March 6 Men's Basketball Recaps
Utah State 81, New Mexico State 63
LOGAN, Utah (AP)-- Tai Wesley scored 24 points and Jared Quayle added 17 points and seven rebounds to lead Utah State to an 81-63 victory against New Mexico State on Saturday night.
Brady Jardine had 10 points for Utah State (25-6, 14-2 Western Athletic Conference). The regular-season conference champion and winner of 15 straight games, Utah State is the No. 1 seed in the WAC tournament in Reno, Nev., facing No. 8 Boise State on Thursday.
Jahmar Young had 17 points for New Mexico State (19-11, 11-5 WAC), whose tournament seeding -- No. 2 or No. 3 -- hinges on the result of Nevada's game against Louisiana Tech later Saturday. With a win, Nevada can tie NMSU for second in the standings and would have the tiebreaker based on a sweep of the season series.
Troy Gillenwater had 14 points and Hamidu Rahman 13 for NMSU.
Nevada 79, Louisiana Tech 68
RENO, Nev. -- Luke Babbitt scored 29 points to lead Nevada to a 79-68 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Nevada (19-11, 11-5 Western Athletic Conference), which got 13 points each from Brandon Fields and Armon Johnson, earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament in Reno and plays seventh-seeded Idaho in a first-round game on Thursday.
The Wolf Pack tied with New Mexico State for second in the WAC standings but earned the tiebreaker by sweeping the season series between the schools.
Magnum Rolle scored 22 points for Louisiana Tech (22-9, 9-7). The Bulldogs, who were 17-2 at one point, lost seven of its last 12 games to finish fourth in the WAC and faces No. 5 Fresno State in a first-round game on Thursday.
Idaho 78, Hawai‘i, 69
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP)-- Steffan Johnson scored a career high 28 points, including hitting a career high eight 3-pointers as Idaho beat Hawaii 78-69 on Saturday.
Mac Hopson added 15 points and 11 assists to help Idaho (15-15, 6-10 WAC) close out the regular season and secure a seventh seed in the Western Athletic Conference tournament next week.
Roderick Fleming scored 29 points for Hawaii, which did not win a game on the road during the regular season and has been eliminated from the conference tournament.
With 7:29 remaining in the game and the score tied at 54, Idaho went on a 16-7 run, putting the game out of reach for Hawaii with 3:24 remaining. Idaho hit five of their 14 three pointers during that stretch.
Idaho Played without the team's second leading scorer, senior Kashif Watson, who has been suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team.
Boise State 85, San Jose State 56
BOISE, Idaho -- Paul Noonan scored 15 points to lead Boise State to an 85-56 win over San Jose State on Saturday.
Boise State (15-16, 5-11) secured the final available spot in the WAC tournament next week in Reno. San Jose State (14-16, 6-10) locked up the No. 6 seed earlier this week.
Leading 21-18 with 7:50 left in the first half, Noonan hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 13-3 Boise State run and help the Broncos take control of the game.
San Jose State chipped away at the lead, but Noonan hit another 3-pointer to start a 7-0 Boise State run to close out the half with a 43-26 lead.
Robert Arnold scored 14 for Boise State, while Ike Okoye and Daequon Montreal added 12 points each.
Conference-leading scorer Adrian Oliver led San Jose State with 12 points. Robert Owens added 10 points while Chris Oakes pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds.