Utah State 74, Hawai‘i, 66
LOGAN, Utah -(USU Media Relations) Behind senior forward Tai Wesley's double-double with a career-high tying 27 points along with a game-best 13 rebounds, Utah State successfully opened defense of its three-straight Western Athletic Conference men's basketball titles by starting league action with a hard-fought, 74-66, win over Hawai'i Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
USU won its seventh in a row to improve to 12-2 overall and opened WAC play with a 1-0 mark, improving to 13-4 in league openers at home, winning the last 10 straight. Hawai'i had its two-game win streak snapped in sliding to 9-4 overall and 0-1 in conference action. Wednesday was the Aggies' fifth-straight victory over the Warriors, improving to 11-4 overall, including 8-1 at Logan.
The win was also Utah State's 23rd-consecutive win at home and the Aggies have now won 25-straight home WAC contests, running their league win streak to 15 in a row and 33 of the last 37 conference games dating back to the 2007-08 season.
Wesley, whose 13 rebounds single-handedly matched Hawai'i's total, also out-scored the Warriors at the free throw line with a perfect 11-of-11 outing. The senior forward tied a USU record with a perfect free throw percentage, becoming just the 16th player to shoot and make at least 11 free throws in a game.
Two other Aggies netted double-digits, as senior guard Pooh Williams scored 14 points while junior backcourt mate Brockeith Pane posted 11. Junior forward Brady Jardine added eight rebounds while senior guard Tyler Newbold dished out six assists, tying a season-best.
Hawai'i was led by Zane Johnson's 24 points, hitting 4-of-6 three-pointers, while Hiram Thompson was an assist shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine helpers. Johnson also led UH with four rebounds, as the Warriors only had 13 boards total. The Aggies nearly tripled that total with 32, improving to 11-0 on the year when leading the rebounding category. The 13 UH rebounds is a USU opponent season-low, and the fewest by an Aggie opponent since 1996. Utah State had 18 offensive rebounds which led to a 16-2 second-chance domination, including 11-0 in the second half.
Despite the rebounding discrepancy, the Warriors stayed in the game with a 63.2 percent (24-of-38) field goal shooting effort, a USU opponent season-high, including 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from three-point range, also an opponent season-best.
The Aggies were 21-of-46 (45.7 percent) from the floor, making 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) behind the arc.
Utah State was 25-of-30 (83.3 percent) at the free throw line, while Hawai'i was 10-of-15 (66.7 percent), marking the third time in the last four games that the Aggies made more free throws than their opponents attempted and the eight time overall this year.
The first half was back-and-forth, with Hawai'i leading by as much as four at 12-8 on a Johnson three-pointer from the right corner. With UH holding a 16-14 advantage, USU went on a 9-0 run capped by a three-pointer from the right wing by senior guard Brian Green for a 23-16 Aggie lead with 10:39 on the clock. The Aggies later had a 25-17 lead before the Warriors reeled off a 9-0 run of their own, started by a dunk by Douglas Kurtz and ended by a Kurtz layup for a 26-25 Hawai'i lead at the 3:36 mark. Utah State countered with a trey by Williams from the left wing for a 28-26 lead, the sixth and final lead change of the game, as the Aggie advantage grew to 34-30 at intermission.
A pair of Wesley layups sandwiched around a Pane three-pointer from the top of the arc gave USU its largest lead of the night at 11 at 41-30 exactly three minutes into the half. However Hawai'i closed to 48-46 on dunk by Joston Thomas with 11:56 on the clock. Yet the Warriors couldn't get any closer than two points the remainder of the game, as the Aggies held them off by hitting 11-of-14 free throws in the final 3:50 of the game.
USU concludes its season-long five-game homestand against San Jose State on Friday, Dec. 31 at 7 p.m.
New Mexico State 74, Idaho 69
MOSCOW, Idaho (Dec. 29)-(NM State Media Relations) The New Mexico State men’s basketball team opened 2010-11 WAC play with a 74-69 win at Idaho. Junior forward Troy Gillenwater led the Aggies with 22 points after missing the last five games due to an injury. NM State improves to 6-0 in WAC openers.
Sophomore forward Tyrone Watson and junior guard Hernst Laroche added 12 points while freshman center Tshilidzi Nephawe scored 10.
