Utah State 88, Boise State 69
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -Jaycee Carroll scored 23 points and Stephen DuCharme added 20 as Utah State rolled past Boise State 88-69 Thursday night for its fourth victory in a row.
Utah State (22-9, 11-4 Western Athletic Conference) can earn a share of the regular-season conference title with a win Saturday at Idaho.
Reggie Larry had 23 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for Boise St. (22-8, 12-4) and Matt Nelson added 20 points for the Broncos. Larry became Boise State's first two-year player to score 1,000 career points when he went of the mark in the second half. He now has 1,004 points, the 19th Bronco in the 1,000-point club.
In the first half, the Aggies rode DuCharme's 12 points and a dominant inside game to a 44-30 halftime lead, and Utah State was never threatened in the second half.
For the game, Utah State outrebounded Boise State 38-22 and the Broncos hit just two of their 17 3-point attempts.
Gary Wilkinson scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Utah State and Tai Wesley scored 11 for the Aggies.
Tyler Tiedeman and Anthony Thomas scored 10 points apiece for Boise State.
Louisiana Tech 69, Hawai`i 62
RUSTON, La. - It was a career night for freshman Dwayne Lathan as Louisiana Tech got its biggest win of the season over Western Athletic Conference foe Hawaii, 69-62, at the Thomas Assembly Center on Thursday night.
"We're very happy," Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. "Our kids haven't had much of a chance to celebrate this year, and I thought that was a great team victory. We had everybody step up and find a way to contribute. I thought Dwayne really led the charge with his energy on the offensive boards. Our defensive energy and our press really took them out of some things."
Lathan, a freshman guard from West Monroe, had 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks on the night - all career highs - and threw down two thunderous dunks in the second half that brought the Ruston crowd of 1,382 to its feet. Sophomore Kyle Gibson had a big night for Louisiana Tech (5-23, 2-13 WAC) of his own, adding 20 points with a perfect 11-for-11 night at the free-throw stripe.
Hawai'i (11-17, 7-8 WAC) was led by Matt Gibson with 22 points, but the senior from Oklahoma City fouled out with just more than a minute to play and was not on the floor down the stretch for the Rainbow Warriors. Bill Amis had 13 points and Riley Luettgerodt added 10 for Hawai'i.
The Warriors led almost the entire first half but never by more than seven as the Bulldogs kept hanging around. It was a quickly played first half with only nine fouls called between the two teams, and Hawai'i took a 25-24 lead to the break.
The second half, however, would be a completely different story. The Warriors were called for 19 fouls in the period; Tech would be whistled for 14. Both teams were in the bonus with more than 11 minutes to play. Tech would take advantage of Hawaii's fouls as it knocked down 30 of 35 free throw attempts in the game, with 24 of those coming in the second half.
Hawaii took a three-point lead on a tip-in by Amis with 11:21 to play. Matt Gibson, however, would pick up two quick fouls and would go to the bench with four, opening the door for the Bulldogs. A 9-1 run, capped by a huge dunk from Lathan, gave the Bulldogs a 46-41 lead at the under-8 timeout of the second half.
The `Bows would not go away quietly, though. They kept chipping away at the lead, eventually taking a three-point lead of their own with under five minutes to play. But continued clutch free-throw shooting and rebounding would turn the tide back Tech's way as it took the lead with 2:43 to play.
With the score 60-55 and under 90 seconds to play, Matt Gibson picked up his fifth foul, this one of the offensive variety, and Hawaii was without its leading scorer for the remainder of the game. But for at least a few moments, it seemed like that would not matter. A layup plus a free throw from Luettgerodt and a dunk off a set play under the basket from Amis tied the game at 60-all with less than a minute to play.
A driving, underhand layup from Kyle Gibson drew a foul and found the bottom of the net to give Tech a two-point lead; his free throw would make it 63-60. James Loe would steal the ensuing inbounds pass, and another foul would send Gibson to the line again. He was true on both attempts to give Tech a five-point lead. Drew Washington and Lathan would each connect on a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to give the Bulldogs their final winning margin.
New Mexico State 88, San Jose State 65
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -Senior Justin Hawkins scored 18 points to lead New Mexico State to an 88-65 win over San Jose State on Thursday in the Pan American Center.
In the second game of the season between the Western Athletic Conference foes, NMSU (18-13, 11-4 WAC) controlled San Jose State (12-17, 4-11 WAC) after opening the second half with a 16-point lead.
With about 19 minutes on the clock, Hawkins caught an assist from fellow senior Fred Peete and slammed a crowd-pleasing dunk that gave the Aggies a 53-32 lead. NMSU maintained its momentum and went 34-for-72 to secure the win.
Sophomore C.J. Webster led the Spartan offense as he went 8-for-11 from the field and tied his career-high 21 points and his career-best 15 rebounds.
San Jose State freshman Justin Graham, who has led the Spartans with an average 11.6 points per game, finished the night with 13 points.
NMSU did not score until nearly four minutes into the game, but the Aggies recovered from an early San Jose State lead with a 12-0 run that began with a free throw by Hawkins. The Aggies went on to build a 46-30 halftime lead, with Hawkins contributing 14 points.
Webster kept San Jose State in the game with 13 points in the first half.