No. 22 Utah State 78, New Mexico State 59
LOGAN, Utah (AP)-- After struggling the last three games at home, Utah State's Gary Wilkinson didn't miss a shot against New Mexico State.
Teammate Tyler Newbold almost did the same.
Wilkinson had a perfect shooting night and scored 18 points and Newbold made five 3-pointers as Utah State (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) beat New Mexico State 78-59 on Thursday night, extending the nation's longest winning streak to 17 games.
"I haven't been playing as well at home the past couple of games," said Wilkinson, who went 5-for-5 from the field and made all eight of his free throws. "I made it a goal to just come out and be as active and tenacious as I could be and it worked out well for me tonight."
Wilkinson had been averaging just eight points over the last three home games. He matched that from the free throw line alone Thursday and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Aggies (22-1, 10-0 Western Athletic Conference).
New Mexico State (11-12, 5-5) had shut down the lane for the most part, but that didn't stop the other Aggies from scoring as they made a season-high 12 3-pointers.
Newbold went 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and Jared Quayle was 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. Utah State lost Wilkinson and forward Tai Wesley to foul trouble early in the game but made up for it with outside shooting.
"I guess I felt a little bit of that [pressure] when they were in foul trouble a little bit," said Newbold, who finished with 17 points. "But really, the shots that I had came within the flow of the offense and I was just able to take them and able to hit them."
The Aggies are nationally ranked for the first time in five years and are within two wins of the school record of 19 in a row, set in 2000.
"Whether we're ranked or not, we want to come out the same way. That really shouldn't affect how hard you play or your desire to work hard," Newbold said.
Quayle finished with 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Utah State, which had 15 offensive rebounds in its first game as a nationally ranked team in five years.
Utah State has won 30 straight at home.
Jahmar Young led New Mexico State (11-12, 5-5) with 15 points. The Aggies were just 10-for-29 in the second half and 9-for-17 from the foul line in the game. New Mexico State stayed within reach until the final minutes, when Utah State scored the last seven points of the game.
Jonathan Gibson had 13 points and was the only New Mexico State player other than Young to score in double figures.
"Our team is still a work in progress when it comes to executing," New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies said. "We took too many quick shots and turned into gunslingers at the end of the game."
Utah State made its first five 3-pointers in the first half and opened the second half 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Newbold finished 5-for-6, adding one last 3 with less than a minute left.
Pooh Williams scored 11 points and Brady Jardine had nine rebounds for Utah State, which had 24 rebounds in the second half to New Mexico's 16.
"I thought we were pretty soft in the first half," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "They were playing very, very physical and we weren't responding on the boards."
After falling behind 18-4, New Mexico State was able to slowly cut into the lead and get within 35-32 at halftime. Utah State faltered at the foul line and the other Aggies took advantage. Young made a 3-pointer, then a layup on a long pass from Gibson after Utah State missed an inside shot.
Young's layup made it 30-28 and New Mexico State got two points just before halftime on a goaltending call.
Louisiana Tech 78, Nevada 75
RENO, Nev. -- Brandon Gibson scored 16 points and hit a key 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to help Louisiana Tech beat Nevada 78-75 on Thursday.
Magnum Rolle added 15 points and Jamel Guyton 13 for the Bulldogs (9-14, 3-7 WAC).
Armon Johnson had 27 points and Luke Babbitt 23 for the Wolf Pack (13-9, 6-3 WAC).
Johnson had given Nevada a 72-71 lead with 1:00 to play in a see-saw game that saw the lead change hands 13 times in the second half. But Gibson hit a long 3-pointer from the corner to put Louisiana Tech back on top 74-71.
Brandon Fields missed a short jumper on the ensuing possession for the Wolf Pack and Rolle was fouled after grabbing the rebound. He hit both free throws to put the Bulldogs up 76-72.
Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds to play to pull Nevada to within a point, but James Loe iced the game with a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left.
Hawai?i 69, Fresno State 43
HONOLULU ? The University of Hawai`i men’s basketball team limited Fresno State to just 10 first-half points and cruised to a 69-43 win Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors improved to 11-11 overall and 3-7 in the Western Athletic Conference.
It was all UH from the very beginning as the ’Bows scored the game’s first 10 points and never looked back. Thirteen players who suited saw action and 10 different player scored for the ’Bows, who led by 24 at the break en route to one of its most comfortable wins of the season. The 43 points by the Bulldogs was a season-low for a UH opponent, as was the Bulldogs’ 27 percent shooting.
Roderick Flemings led UH with 14 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year. Flemings also added a team-high four assists and three blocks. Kareem Nitoto added 12 points and six rebounds, while Bill Amis finished with 10 points.
Paul George led Fresno State (9-14, 1-7 WAC) with 13 points, but shot just 3-of-13 from the field. Sylvester Seay added 10.
It took a little more than seven minutes for Fresno State to score its first point and nearly 10 minutes for its first field goal. UH held the Bulldogs to just one field goal in the first 14 minutes of play as Fresno State missed 16 of its first 17 shots and shot just 3-of-25 (12 percent) in the first half. Hawai`i started the game on a 16-1 run and took a 34-10 lead at halftime.
UH didn’t let up in the second half, shooting 58 percent from the floor after the break. The ’Bows shot 51 percent for the game and blasted the Bulldogs on the backboards, 49-22.
UH continues its three-game homestand versus Idaho (10-11, 4-4 WAC) on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tip-off is 6:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.