WAC Men's Basketball Recaps - Nov. 13
Nevada 81, Montana 66
RENO, Nev. (AP) -Dario Hunt scored 18 points and Deonte Burton added 17 to lead Nevada over Montana 81-66 Saturday in the season opener for both.
Malik Story also scored in double figures for the Wolf Pack, finishing with 16.
Brian Qvale scored 20 points, including 12 in the first half, to lead the Grizzlies, and Derek Selvig grabbed 11 rebounds.
Nevada shot 50 percent the field, including 10 of 19 from beyond the 3-point line, and held Montana to 38.6 percent shooting.
Montana led by 10 late in the first half before Nevada closed the half with an 8-0 run to make it 34-32 Montana at halftime.
The Wolf Pack opened the second half with an 18-5 run, sparked by three 3-pointers from Story, to take a 49-39 lead with 13:31 left. Montana closed to within six points with 11:35 to play but couldn't get any closer.
Boise State 78, Western State 52
BOISE, Idaho (AP)-- La'Shard Anderson scored 20 points and had a team-high six assists to lead Boise State past Western State Colorado 78-52 Saturday in the season opener for both schools.
Robert Arnold contributed 16 points to help lead the Broncos, who dominated all facets of the game in giving head coach Leon Rice his first victory at Boise State.
Weylan Towns led Western State with 18 points, while Martin Graham added 15.
Western State hit its first four shots to build an 11-8 lead five minutes into the game. Boise State responded by pushing the tempo, taking a 46-24 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Western State started with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to 13 points, but Boise State scored the next 14 points.
Boise State held a 30-21 advantage on the glass and forced Western State into 21 turnovers.
Louisiana Tech 90, Austin College 58
RUSTON, La. (LA Tech Media Relations)- In its home opener, the Louisiana Tech men's basketball team withstood a scrappy Austin College team to win 90-58 Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Junior forward Olu Ashaolu recorded his second-consecutive double-double this season with 18 points, on 6-of-9 shooting, and 11 rebounds. The Toronto, Ontario native also added a career-high six assists, two steals and one block.
Senior guard DeAndre Brown scored a game-high 21 points and six assists.
The Kangaroos (0-1) pressured the ball almost the entire game and hit timely three-pointers to keep the score in the first half as the score was tied 16-16 at the 12:42 mark. However, the Bulldogs defense then held the Kangaroos without a field goal in a span of over six minutes as freshman Cordarius Johnson three-pointer to give Tech a 23-16 lead with 7:44 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs took a 42-33 lead into halftime.
Louisiana Tech (1-1) pulled away in the second half as they opened up a 22-point lead following a pair of Tevin Hall free throws to lead 65-43 with 12:11 remaining. The Bulldogs built its biggest lead of the night on the last bucket of the game with a J.L. Lewis three-pointer to give Tech a 90-58 win.
The Bulldogs shot 53.1 percent in the second half and 50 percent for the game. They held Austin College to just 32.8 percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers. After producing just four assists at Texas on Wednesday, Tech shared the ball tremendously on Saturday with 18 assists.
The Bulldogs dominated down low, outscoring Austin College 46-14 in the paint as well as outrebounding them 47-38.
All 11 Bulldogs that played, scored as Lewis led the bench scoring with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and added four rebounds, three of them offensive. Freshman James Johnson recorded six points and seven rebounds and Cordarius Johnson added eight points.
Freshman Kenyon McNeaill earned his first start of the season. He scored eight points and was 2-for-4 from three-point range.
The NCAA Division III Kangaroo squad was led by Jordan Hancock's 16 points as four of his five field goals were from three-point range. Austin College had a quick trigger from beyond the arc as they were 10-for-31 (23.3 percent). Tech was 7-of-19 (36.8 percent).
The Bulldogs next host Houston on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Utah State 77, Weber State 65
LOGAN, Utah (USU Media Relations)- Junior guard Brockeith Pane scored 23 points in his Aggie debut and senior forward Tai Wesley added 19 to lead Utah State to a 77-65 come-from-behind win against Weber State here inside a rowdy Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Saturday in both team's season opener.
