San Jose State 71, Louisiana Tech 61
Box Score
C.J. Webster and Chris Oakes combined for 31 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists as the Spartans men’s basketball team handled visiting Louisiana Tech, 71-61, Saturday afternoon on Alumni Day in The Event Center.
San Jose State improves to 11-13 overall and 3-9 in Western Athletic Conference play. Louisiana Tech falls to 5-20 overall and 1-11 in WAC action.
Webster had a solid all-around game, finishing with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Oakes, while playing just 25 minutes, added 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
“We knew we could go inside at them today,” said senior guard Jamon Hill. “Actually, every game we feel like our big men have an advantage and we just try to get the ball to them.”
“Our bigs (post players) worked very well together today,” said Nessman. “C.J. and Chris are starting to build some chemistry together and we saw some flashes of that.”
Nessman also received solid play from his bench, particularly Hill and senior forward Lance Holloway. Hill had 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of action. Holloway played an effective 18 minutes in the post and added four points.
“I think of Jamon as a sixth starter anyway, so his productivity doesn’t surprise me at all,” Nessman said.
One area that Nessman singled out that lacked productivity was the teams’ performance at the free-throw line. San Jose was just 19-of-36 for the game, including an 11-of-24 effort in the second half.
“We really hurt ourselves at the free-throw line, particularly in the second half,” Nessman said. “We had several chances to pull ahead and really give ourselves a manageable lead and we didn’t convert.
Nevada 85, Idaho 72
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) - Senior Marcelus Kemp scored 32 points and sophomore Brandon Fields added 21 as the Nevada Wolf Pack defeated the Idaho Vandals 85-72 on Saturday night at the Cowan Spectrum.
Jordan Brooks led Idaho (6-18, 3-10 Western Athletic Conference) with 14 points.
After a close first half, Nevada (17-9, 9-4) pulled away thanks to a substantial advantage from the free throw line. The Wolf Pack went 32-for-35 from the stripe, while the Vandals were 8-for-16. Kemp made 15-of-16 free throw attempts, while Fields made all 13 of his attempts.
After Idaho took a 52-51 lead on a layup by Jordan Brooks with 11:56 to play, sophomore JaVale McGee knocked down his career-best third three-pointer to put Nevada up for good. Fields made a pair of free throws and Kemp converted on a three-point play to give the Wolf Pack a 59-52 lead just over three minutes later, and the Vandals would never get closer than four points the rest of the way.
Despite Nevada's poor 11-for-27 shooting from the floor during the first half, Kemp kept the Wolf Pack ahead 35-33 at halftime, scoring 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
McGee added 10 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting. He matched his career best with 20 points in the game.
Boise State 84, Fresno State 72
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -Reggie Larry scored 25 points and Mark Sanchez came off the bench to get seven crucial points in a little more than a minute in the second half to help Boise State to an 84-72 win over Fresno State on Saturday night.
After the Bulldogs (11-15, 4-8 Western Athletic Conference) narrowed the Broncos' second-half lead to 60-55 with 10 minutes left, Sanchez scored Boise State's next seven points to help put the Broncos ahead 67-57 with 8:44 left.
Larry pulled down seven rebounds while Matt Nelson scored 16 points and, Anthony Thomas and Matt Bauscher added 12 each for Boise State (19-6, 10-3).
The Bulldogs were led by Kevin Bell with 21 and Eddie Miller with 16.
The matchup pitted the WAC's top offensive team, with Boise State averaging 83 points and leading the country in field goal shooting at 52 percent, against the league's No. 1 defensive team, Fresno State, which was holding opponents to 69 points per game.
The Broncos shot 54 percent from the field, including 63 percent in the second half. The Bulldogs hit 48 percent of their shots.
Trailing 44-32, Fresno State opened the second half on an 11-3 run to narrow Boise State's lead to 47-43 in a little more than two minutes.
The Broncos went back ahead by 10, saw their spread narrowed again, then relied on Sanchez's offense to pull back into command.
Hawai`i 71, Utah State 66
HONOLULU- The University of Hawai`i men's basketball team kept its championship hopes alive with a thrilling 71-66 come-from-behind victory over Utah State Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH (11-12, 7-4 WAC) rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to win its fifth straight home game and remain in the thick of the Western Athletic Conference race.
It was a crucial win for the Rainbow Warriors who remain in contention for the WAC title. A loss against the Aggies (18-8, 8-3 WAC), who entered as the league's first-place team, would have put UH three games behind with five games left. Instead, UH is among five teams separated by just two games.
UH got a balanced attack with all five starters in double-digits and used an inspired defensive effort to rally to the victory.
The Aggies shot 62 percent in the first half, took a nine-point lead at the break stretched that lead to 14 points, 57-43, on a Gary Wilkinson bucket with 9:50 remaining. But UH came roaring back, ending the game on a 28-9 run.
Riley Luettgerodt scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, including an improbable game-tying jumper with less than two minutes remaining that rested on the top of the backboard, before dropping in. Jared Dillinger finished with 14 points and gave UH the lead for good, 66-63, on a three-point play with a minute remaining.
The Rainbow Warriors pressure defesnehelped ignite the comeback as UH finished with 12 steals (six by Luettgerodt), while forcing 20 Aggies turnovers.
Utah State's Jaycee Carroll scored a game-high 27 points, including 17 in the first half, But UH held the all-conference guard to just one bucket in the final eight minutes to secure the win.
Matt Gibson finished with 16 points, three assists and three steals, while Bill Amis added 10 points and nine rebounds. Bobby Nash also chipped in 10 points.