Idaho 79, Fresno State 74 OT
MOSCOW, Idaho ? The University of Idaho men’s basketball team completed an improbable comeback to the tune of a 79-74 overtime victory over visiting Fresno State after trailing by 19 points in the first half.
The Vandals (6-17, 3-9) rallied to trail by just 10 at halftime before limiting the Bulldogs (11-14, 4-7) to 21-percent field goal shooting in the second half and ending regulation tied 63-63. Jordan Brooks and Mike Hall each scored eight points in the overtime period to help seal the victory.
“I am really proud of those guys,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. “A lot of people stepped up and did some big things and we hit our free throws tonight. (The locker room) was exciting. There are a lot of players in there who played really hard and stayed the course. You don’t do what we did tonight without guys who are willing to stay the course. I would like to think our defense had a lot to do with it. We won the battle of the boards, we cut our turnovers down, and then Brooks. He filled the stat line in a positive way.”
Brooks took advantage of his smaller defender by posting 25 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and just two turnovers in 42 minutes. Hall added 17 points with five 3-pointers and Clyde Johnson and Mike Kale each chipped in 11 points.
After an initial 5-0 led, Idaho let Fresno State build a 24-12 advantage at the 7:16 mark. The margin later became 33-14 at its largest margin with 4:24 remaining in the first half, but Idaho used a 15-6 run in the final minutes to trail 39-29 at halftime.
Idaho cut the lead to seven as the second half began, but Fresno State pushed the margin to 11 points on four occasions and led 52-40 with 10:39 remaining. The Vandals scored the next five points to again pull with seven, but the Bulldogs again responded with 11-point margins on three more occasions. Fresno State led 63-52 with 5:14 remaining, but Idaho rallied to score 11 unanswered points to force overtime. Brooks converted a lay-in with 1:46 remaining to cut the margin to two points and after the Vandals got the stop they needed, Brooks nailed two free throws to tie the score with 59 seconds remaining. Each team missed opportunities in the final minute and the game went to overtime tied 63-63.
Fresno State jumped ahead with four quick points, but Hall’s 3-pointer brought the Vandals within one with 3:28 remaining. Brooks hit two free throws to give Idaho its first lead since the early minutes of the first half at 68-67 with 2:52 to play. Fresno State converted a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound to regain the lead and Brooks converted one of two free throws on the other end to bring the Vandals within 69-70 with 2:09 remaining. Kale grabbed an offensive rebound on the missed free throw which set up a 3-point attempt from Hall that missed, but Idaho was given the offensive rebound out of bounds. With the shot clock winding down and no where to go, Hall threw up a prayer with two defenders in his face that rattled for an eternity before falling to give Idaho its final lead at 72-70 with 1:12 remaining. The Bulldogs hit two free throws to tie the score at 72-72 with 47 seconds remaining, but Brooks converted a driving lay-in and the free throw after the foul to put the Vandals up 75-72 with 18 seconds remaining. Fresno State missed a 3-pointer and Brooks hit two more free throws to put the Vandals back up by five with 11 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs scored a lay-in to cut the margin to three, but Hall calmly sank both free throw attempts to seal the game with three seconds left.
Boise State 77, Nevada 68
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -Reggie Larry scored 20 points, Matt Nelson added 19 and Matt Bauscher had a career-best 10 rebounds to lead Boise State past Nevada 77-68 on Thursday night.
Boise State, which leads the nation in field goal percentage, rode 62 percent shooting to build a 42-30 halftime lead, then held off Nevada in the second half.
The Wolf Pack cut Boise State's lead to 58-53 with 9:33 left. But four consecutive free throws by Larry and Nelson, and a Nelson basket put the Broncos (18-6, 9-3 Western Athletic Conference) back ahead by 11 with 8 minutes left.
Marcelus Kemp led Nevada's second half comeback with 17 of his 22 points in the second half. Brandon Fields added 12 for the Wolf Pack (16-9, 8-4 WAC) and Armon Johnson had 11.
Boise State set the tone early, jumping out to an 11-0 lead and never trailing. Boise State swept both games from Nevada for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
Nevada was hindered when starting forward Demarshay Johnson left the game early with an ankle sprain and didn't return until late in the game. He scored only 2 points.
New Mexico State 85, Louisiana Tech 63
RUSTON, La.-The New Mexico State men’s basketball team completed the season sweep of Louisiana Tech with an 85-63 victory Thursday, Feb. 14, in Ruston, La. Senior center Hatila Passos had 20 points and seven rebounds.
The Aggies had three other players in double-figures. Senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins contributed 11 points while both sophomore guard Jonathan Gibson and freshman forward Herb Pope added 10.
Head coach Marvin Menzies said he was pleased with his team’s execution especially against a tough Bulldog team. The Aggies outscored Louisiana Tech 52-8 in the paint.
“That was the game plan,” he said. “There is no doubt we wanted to go into our big guys.”
The Aggies utilized a 20-6 run in the last 7:59 of the first half to take a 38-24 advantage into the locker room. Passos led a balanced offensive attack with eight points and five rebounds. Freshman guard Jahmar Young added six points while both senior center Iti and Gibson provided five points. Three other players supplied four points.
NMSU broke open the game after Louisiana Tech’s junior guard JC Clark hit a 3-pointer to even the score at 18-18 with 7:59 remaining in the half. The Aggies built a 36-19 lead before Louisiana Tech recorded another field goal at the :59 mark.
The Aggies exploited their size advantage and outscored the Bulldogs 20-2 in the paint. NMSU was also 54.8 percent from the field. In the second half, the Aggies fought off a Bulldog surge with a strong inside presence. Passos led the way with 12 points.