Louisiana Tech 84, Boise State 76
RUSTON - Even with a couple of Boise scares, Louisiana Tech’s (7-15; 5-5 WAC) hard work and hustle proved too much for the Broncos (11-10; 5-5 WAC) as the Bulldogs won the WAC contest 84-76 at home Saturday night.
“This was a very good win tonight,” Tech head coach Keith Richard said. “Things just went great for us offensively in the second half. Our three-point shooting and offensive rebounding tonight were big for us tonight.”
The Bulldogs came out of the chute scoring and led by as many as 18 in the first half. Senior Harry Disy finished the period with 10 points and six rebounds including a dunk-and-a-foul with 9:32 on the clock that kept the crowd in the ballgame. Boise, however, chipped at the lead for the remainder of the first half and only had a 32-25 deficit going into the locker room.
Both teams made up for the limited scoring in the first half, but it would be Tech who would keep enough ahead of the Broncos to get the 84-76 win with the Bulldogs scoring 52 second-half points and Boise scoring 51.
“Our defense in the first half was excellent,” Richard said. “We’ve been having trouble stopping people in the second half, but we played well enough tonight to get the win. To our guys’ credit, when (Boise) came back, our guys refocused and put pressure on the ball. We wound up getting a few steals and stopped their run.”
For the second game in a row, five Bulldogs finished with double figures in scoring, led by seniors Chad McKenzie and Jerome Richardson along with sophomore Drew Washington; all with 14 points. Senior Trey McDowell finished the night with 12 to add to Disy’s first-half 10.
“We needed this win tonight,” Richard said. “I didn’t care how it got done; this team needed to win this game. And when we score 84 points, I have to believe we’ll win any game.”
Utah State 66, San Jose State 57
LOGAN, Utah - Stephen DuCharme scored a game-high 19 points to lead Utah State to its 10th straight home win as the Aggies held off a San Jose State rally to defeat the Spartans 66-57 here Saturday night.
USU improved to 16-7 overall and snapped a two-game WAC losing streak to move to 5-4 in league play. San Jose State fell to 3-19 and 2-8.
In all, four Aggies reached double digits, as in addition to DuCharme's 19, which were just three shy of his season high, Durrall Peterson scored 13, Chaz Spicer netted 12 and Jaycee Carroll added 11, keeping active his season long streak of scoring in double figures.
San Jose State also had four players score in double figures, paced by 13 points by Menelik Barbary, Carlton Spencer and Tim Pierce.
With USU leading 56-55 with 4:46 remaining, Peterson and Chris Session each hit two free throws to begin a 10-0 run which put the game away. Peterson added a key three-pointer in the final stretch as USU held off the Spartans.
Early in the second half SJSU led 36-33, but the Aggies went on a 15-2 run to gain a 48-38 advantage. DuCharme scored five points in the run. However, SJSU clawed its way back into the game before the Aggies pulled away.
DuCharme scored seven straight points early in the game just prior to an Aggie run which gave USU a 26-17 advantage. However SJSU scored 13 straight points and took a 30-29 lead into the lockerroom.
USU shot 47.6 percent from the field while holding the visitors to 41.7 percent. USU also used a tremendous advantage at the free throw line, making 18 of 24 attempts, while SJSU made two of its five attempts. In all SJSU was whistled for 17 fouls, while the Aggies wer called for just eight violations.
Snapping the two-game losing streak, the Aggies avoided losing three straight games for the first time since the end of the 1999 campaign. USU improved to 100-29 in league games over the last eight years and has won 48 of its last 63 conference games dating back to 2003.
Nevada 69, Hawai'i 68
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Marcelus Kemp knows how close No. 15 Nevada came to being upset by Hawaii in a wild finish in the final seconds Saturday night.
"It feels like we dodged a bullet," said Kemp, who scored the Wolf Pack's first 14 points of the second half and finished with 23 in the 69-68 victory.
Nick Fazekas added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Nevada (21-2, 9-1 Western Athletic Conference), which has won 14 of its last 15 games and now is 57-6 at home since the start of the 2003-04 season.
Hawaii appeared to have gone ahead 70-69 on Ahmet Gueye's desperation basket from 10 feet with 5.8 seconds left and Gueye headed for the free throw line after being fouled by Fazekas.
But after about a five-minute review of the videotape, the officials determined Fazekas fouled Gueye before he released the ball while falling down.
On the inbounds play, Matt Gibson's 3-point attempt was partially blocked by Denis Ikovlev. Gueye grabbed the ball and missed off the backboard before Hawaii's P.J. Owsley put it back in but another review of the tape showed it was after the buzzer.
"That was a great finish and one of the wackier ones, I guess," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "We dodged a bullet, like the kids said."