For Utah State, it was its 16th-straight regular season win dating back to last year as it improved to 24-1 at home under head coach Stew Morrill against in-state competition.
Utah State trailed 36-29 at the half and 45-37 with 16:01 to play following Damian Lillard's fifth three-pointer before Utah State went on a 17-0 run over the next 5:22 as Wesley scored five straight points and Pane added eight during the spurt. WSU got within four at 63-59 with 4:46 remaining following a free throw from Lindsey Hughey, but the Aggies responded with an 11-3 run to post the 12-point win.
Pane, a transfer from Midland (Texas) Junior College, scored 17 of his 23 points in the second-half for the highest scoring game by an Aggie newcomer since Jay Goodman had 33 in his Aggie debut back in 1990 against Brigham Young. Pane finished the night 6-of-11 from the field and 11-of-13 at the free throw line, and added five rebounds and four assists.
Wesley just missed his 10th career double-double as he had nine rebounds to go along with his 19 points, 13 of which came after intermission, as he was 8-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
Senior guard Brian Green had 10 points and a career-high tying four rebounds, while junior forward Morgan Grim added nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes in his Aggie debut after transferring from the University of Utah.
Lillard led all scorers with 28 points shooting 9-of-17 from the field, 6-of-10 from three-point range and 4-of-6 at the free throw line.
Weber State opened an early 5-1 lead and led by as many as seven in the first nine minutes of the game as the Wildcats made six of its first seven three-pointers. WSU took its largest lead of the half at 30-22 with 5:17 to play on a jumper by Trevor Morris.
Weber State shot 50.0 percent (14-28) in the opening half including hitting 6-of-8 treys, while Utah State shot just 32.1 percent (9-28) and was 0-7 from behind the arc. USU did make 11-of-13 free throws in the first 20 minutes to keep the game within reach.
Utah State finished the game by shooting 45.6 percent (26-57), despite making just 1-of-12 (.083) three-pointers. The Aggies did shoot 80.0 percent at the free throw line (24-30). Weber State shot 42.6 percent overall (23-54) including 45.0 percent from behind the arc (9-20) and 58.8 percent at the free throw line (10-17). In the second-half, the Wildcats were just 9-of-26 (.346) from the field and 3-of-12 (.250) from three.
Utah State out-rebounded Weber State by 14 (26-12) in the second-half and won the rebounding battle, 41-31. USU finished the game with 14 assists, 10 turnovers and seven blocks, while WSU had 11 assists and 12 turnovers.
Utah State returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 17 when it plays at No. 24 Brigham Young at 7 pm. The game will be televised live on the Mtn.
Idaho 86, Eastern Oregon 74
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP)-- Djim Bandoumel and Shawn Henderson scored 14 points apiece as Idaho defeated Eastern Oregon 86-74 Saturday night.
Luiz Toledo added 13 points and six rebounds while Brandon Wiley had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Vandals in their regular-season opener. Idaho led only by 38-36 at halftime, but scored 14 of the first 18 points in the second half to open up a double-digit lead.
Jason Mumm scored 21 points for Eastern Oregon, an NAIA school. The Mountaineers made 12 of 22 attempts from 3-point range, led by Thomas McCarthy, who made 5 of 10 attempts from behind the arc. McCarthy finished with 18 points.
Idaho won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Eastern Oregon 41-26.
Hawai‘i 84, Cal State Fullerton 70
HONOLULU -- Bill Amis scored 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds while Bo Barnes helped with 19 points as Hawai‘i won its second game in as many days, defeating Cal State Fullerton 84-70 at home.
Amis scored his team-high 24 points on 10-of-13 shots from the field and a 4-of-5 clip from the free throw line. Five of Amis' nine rebounds were on the offensive side. Barnes recorded his 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-9 from long range.
Hiram Thompson recorded his second-straight double digit game, recording 18 points. Thompson also dished out a team-best seven assists on the night. UH newcomer Zane Johnson helped was also in double digits with 13 points.