The first half had six lead changes and the score was tied twice. The Aggies trailed the Vandals, 31-29, at the break. Watson and Gillenwater led the NM State offense with seven points each. Nephawe added six points.
In the first 20 minutes of action, scoring runs dictated the game. The Aggies posted a seven-point lead, 9-2, at the 16:38 mark when Nephawe capping a 9-0 rally with a pair of free throws.
After Idaho responded with an 11-2 run, the Aggies scored six straight to regain a 19-17 lead. NM State was strong at the free-throw line with both Watson and Nephawe hitting 2-of-2.
The Vandals answered with back-to-back baskets to reclaim a 22-19 lead before the Aggies utilized a 10-2 run for a 29-24 advantage with 4:15 until the half. Watson and Gillenwater combined for eight points in the stint.
The Aggies started the second half strong with a 9-2 rally that included seven points from Laroche for a 38-33 lead. Idaho inched back and the teams traded leads 11 times in the second half.
NM State turned up the pressure and forced Idaho to call a timeout at 5:12 with back to back 3-pointers from sophomore forward Bandja Sy and a Watson jumper. Idaho pulled within two points, 69-67, with less than a minute to play, but the Aggies didn’t give up the lead.
Boise State 71, Louisiana Tech 60
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Paul Noonan scored a season-high 23 points to lead Boise State to a 71-60 victory over Louisiana Tech in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams Wednesday night at Taco Bell Arena.
The Broncos (8-5, 1-0 WAC) opened the game with a 20-2 run and maintained control the rest of the way.
DeAndre Brown scored 24 points to lead the Bulldogs (9-6, 0-1 WAC), who shot 20 percent from the field in the first half and didn't record their first field goal until 8:17 remained before halftime.
Boise State went into intermission up 36-14, holding Louisiana Tech to its lowest point total in a half this season. The 22-point halftime lead was also the Broncos' largest margin in a WAC game since Jan. 24, 2008, when the Broncos led Hawai'i by 25 (47-22).
In the second half, Louisiana Tech shot 55.6 percent but didn't get closer than 14 until less than three minutes remained.
Noonan tied his career high with six 3-pointers en route to his second 20-point game of the season.
La'Shard Anderson had 11 points and eight assists for Boise State, and tied his career high with seven rebounds.
Ashaolu Olu added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
The Broncos host New Mexico State Friday at 5 p.m., at Taco Bell Arena.
Fresno State 75, San Jose State 62
FRESNO, Calif. -(FS Media Relations) With a clean slate at the start of WAC action, Fresno State's focus on shooting and defensive fundamentals took center court powered the Dogs to a hard-fought 75-62 victory over San Jose State on Wednesday evening at the Save Mart Center.
"That was as good a win as we have had all year," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "I was really pleased with our effort and energy tonight, especially down the stretch when the game was on the line."
Sophomore Greg Smith and junior Tim Steed each provided a fearless effort and consistently attacked the basket. The duo both scored a game-high 16 points while senior Nedeljko Golubovic netted 13 points.
"This was a team effort tonight," Steed noted of the win that moved Fresno State into a tie for first-place in the WAC standings. "Our defense was strong and we came together. We knew what we needed to do."
At the top of the to-do list, the Bulldogs executed a gameplan to contain SJSU's Adrian Oliver. The fifth-year senior transfer from Washington entered the contest as the nation's second-leading scorer at 25.8 points per game before Fresno State limited Oliver to a team-high 15 points. He added five assists, but coughed over six turnovers.
The Dogs built an 11-point lead with 4:37 left in the first half when junior point guard Steven Shepp drained a jumpshot to lift Fresno State to a 26-15 advantage before the Spartans shot back with a 14-8 run to close to within four (33-29) at the break.
In the second half, San Jose State used an 8-0 run to tie it at 47 with 9:47 left, but Fresno State responded with a 7-0 surge. The Bulldogs never trailed in the final 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs surged past the Spartans for the 13-point victory to open conference play by snapping SJSU's three-game winning streak.
Fresno State moved to 5-6 on the season and 1-0 against WAC opponents while San Jose State fell to 8-4 on the year and 0-1 in WAC action.
The Dogs will finish their five-game homstand on Monday night in WAC contest against the Nevada Wolf Pack at 8 p.m. in the first WAC Sports Network men's basketball broadcast.