The Wolf Pack made 20-of-21 free throws on the game and have missed only one of their last 40 from the line. Fazekas made all nine of his free-throw attempts for the three-time defending champions of the WAC.
"That's how you win games," Fazekas said. "You have to be able to shoot well from the free-throw line. ... They had their chance to beat us but we got them in the end."
Gueye made 10-of-15 shots for 21 points and 10 rebounds for Hawaii (13-10, 4-6 WAC), which had won three in a row. Matt Lojeski added 12 points, Gibson 11 and Owsley 10 for the Rainbow Warriors.
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace, who is retiring at the end of the season after 20 years as coach, saw his career record fall to 0-10 at Nevada.
"They have great players. They have a great record and they've dominated the league for the last three years," Wallace said.
Leading 67-66, Nevada point guard Ramon Sessions made a pair of free throws for a 69-66 lead with 1:13 left. But Gueye scored in the lane to cut it to 69-68 with 49 seconds remaining before Lojeski stole Kyle Shiloh's pass to give Hawaii the ball with 32 seconds left and set up the dramatic finish.
Gueye took a pass on the edge of the lane and, as he was falling down, tossed the ball high in the air before it came down through the net. When the referees signaled basket, Fox ripped his jacket off and went face to face with official Bill Gracey, who then reviewed the tape and reversed the call.
"One official counted the basket but he didn't confer with the other two officials," said Steve Macy, the WAC's assistant commissioner who was at the game.
"The other two said the basket did not count so they waved off the shot. It was a judgment call and they wanted to get it right," he said.
Fox said the officials deserved credit for reviewing the play.
"As much grief as they take, it takes courage to do it right," Fox said, adding that he wasn't very pleased with the play of his team.
"We did make foul shots. That's about the only thing we did that was something positive," Fox said. "Give Hawaii credit. They outplayed us in many ways, but we did shoot free throws very well."
Kemp opened the second half with consecutive 3-pointers to start his personal 14-point run, capped by another 3-point goal to put Nevada ahead 54-45 at 13:40.
Lojeski and Gibson made back-to-back threes and Gueye hit from 17 feet to cut it to 56-55 at 10:07. The Warriors tied it 59-59 when Gibson scored in the lane off a pass from Bobby Nash with 7:39 left.
Fazekas made a pair of free throws and Kemp turned a steal into a dunk to put Nevada up 63-59 at 5:46. But Lojeski scored inside and Nash hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 65-64 at 2:24.
Sessions scored inside for a 67-64 lead at 2:01, then after Owsley's 15-footer, made two free throws to make it 69-66 at 1:13.
Nevada went on a 9-0 run midway through the first half for a 25-15 lead when Ikovlev blocked Dominic Waters' shot in the lane, went the length of the floor for a dunk, was fouled and made the free throw.
Hawaii answered with a 16-6 run, including 3-point goals by Nash and Gibson, and Owsley's jumper to tie it 31-31 4:50 before the half. But Kemp followed with a 3-pointer, Fazekas made four free throws and Sessions two for a 40-33 lead at the break.
Before the game, Nevada President Milt Glick and athletic director Cary Groth presented a rocking chair to Wallace.
Fresno State 72, Idaho 70 (OT)
Moscow, Idaho - The Fresno State men's basketball team earned their first WAC road victory of the season Saturday night, beating Idaho 72-70 in overtime at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho. With the win the Bulldogs improve to 16-7 overall and 5-5 in WAC play.
After finishing regulation tied, Fresno State took an early lead in the extra frame, thanks to the offensive spark of Ja'Vance Coleman. Coleman scored nine points in overtime and finished the game with 11 points, including going 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
Coleman made clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.
Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by Dominic McGuire, who recorded his 11th double-double of the year, with 21 points and 14 rebounds. McGuire also had seven assists in 43 minutes of action.
Quinton Hosley also recorded a double-double for Fresno State, adding 14 points and 14 rebounds and he went 7 of 8 from the free throw line in 41 minutes of action.
Kevin Bell had 11 points, including two 3 pointers and Eddie Miller had nine points.
At the end of regulation, the Bulldogs took a 58-55 lead after two Ja'Vance Coleman free throws. But with 18 seconds left, Trevor Morris was fouled by McGuire to send him to the line. Morris made all three free throws to tie the game. Fresno State had the final shot of the game, but McGuire's layup as time expired rolled off the rim.
McGuire and Hosley each had double-doubles before the game ended. McGuire had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Hosley had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
In the opening half, the Bulldogs were led offensively by McGuire, who nearly posted a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Miller made two 3-pointers and had eight points and Kevin Bell had two 3-pointers for six points.
Fresno State shot the ball well from the outside, going 7 of 14 from 3-point range and the Bulldogs shot 43 percent from the field.