Utah State 84, San Jose State 65
SAN JOSE, Calif. -(USU Media Relations) Senior reserve guard Brian Green scored a career-high 25 points and tied his career-high with six rebounds in No. 25 Utah State's convincing 84-65 road win against San Jose State here Thursday as the Aggies' bench scored a season-high 42 points.
Utah State, who improves to 19-2 on the season and 8-0 in Western Athletic Conference play, has now won 14 straight games including 22 straight league games dating back to last season. That 14-game winning streak is the fourth-longest in school history, while its 19-2 record is its third-best start to a season in school history.
San Jose State falls to 9-10 overall and 1-7 in WAC play with the loss.
Green finished the game shooting 8-of-9 from the field, 5-of-5 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line and tied a school record for three-point shooting with a minimum of five attempts joining four other Aggies including most recently Tyler Newbold who was 5-of-5 from behind the arc last year against Hawai'i.
Senior guard Pooh Williams added 14 points for Utah State, while junior guard Brockeith Pane had 13 points and junior forward Brady Jardine finished with 12. Senior forward Tai Wesley just missed double-figures, finishing with nine points and six boards, while Newbold had six points to go along with a season-high seven assists and a career-high tying three steals.
Adrian Oliver led all scorers with 29 points for San Jose State on 10-of-23 shooting, while Keith Shamburger had 13 points and Calvin Douglas 10.
Utah State finished the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field (28-59), 52.9 percent from three-point range (9-17) and 82.6 percent at the free throw line (19-23). San Jose State shot just 41.5 percent (22-53), and was just 4-of-12 (.333) from behind the arc. The Spartans did convert 17-of-21 free throws (.810). SJSU also became just the fifth team this year to out-rebound the Aggies, 32-27, while USU had single digit turnovers for just the fourth time this season with six which is its second-fewest in a game this year.
Utah State used an early 9-0 run to take a 12-5 lead with 15:03 to play following a pair of free throws from Williams. San Jose State then scored the next nine points to regain the lead at 14-12. Over the next 9:15 there were six lead changes and seven tie scores as neither team lead by more than two points. With the game tied at 25-all with 3:38 to play, Utah State went on a 10-0 run that included a pair of three-pointers from Green and Newbold and the Aggies ended the half of a layup by Pane to take a 37-27 lead into the locker room.
In the second-half, San Jose State could never get closer than eight points and the Aggies led by double-digits for the majority of the half and went up 17 with 11:51 to play following a Green trey. USU later led by 18 at 78-60 with 2:21 remaining following a pair of free throws from Pane and took its largest lead of the game with its last shot as Williams drained a three-pointer to make the final score 84-65.
Green led Utah State with 12 first-half points as he was 5-of-5 from the field including 2-of-2 from three-point range. USU shot 45.5 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes (15-33), including 45.5 percent from behind the arc (5-11). USU was also 2-of-5 (.400) from the free throw line in the first-half. In all, USU made eight of its final 10 field goals of the half.
Oliver had 12 points to lead San Jose State in the first-half as the Spartans shot 37.9 percent from the field (11-29), 40.0 percent from three-point range (2-5) and 75.0 percent at the free throw line (3-4).
Utah State returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 29 when it plays at Hawai'i (12-8, 3-5) at 10 p.m. (MT).
New Mexico State 96, Boise State 87 (OT)
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP)-Troy Gillenwater scored a career-high 34 points to lead New Mexico State to a 96-87 overtime victory over Boise State on Thursday at the Pan American Center.
The Aggies (11-11, 5-3 Western Athletic) also received career nights from junior guard Hernst Laroche (24 points) and sophomore forward Tyrone Watson, who finished with 17 points to go with 10 rebounds.
La’Shard Anderson led the Broncos with 21 points, Tre Nichols scored 18 and Daequon Montreal scored 15.
NMSU scored a season-high 96 points on 51.8 percent shooting and outrebounded Boise State (12-8, 5-3) 44-34.
NMSU outscored Boise State 23-14 in overtime, hitting all five field goal attempts and shooting 13-for-13 from the line in the extra session.
Gillenwater scored the Aggies’ first seven points of overtime, putting NMSU up for good with a three-point play with 3:21 left.
