedeman one each.
Larry added 16 points, while Nelson had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Karl chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and six assists.
The Broncos out-rebounded San Jose State 48-40, while handing out 22 assists compared to San Jose State’s seven.
Nevada 84, Idaho 68
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) -- Nick Fazekas scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help No. 11 Nevada beat Idaho 84-68 on Thursday night.
Ramon Sessions added 15 points and Marcelus Kemp 14 points as Nevada (25-2, 12-1 Western Athletic Conference) won its eighth game in a row and 18th of the past 19. The Wolf Pack have the best winning percentage in the nation.
Fazekas has 17 double-doubles this season and 58 in his career.
Idaho (3-24, 1-13 WAC) lost its 10th straight, continuing one of the worst seasons in team history. Keoni Watson led the Vandals with 27 points.
Nevada built a 16-2 lead and the Vandals could not make up the deficit, largely because they shot less than 40 percent for most of the game while the Wolf Pack made 60 percent from the field.
After trailing 50-31 at halftime, Idaho opened the second half with a 9-2 run to cut Nevada's lead to 52-40. Nevada rebuilt a 60-43 lead and the Vandals never threatened again.
In the first half, Idaho missed its first nine shots and did not make a field goal until Trevor Morris scored on a goaltending call with 14:20 left.
Nevada led 32-17 with 9:25 left, behind nine points by Fazekas.
Idaho closed to 39-27 on a pair of Watson 3-pointers. Watson had 13 points in the first.
Nevada scored the final three baskets of the first, with Fazekas stealing a pass and running the length of the floor for a layup that produced the Wolf Pack's 50-31 lead at halftime. Fazekas had 15 points and 9 rebounds in the first. Idaho had only 9 rebounds as a team in the first.
The Wolf Pack made 20-of-30 shots in the first, 66 percent, while the Vandals sank only 11-of-32, 34 percent.
The game was played in a 1,500-seat, 78-year-old bandbox called Memorial Gym because Idaho's normal home floor in the Kibbie Dome was being used Thursday for the annual Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival.
It is the fourth straight season Nevada has won at least 25 games.