No. 22 Utah State 60, Louisiana Tech 52
LOGAN, Utah (AP)-- Utah State extended the nation's longest winning streak with a game that got much closer than the Aggies expected or wanted.
After opening the second half with a 12-0 run and leading by 17, Utah State (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) needed to hold off several rallies by Louisiana Tech down the stretch and win 60-52 on Saturday night.
Utah State's 18th straight win was not the most memorable of the streak, but it's one coach Stew Morrill surely won't let the Aggies forget soon. The Bulldogs got within four points twice in the final minutes before the Aggies (23-1, 11-0 Western Athletic Conference) finally clinched it.
"We got ahead by quite a bit and then we kind of let them back in it. We want to finish a game off and not have it so close at the end," said Tyler Newbold, who had 13 points, seven rebounds and a crucial steal at the end.
After making two free throws to give the Aggies a 58-52 lead, Newbold swiped the ball away from Jamel Guyton, drew a foul and made two more foul to clinch it. Newbold was 8-for-8 from the foul line and Gary Wilkinson went 8-for-9 as the Aggies outscored the Bulldogs 15-6 on free throws.
Wilkinson scored 16 points and Jared Quayle had eight assists for Utah State.
The Aggies held the Bulldogs (9-15, 3-8) scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half, but Louisiana Tech started hitting shots and quickly trimmed the lead to single digits.
"I think that's been the story of the year for us," Wilkinson said. "We start really aggressive and tenacious and then we kind of relax. We kind of think, 'Oh, it's in the bag.' That's going to come back to bite us. We let up defensively. We're not as physical, we're not as tough and we just let teams back in."
Kyle Gibson scored 14 to lead the Bulldogs, who have lost five straight.
Olu Ashaolu scored 12 and Magnum Rolle came back from a scary fall on his tailbone early and finished with eight points and five rebounds.
Coach Kerry Rupp said Rolle badly bruised his hip, but wanted to play and finish out the game as the Bulldogs nearly pulled off the comeback.
"It just fell apart on us the first few minutes when they got that 12-0 run," Rupp said. "The kids just decided, 'Let's battle. Let's fight.'"
Utah State appeared to put the game out of reach several times, but the Bulldogs continued to come up with rallies and made it a close finish.
After Wilkinson converted a three-point play with 4:44 that put Utah State up 52-40, the Bulldogs answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the margin in half. After opening the second half 2-for-11, the Bulldogs went 13-for-30 in the half got the margin down to four twice.
"It was kind of an old-fashioned slugfest," Morrill said. "You have to get down and dirty in those kinds of games and fortunately we did -- kind of like we've done all year."
Rolle hit a long jumper to get the Bulldogs within 56-52, then Newbold ended the threat. He made both foul shots with 26 seconds left, then swiped the ball away before Louisiana Tech could get off a shot on the next possession. He was fouled immediately and made both foul shots.
Newbold was 7-for-7 from the line and Wilkinson made eight of his nine foul shots.
Utah State closed the first half with five straight free throws, starting when Tyler Newbold drew a foul while attempting a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left. Newbold made all three foul shots and Wilkinson added two more with 31 seconds remaining after he pulled down a defensive rebound.
The Bulldogs did not attempt a free throw in the first half.
Louisiana Tech lost Rolle early in the second half when he leaped for a dunk and his feet went out from under him, landing right on his tailbone. Rolle winced in pain the whole way as he was helped to the tunnel, but came midway back with 11:53 left in the game.
The Aggies lost forward Brady Jardine when he took an elbow to the head in the lane in the first half. He was helped to the locker room and did not return.
Boise State 89, San Jose State 83
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)-- Ike Okoye scored a career-high 22 points and Anthony Thomas made a pair of clinching free throws with 41 seconds left as Boise State held on to beat San Jose State 89-83 on Saturday night.
Okoye, who went into the game averaging just 8.7 points this season, went 8-of-12 from the floor and was 6-for-10 from the line. He also had six rebounds.
Thomas finished with 15 points and five assists for the Broncos (16-6, 6-3 Western Athletic Conference), who have won four of five to move into second place after stumbling with back-to-back conference losses to Nevada and Utah State.
Boise State also improved to 19-1 all-time against the Spartans and have won 14 straight in the series.
Adrian Oliver scored a career-high 37 points for San Jose State (10-11, 4-6), the second-most in school history and three shy of the school record. The Spartans sophomore guard missed two shots in the final 30 seconds, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Broncos led by as much as 15 in the first half and were ahead 87-78 with 1:13 left to play but couldn't put the pesky Spartans away. Justin Graham scored on a three-point play and Oliver followed with a pair of free throws to pull the Spartans within four with 42.7 seconds remaining.
Thomas then grabbed the inbounds pass and was fouled quickly. He made both free throws to make it 89-83 and Boise State held on as Oliver missed two shots in the final 30 seconds.
San Jose's only win in the series came in 2002.
Boise State led 27-12 less than nine minutes into the first half but the Spartans chipped away behind Oliver and C.J. Webster. Oliver, who had 23 in the first half, sank back-to-back 3-pointers and Webster scored five straight points to pull San Jose within 41-40.
Okoye answered with four straight points, helping the Broncos take a 45-44 halftime lead.
New Mexico State 62, Nevada 60
RENO, Nev. (AP)-- Jahmar Young scored 17 points and Wendell McKines hit a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left to lift New Mexico State over Nevada 62-60 on Saturday.
McKines had 10 rebounds and 13 points, including the game-winning shot for the Aggies (12-12, 6-5 WAC). Hamidu Rahman had 11 points for New Mexico State.
Armon Johnson has 16 points for the Wolf Pack (13-10, 6-4 WAC) and hit a driving layup with 1:28 left that put Nevada on top 60-59.
But the Aggies responded with McKines long 3-pointer from the top of the key. Nevada had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but Luke Babbitt's 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer. Babbitt had 14 points for the Wolf Pack.
New Mexico State's defense forced Nevada into 16 turnovers and scored 21 points off turnovers.
Nevada led by as many as 10 points in the first half, going up 26-16 on a steal and layup by Lyndale Burleson with 7:41 left in the half, but New Mexico State responded with an 11-0 run to take a 27-26 lead with 3:24 left. The Aggies led 33-32 at halftime.
Hawai?i 71, Idaho 49
HONOLULU (AP)-- Kareem Nitoto scored a season-high 21 points to lead Hawaii to a 71-49 victory over Idaho on Saturday.
It was the second straight victory for the Rainbow Warriors and their third in four games.
Hawaii opened the game on a 8-0 run and never was threatened. The Rainbow Warriors led by as many as 29 points in the second half after going on a 27-7 run on a dunk by Roderick Flemings with 7:12 left to play.
Flemings contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Lasha Parghalava came off the bench for 10 points.
Idaho, which was held to 38 percent shooting from the field, dropped its second consecutive game.
Hawaii shot 57 percent from the field and made 17 of 22 free throws.
Hawaii is now 12-11, 4-7 in the Western Athletic Conference. Idaho dropped to 10-12, 4-4 in the WAC.