Utah State 52, Fresno State 39
FRESNO, Calif. --(AP) Tai Wesley and Nate Bendall scored 12 points each as Utah State smothered Fresno State 52-39 on Saturday night for the Aggies' 11th straight victory.
Brockeith Pane added eight points for Utah State (16-2, 5-0), which won its 19th straight Western Athletic Conference game. Bendall also grabbed 16 rebounds.
Greg Smith had 10 points and nine rebounds for Fresno State (7-8, 3-2). The Bulldogs' points total was a season low and matched their output from a 76-39 loss on March 1, 2010, to the Aggies in Logan, Utah.
Utah State shot 43.8 percent from the field compared to Fresno State's 27.3 percent, and outscored the Bulldogs 26-16 in the paint.
Nevada 69, Boise State 67
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Deonte Burton scored 20 points and Malik Story added 16 to lead Nevada to a 69-67 victory over Boise State on Saturday night.
Dario Hunt had 12 points and eight rebounds as Nevada (5-13, 2-3 Western Athletic) snapped a three-game losing streak.
Robert Arnold and La'Shard Anderson scored 18 points each for Boise State (11-7, 4-2).
Nevada trailed 56-52 with less than six minutes remaining before Story staged a personal 8-0 run, scoring on a layup and two high-arching 3-pointers from the left corner. The second gave the Wolf Pack a 60-56 advantage with 3:34 left.
Boise State trailed by 15 points in the first half before coming back. The Broncos finally caught the Wolf Pack at 43-43 on Anderson's two free throws with 11:52 remaining.
New Mexico State 78, San Jose State 53
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP)-Troy Gillenwater scored 18 points and Gordo Castillo scored 17 to lead New Mexico State to a 78-53 victory over San Jose State on Saturday.
Freshman guard Christian Kabongo added 14 points for the Aggies, who shot 47.5 percent from the floor and 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Keith Shamburger led the Spartans (9-8, 1-5 Western Athletic) with 19 points. Wil Carter scored 14 and Justin Graham added 11 points as San Jose State set a season-low for points in a game.
NMSU (10-9, 4-1) led by as many as 20 in the first half, shooting 43.8 percent in the first half. The Aggies outscored San Jose State 13-6 in the first four minutes of the second half to push the lead to 24.
The Spartans closed to within 12 in the second half but Castillo and Kabongo responded with back-to-back 3-pointers.
San Jose State scored a season-low points in a half with 18 in the first half, shooting a season-low half of 23.3 percent.
The Aggies led 35-18 at the break after the Spartans were 7-for-30 (23.3 percent) from the floor and 0-for-12 from 3-point range before finishing the game 32.8 percent and 2-for-17 from 3-point range.
The Aggies pulled away with a 17-3 run over a five-minute period in the first half that opened a 22-9 lead with 11:24 left in the half.
The Aggies outrebounded San Jose State 42-31 and received 42 points from the bench.
Hawai‘i 56, Louisiana Tech 48
RUSTON, La. –(UH Media Relations) The University of Hawai‘i men’s basketball team picked up its first league win of the year with a hard-fought 56-48 victory over Louisiana Tech Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center. UH improved to 10-8 overall and 1-5 in the WAC while handing first-year head coach Gib Arnold his first career conference victory.
It was a cathartic win for the ’Bows who not only ended a five-game slide, but also ended a 15-game road losing streak dating back nearly two years. A total of 13 of those losses came in WAC regular-season action with the ’Bows last winning at Fresno State in February 2009.
It was tight affair throughout with the Rainbow Warrior securing the win by scoring the game’s final seven points. UH put out one of its best defensive efforts of the season, holding the Bulldogs (9-10, 0-5 WAC) scoreless for the final 2:31 of the game and forcing them to just 29 percent shooting from the field.
Senior Bill Amis played the pivotal role in the UH lineup with a monster effort, posting 22 points and 12 rebounds. It was his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, particularly from distance, going a combined 1-of-13 on three-pointers. UH led for much of the first half in a tight game, but the Bulldogs scored six straight points to take their first lead of the game five minutes before the break. The ’Bows responded with six straight points of their own, part of a 9-1 run, that helped give UH a 29-25 lead into the locker room.