Boise State doubled a four-point halftime lead on a Robert Arnold lay up with 14:52 to play to take the largest lead for either team.
NMSU answered with a 15-4 run to go up one on a Tshilidzi Nephawe bucket.
Boise State regained the lead on a pair of Tre Nichols free throws with 5:58 to play and the lead switched hands four times in the last six minutes of regulation. Watson hit two free throws, with the second giving NMSU a 73-71 lead with 45.3 seconds left.
Anderson sent the game into overtime with a driving lay up with 27.6 seconds left, knotting the game at 73-73.
Nichols scored 11 points in the first half as starting point guard La’Shard Anderson was limited to 14 minutes in the first half with two fouls.
Boise State shot 50 percent from the field and scored 28 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes for a 40-36 lead.
Louisiana Tech 71, Idaho 56
RUSTON, La. -(LT Media Relations) Junior forward Olu Ashaolu recorded 24 points and 18 rebounds as the Louisiana Tech men's basketball team broke an eight-game losing streak with a 71-56 win over Idaho on Thursday at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Tech improved to 10-12 overall and 1-7 in the Western Athletic Conference. Idaho dropped its second-straight game and fell to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the WAC.
The Bulldogs dominated the points in the paint, 36-16 and for the fourth-straight game had less turnovers than their opponent with 13 compared to the Vandals' 15. Tech also outrebounded Idaho 44-31.
"It was a hard fought game and it was one we needed," Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. "Idaho is a very good team and they run their sets really well. Overall our coaching staff did a great job in preparation and keeping our guys focused so we could have a chance to compete."
It was Ashaolu's second-straight game with at least 20 points as he was 8-for-16 from the field. His 18 rebounds was a season high and he also led the team with three assits.
Freshman Kenyon McNeaill scored a career-best 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting including 2-for-5 from three-point range. He scored seven of the Tech's first nine points of the game.
"I thought Kenyon drove the pressure good tonight and had some good finishes," Rupp said. "He hit some open shots on the perimeter that we had to have."
Tech shot a season-high 87.5 percent (21-24) from the free-throw line and 40.7 percent from the field. The Bulldogs held the league's best shooting team to 38.2 percent shooting from the field, 42.1 percent (8-19) from three-point range and 46.2 percent (6-13) from the free throw line.
Tech held the lead for all but the first 2:23 of the game. The Bulldogs shot 35.3 percent and led at the half, 36-22. The 22 points given up was the lowest total for a Tech opponent since it held Houston to 19 on Nov. 17.
The Vandals opened the second half on an 11-1 run and cut the Tech lead to 37-33 with 17:37 remaining. The score remained within 10 points, without Idaho ever taking the lead for almost 12 minutes. J.L. Lewis grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a layup with 5:53 to play to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 62-51. Following a McNeaill free throw, Tech had a 71-54 lead, its largest of the game, with just under two minutes to play.
Junior forward Antwond Roshell scored four points and a career-best nine rebounds, six offensive.
"He did a good job until he got tired," Rupp said of Roshell. "I like the way he got the rebound and just dunked it. It's like what Bill Walton used to say, `Throw it down big fella, throw it down.' He's getting better everyday and he's working hard."
Jeff Ledbetter led Idaho with 20 points as he was 6-for-10 from three-point range. The Vandals are now 0-6 all-time in Ruston.
Louisiana Tech will next be in action on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Boise State.
Nevada 79, Fresno State 76
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Dario Hunt had 24 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night as Nevada held on to beat Fresno State 79-76.
Deonte Burton added 17 points and Malik Story 13 for the Wolf Pack (8-13, 5-3 Western Athletic), who won their fourth consecutive game.
Tim Steed had 26 points to lead the Bulldogs (8-11, 3-5). Kevin Olikaibe added 19 points and Greg Smith had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Steed banked in a 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left to pull Fresno State within 78-76. After Burton made 1 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to three, another Steed 3-point attempt from the top of the key bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
Nevada, which was ahead 39-33 at halftime, led by as many as 13 points in the game. The Wolf Pack outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-25 and had 14 second-chance points.