Boise State 87, New Mexico State 84
BOISE, Idaho (AP)-- La'Shard Anderson hit all four of his free-throw attempts in the final 14 seconds Thursday night to lead Boise State to an 87-84 win over New Mexico State.
Anderson scored 15 points, as did fellow Broncos Kurt Cunningham and Ike Okoye. Aaron Garner added 11 points for Boise State (13-5, 4-2 Western Athletic Conference).
Jahmar Young scored a game-high 25 points to lead New Mexico State (9-10, 3-3 WAC). Troy Gillenwater contributed 24 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Jonathan Gibson and Wendell McKines had 17 points and 10 points, respectively.
Boise State improved to 9-1 at home this season and 3-0 in home conference games.
There were seven lead changes and the score was tied seven times. But the Broncos used the free-throw shooting of Anderson to hold off the Aggies in the final seconds.
Utah State 62, San Jose State 58
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)-- Gary Wilkinson scored a game-high 25 points to lead Utah State past San Jose State 62-58 on Thursday night, as the Aggies extended their winning streak to 13 games and remained alone atop the Western Athletic Conference.
Wilkinson scored in double-figures a team-leading 17th time and the 45th time for his career at Utah State (18-1, 6-0 WAC). He scored 14 points in the first half on 6 of 12 shooting and made just his second 3-point basket of the season.
Tyler Newbold and Jared Quayle each scored 13 points for the Aggies.
Center Chris Oakes led San Jose State (8-9, 2-4) with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Justin Graham scored 11 and C.J. Webster 10.
Guard Adrian Oliver, San Jose State's leading scorer, returned to action after missing three games with a knee injury and scored eight points on 4 of 12 shooting.
San Jose State trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half, but it cut the lead to 60-58 on Robert Owens' 3-point shot with 24.7 seconds left.
After Utah State's Tai Wesley missed two free throws, the Spartans had a chance to tie the game with 9 seconds left, but Graham's baseline floater missed the mark, and Utah State grabbed the rebound.
Utah State's Stavon Williams then made two free throws, clinching the win.
Utah State's last regular-season WAC loss was on the road against San Jose State, a 70-67 decision on Feb. 18, 2008. And the Spartans, who came into the game having won back-to-back WAC road games for the first time since joining the conference in the 1996-97 season, gave them a scare.
The Aggies entered the game shooting 51.6 percent from the field, No. 1 in the nation. The Spartans held them to 40.7 percent shooting in the first half and 37.9 for the game. They outrebound Utah State 36-28 but lost the turnover battle 12-4.
Utah State built a slim 27-24 first-half lead then went on an 11-2 run to open the second half, expandidng its advantage to 35-24. Newbold hit two 3-pointers during the spurt, and Jared Quayle added another.
Utah State led 58-50 with 1:14 left. But Graham scored inside then added a three-point play, cutting the Aggies' lead to 58-55.
Nevada 74, Hawai?i 63
RENO, Nev. -- Brandon Fields and Luke Babbitt each scored 19 points as the Nevada Wolf Pack turned back the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference game at Lawlor Events Center.
Nevada (12-7, 5-1), which now has won five games in a row, also got 12 points, 10 rebounds and four steals from Malik Cooke. The Wolf Pack have never lost to Hawaii in 12 games in Reno dating back to the 1946-1947 season.
Hawaii (9-9, 1-5), which has lost four games in a row, got 14 points from Kareem Nitoto, 12 from Roderick Flemings and 10 from Petras Balocka.
Nevada led the entire game but Hawaii pulled within 52-46 with just under eight minutes to play on a 3-pointer by Nitoto. Lasha Parghalava hit a 3-pointer to cut Nevada's lead to 65-57 with three minutes to play.
But the Wolf Pack went up 65-52 with 3:45 to play on a jumper in the lane by Armon Johnson. Babbitt scored inside and hit a free throw for a 3-point play and a 68-57 lead with 2:32 to go. Fields threw down a dunk off a feed from Babbitt for a 70-59 lead with a minute to play.
Nevada, which led 37-20 at halftime, jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes as Babbitt hit a pair of 3-pointers on a short jumper. Hawaii turned the ball over four times in its first six possessions.
Johnson drained a 3-pointer and Cooke scored inside as Nevada built a 15-4 lead with 14:35 to go in the first half. Hawaii, though, cut Nevada's lead to 19-13 after a jumper by Bill Amis with nine minutes to play in the half.
Ray Kraemer came off the bench for Nevada to score seven points in just three minutes. A 3-pointer by Kraemer gave Nevada a 37-18 lead with 1:45 to go in the half.
Hawaii shot just 30 percent (6-for-20) in the opening half and turned the ball over 14 times.
Nevada won't play again until a game at Utah State on Jan. 29. Hawaii is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Utah State.
Fresno State 63, Louisiana Tech 46
FRESNO, Calif. -- Paul George scored 16 points as Fresno State fought past Louisiana Tech 63-46 on Thursday night for its first Western Athletic Conference victory.
Sylvester Seay added 15 points and seven rebounds for Fresno State (8-11, 1-4), which held Louisiana Tech to 31.6 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers.
Jamel Guyton had a game-high 17 points but went scoreless in the second half for Louisiana Tech (8-11, 2-4) in this battle of WAC teams that share the Bulldogs mascot.
Fresno State struggled in the early minutes of the second half, allowing Louisiana Tech to within 39-37 on David Jackson's putback with 15:36 remaining.
But George answered with five straight points, including a three-pointer with 13:54 left, and later sparked a 17-2 surge that put the game away.
Mychal Ladd's three-pointer with 3:22 left gave Fresno State its biggest lead at 61-41. Ladd finished with 10 points.
No Louisiana Tech player beside Guyton scored in double figures. Jackson came the closest with eight points.
Fresno State played without starting point guard Dwight O'Neil, who served a one-game suspension for undisclosed reasons. Bryce Cartwright replaced O'Neil in the starting lineup and finished with 12 points and four assists.
Fresno State led 36-32 at halftime by shooting 50 percent from the floor and creating points off steals.
Cartwright intercepted a pass at midcourt and drove for a layup to put Fresno State ahead 23-22 with 6:55 left.
It was the first of three consecutive steals for Fresno State. George hit two free throws following a steal, and Ladd converted his into a Cartwright layup.
Guyton closed the half with consecutive three-pointers for Louisiana Tech to finish with 17 points on 5 of 7 shooting beyond the arc.
Louisiana Tech jumped to an early 8-3 lead before surrendering a 10-0 Fresno State run that put the host Bulldogs in front. Nedeljko Golubovic scored five points during the surge.