Utah State 68, Boise State 59
BOISE, Idaho -- Brockeith Pane scored 19 points to lead Utah State to a 68-59 victory over Boise State on Thursday night.
Utah State (15-2, 4-0 WAC) won its 18th consecutive conference game, including eight straight on the road.
Boise State (11-6, 4-1), which entered the game off to its best start in conference play since joining the WAC in 2001, was led by Robert Arnold with 20 points.
After a rocky start, Utah State took a 17-15 lead and never relinquished it.
Trailing 52-43 midway through the second half, the Broncos went on a 7-0 run to pull within 52-50 with 7:26 left.
Utah State responded with a 6-0 run and never let the Broncos get any closer.
Brian Green came off the bench to score 16 points for Utah State.
Daequon Montreal and Westly Perryman each added 10 points for Boise State.
New Mexico State 82, Hawai‘i 64
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP)-Troy Gillenwater scored 13 points in 18 minutes to help New Mexico State to an 82-64 victory over Hawaii on Thursday at the Pan American Center.
Junior point guard Hernst Laroche added 14 points and five assists, Christian Kabongo scored 12 and Gordo Castillo scored 10 for the Aggies, (9-9, 3-1 Western Athletic) who won their second straight game and the seventh in the last nine.
Zane Johnson led Hawaii (9-8, 0-5) with a career-high 25 points, Vander Joaquim scored 12 points with 12 rebounds and Bill Amis added 10 for the Rainbow Warriors, who fell for the sixth straight time to New Mexico State.
The Aggies finished 49 percent from the floor and scored 20 points off 20 Hawaii turnovers. The Rainbow Warriors finished 38.1 percent from the floor and were 4-of-19 from the 3-point line.
Gillenwater shook off a foot injury to score seven first-half points in six minutes off the bench, sparking the Aggies to a 17-8 run in the last 5:50 of the first half for a 13-point.
The Aggies led by as many as 30 in the second half, pulling away with a 10-2 run early in the half.
San Jose State 79, Louisiana Tech 74
Ruston, La.--(SJSU Media Relations) Keith Shamburger and Justin Graham each scored 21 points as San Jose State ended a four-game losing streak with a 79-74 win over Louisiana Tech in a Western Athletic Conference men's basketball game.
The Spartans (9-7, 1-4 WAC) won for the first time on the road in conference play since the 2009 season and did it without Adrian Oliver, who missed the game due to concussion-like symptoms from a hit to the nose in practice earlier in the week. His status is termed "day-to-day" according to head coach George Nessman.
"We miss Adrian, but literally, it is next guy up. Our guys didn't talk about it a lot. They knew what they needed to do. They know they had to be a smidge better. It wasn't a major feature. Adrian would not expect it to be a major feature," said the San Jose State coach. "He texted me before the game, 'Coach, we're going to get them.' That's the confidence our guys have in each other. We just want him to get healthy, get back to us and get into the lineup."
"Adrian believed in us and we just had to go out there and get this win for him. It was hard playing without him, because we're so used to giving him the ball. Tonight, we just went out there and won," said Shamburger, who scored all of his points in the second half after going 0-for-5 from the field in the first 20 minutes. "I have to stay confident and keep playing my game."
San Jose State was in control early building a 12-point lead, 33-21 with 4:33 remaining in the half. The Spartans out-hustled Louisiana Tech (9-9, 0-4 WAC) down the floor for easy transition baskets, primarily by forward Wil Carter, who finished with a season-high 14 points. Calvin Douglas, who started in place of Oliver, made his first six shots of the game and finished with 13 points as the Spartans shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field.
Louisiana Tech wiped out the deficit with its best 3-point shooting night of the season, making 12-of-27 from long range. The Bulldogs, losers of five in row, made 51.8 percent of their field goal tries primarily against a Spartans' 2-3 zone defense. San Jose State's choice for a zone did negate the effectiveness of Louisiana Tech's leading scorer, forward Olu Ashaolu, a 15.3 points per game scorer. Ashaolu fouled out scoering just 4 points.
"It's always tough when your leading scorer is not here. We knew that coming in. We had a good week of practice. Calvin (Douglas) stepped into the role and did a fine job. In order to get the win tonight, we knew we had to play excellent defense. That was the key to our victory," said Graham, who scored 20 or more points for fourth time this season and second in the last three games.
San Jose State took the lead for good on a Shamburger layup on a nifty pass from Graham for a 69-67 lead with 2:34 remaining. Forward Brylle Kamen made four key free throws in the final 1:07 that contributed to the win.
Louisiana Tech guard DeAndre Brown was one of two Bulldogs to score 17 points. His 3-pointer with 0:04 to go could have tied the game at 77-77, but hit the rim. Kamen collected the rebound for the Spartans, was fouled and converted his free throws for the game's final points.
Reserves Tevin Hall, with 17, and Cordarius Johnson, with 14, combined to go 6-for-8 from 3-point range and keep Louisiana Tech in the game the entire evening.
San Jose State ended a 14-game conference road losing streak and can make it two in a row on the road, Saturday, January 15, at New Mexico State.