UH continued to cling to a slim lead midway through the second half. The Bulldogs, however, hit back-to-back thee-pointers, part of an 8-0 run, that gave LTU a three-point lead with less than eight minutes.
From there it was a nail-biter as both teams went back-and-forth. UH held a slim 49-48 lead with a little more than two minutes left, but scored on their next two possessions, including a layup by Joston Thomas after a key steal by Jeremiah Ostrowski to help trigger the game-ending 7-0 run. The ’Bows played the final 3:18 without leading scorer Zane Johnson who fouled out.
UH now returns to Hawai‘i for three straight home games beginning with a meeting versus Fresno State on Thursday, Jan. 20. Tipoff is 7:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Idaho 78, Cal State Bakersfield 77 (OT)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -(UI Media Relations) Idaho men's basketball lost a 14-point second-half lead, they lost a 3-point lead on a buzzer-beating triple to end regulation, and it appeared, after going down six points with 1:19 left in overtime, that the Vandals had lost the game - enter Jeff Ledbetter.
The Idaho senior guard nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime with a defender in his face to give Idaho a 78-77 non-conference victory at Cal State Bakersfield in a wild game on Saturday night.
"I live for those shots," Ledbetter said. "I knew if I got the ball, it was going in. I knew the play was set up for a three, and if they covered Brandon Wiley, I'd be open."
Idaho (11-6) jumped all over Cal State Bakersfield (8-9) in the first half, and opened multiple 12-point leads, but saw their advantage disintegrate in a matter of minutes when CSUB opened the second half on an 11-2 run and steadily chipped away at the lead.
The host Roadrunners took a 59-58 lead with 1:21 left in regulation, then four straight free throws and a steal later, Idaho was ahead 62-59 with five seconds to go. On the ensuing inbound, CSUB's Donovan Bragg found Stephon Carter for a corner 3-pointer that he banked in at the buzzer to send it into OT.
"They bank in a 3-pointer to get it into overtime, then we make the game-winner," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said after the game. "It was a well-played game on both ends tonight and we were really glad to come out of it with a win."
Idaho finished with five double-digit scorers for the second time in three games, led by sophomore center Kyle Barone's 20. Barone also finished with a game-high 13 rebounds for his first career double-double, and shot 8-of-10 from the field.
Ledbetter finished the game with 13 points, three assists and a career-high-tying three steals, while senior forward Brandon Wiley earned his second career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Senior Shawn Henderson had 12 points and juniors Deremy Geiger and Landon Tatum had 10 and nine points, respectively.
The 'Runners were led by three 20-point scorers in Carter (25), Alex Johnson (22) and Bragg (21). As a team, CSUB shot 41.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range, but was just 17-of-28 (.607) from the free throw line.
Idaho went just 2-of-10 from 3-point range in regulation, but nailed three out of four in overtime. The Vandals shot 50 percent overall, 35.7 percent from 3-point range and hit 81 percent (17-21) of their free throws.
The Vandals out-rebounded the Roadrunners, 39-35, and outscored them 34-24 in the paint. CSUB had turned 14 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points, while Idaho's 10 offensive boards became nine second-chance points. CSUB also outscored Idaho, 24-15, off turnovers.
"It does feel great, and you've got to give CS a lot of credit," Verlin said. "They played with unbelievable heart and desire and they took us out of our stuff late in the game."
The victory extends Idaho's active win streak to five, which is the team's longest since 1998-99, when the team also won five in a row. The last time Idaho won more than five games in a row was 1992-93, when the Vandals rattled off seven straight under Larry Eustachy.
Junior forward Luiz Toledo, who had started every game of the season so far, missed the game with a minor injury. His status will be re-evaluated before Monday's game at Fresno State.
Monday's game tips off at 7 p.m. (PST) at the Save Mart Center. Fresno State is 7-8 overall and 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference after falling to Utah State, 52-39, at home on Saturday.