Nevada 62, Southern Illinois 48
RENO, Nev. -- Armon Johnson scored eight points in the final five minutes as the Nevada Wolf Pack held off the Southern Illinois Salukis 62-48 Sunday.
Johnson, who finished with a game-high 16 points, hit a jumper with two-seconds left on the shot clock to give Nevada (5-4) a 56-48 lead with 2:25 to play. The sophomore point guard also connected on a pair of jumpers with under two minutes to play.
Southern Illinois (3-5) failed to score after a jumper by Tony Boyle cut Nevada's lead to 54-48 with 4:10 to play. Boyle led the Salukis with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Nevada, which has now won 40 of its last 46 home games, took control of the game with a 16-0 run early in the second half. Brandon Fields and Joey Shaw each hit 3-pointers in the run as Nevada held Southern Illinois scoreless for over nine minutes.
Southern Illinois, which has now lost five of its last six games, took a 27-24 lead at halftime after trailing by four points four different times.
The Salukis outscored the Wolf Pack 6-1 over the final 5:13 of the first half as Carlton Fay hit a jumper from the right corner, Christian Cornelius put back his own missed shot and Kevin Dillard hit two free throws.
Bryan Mullins led all scorers in the first half with 10 points. The senior point guard, who finished with 13 points, stole the ball from Nevada's London Giles and converted a lay-up to give Southern Illinois a 15-14 lead with just under nine minutes to play in the first half.
New Mexico State 90, UTEP 78
LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Jahmar Young scored 22 points and Jonathan Gibson 19 to lead New Mexico State to a 90-78 victory over UTEP in Las Cruces on Sunday.
New Mexico State shot a blistering 54.9 percent from the field at the Pan American Center, while the Miners hit 42.6 percent of their shots.
The Aggies (4-4) had five players score in double figures in a balanced attack.
The Aggies took a 38-24 lead into halftime and held off the Miners (4-4) in the final 20 minutes, leading by as many as 18 points.
UTEP's best success came in the opening three minutes of the game, as the Miners jumped out to a 9-4 lead. NMSU countered with a 15-3 run, taking control of the game.
The Aggies' Wendell McKines had 15 and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 points and eight boards in the opening half for New Mexico State.
The Miners were led by Randy Culpepper, who finished with 24 points on 9-of-24 from the field. Stefon Jackson added 23 for the Miners.
The two teams will meet again next Saturday in El Paso, Texas.
Montana 69, Fresno State 65
FRESNO, Calif. -- Anthony Johnson and Jack McGillis each scored 15 points to help Montana hold off Fresno State for a 69-65 victory on Sunday.
McGillis made 7-of-8 free throws in the final 56.2 seconds as Montana (6-4) withstood a late Bulldogs charge after the Grizzlies nearly squandered a 15-point second half lead.
Sylvester Seay led Fresno State (4-5) with 17 points, while Nedeljko Golubovic equaled a career high with 14.
Montana led 56-43 with less than 7 minutes remaining and looked to be on the way to an easy victory before the Bulldogs finally woke up from a game-long slumber.
Dwight O'Neil's layup started an 8-0 scoring run that brought Fresno State to within 56-51 with 3:26 left.
A highlight-reel dunk by Paul George, in which he drew a foul from Johnson before completing the three-point play, highlighted the surge.
But the Grizzlies refused to crumble. Johnson drove the lane and hit a jumper over Golubovic, and McGillis swished seven straight free throws missing on his eighth attempt with 4.7 seconds left.
Ryan Staudacher added 14 points for Montana, including 4-of-7 from three-point range.
George, Fresno State's leading scorer, finished with 13 points despite playing in constant foul trouble.
Montana led 35-27 at halftime behind Staudacher's 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting.
The Grizzlies used a 13-2 scoring run to take a double-digit lead over the lethargic Bulldogs. Five of Fresno State's first seven possessions resulted in turnovers or missed shots.
George's second 3-pointer, with 1:18 left, trimmed Montana's halftime lead to eight points. The freshman forward was coming off back-to-back games with five three-pointers.
Montana's previous three victories came against Texas-Arlington, Denver and North Dakota.