#17 Utah State 71, Fresno State 55
LOGAN, Utah -(USU Media Relations) Four players in double-digits led by the senior duo of guard Brian Green and forward Nate Bendall along with a 23-2 first-half spurt sparked No. 17/21 Utah State to a 71-55 rout of Fresno State Saturday night in men's basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The win clinched a share of the 2011 Western Athletic Conference regular season championship for the Aggies and notched their fourth-consecutive regular season WAC title.
USU won its 29th-straight home game in improving to 23-3 overall and 12-1 in WAC play, rebounding from its first league loss of the season Wednesday night at Idaho that snapped the Aggies' 25-game WAC win streak. Utah State still has a 31-straight WAC home game win streak, which is a school record, and has won 40 of its last 41 home conference games. Saturday was USU's ninth win in a row over Fresno State, including four consecutive at home, to take a 30-19 all-time series advantage that also includes a 20-5 record on its home court.
Fresno State suffered its second loss in a row in falling to 11-14 overall and 5-8 in conference action. Saturday was the Bulldogs' sixth-straight road loss, falling to 2-9 away from home on the season including 1-6 in WAC road games.
Utah State improved to 16-0 this season and the Aggies have won 24 straight games dating back to last season when holding the opposition under 60 points. Meanwhile, USU improved to 16-1 this year and has now won 57 of its last 59 games when surpassing the 70-point plateau.
Green and Bendall led the way with 13 points apiece, while fellow seniors, guard Pooh Williams and forward Tai Wesley added 10 points each. Wesley moved into a tie for No. 3 on USU's career 10-point games list with his 93rd double-digit outing Saturday, tying former Aggie Kendall Youngblood (1989-92). Green hit two three-pointers in the game to move into a tie for the No. 8 spot on USU's career three-pointers made list with 112, matching former Aggie Troy Rolle (1999-2000).
Fresno State was led by Nedeljko Bolubovic's 15 points off the bench while Bracken Funk added 14 points.
Junior forward Brady Jardine led USU with a game-best nine rebounds while Wesley and Bendall pulled down eight each, helping USU to a dominating, 36-21, rebounding advantage. Funk had a Fresno State-leading six boards.
Wesley dished out a game-best and season-high tying six assists, while Williams and Green distributed three helpers each. Garrett Johnson led Fresno State with four assists.
The two teams exchanged the lead seven times in the first 10 minutes of the game, with the last coming when USU was down 13-12 at the 10:55 mark after a three-pointer by Funk. That would be Fresno State's last lead of the night, as the Aggies reeled off 10 unanswered to open a 22-13 lead capped by a Jardine baseline dunk and a Green three-pointer from the right corner with 7:02 left in the half.
Funk halted the Bulldog drought with a layup but then Bendall started a 13-0 Aggie run that Williams capped with a three-pointer from the right wing for USU's first 20-point lead of the night at 35-15 with 2:59 to play. The Aggie advantage grew to 40-17 on a Wiliams jumper and USU took a 40-19 halftime advantage, improving to 20-0 when leading at intermission.
Back-to-back treys by senior guard Tyler Newbold followed by a three-pointer by Williams gave Utah State its largest lead of the night at 49-23 with 16:34 to go. The Bulldogs cut the gap to 16 at 53-37 at the 9:00 mark on a trey by Steven Shepp. That would be the closest Fresno State would get until the waning seconds of the contest, as Green hit six-straight points, hitting a three-pointer from the right wing and then hit three free throws and USU cruised to the victory.
After hitting 60.0 percent (15-of-25) of its shots in the first half, Utah State cooled off after intermission, finishing the night at 21-of-43 (48.8 percent) field goal shooting, including 43.8 percent (7-of-16) behind the arc. USU was also 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) at the free throw line.
Fresno State shot 20-of-48 (41.7 percent) from the floor, making just 4-of-20 (20.0 percent) from three-point range. The Bulldogs were also 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) at the charity stripe. Saturday was the 11th time that USU has made more free throws than its opponent had attempted.
Utah State takes a two-game break from WAC play, hosting Montana-Western on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. (MT), before playing at St. Mary's in an ESPNU BracketBuster game on Saturday, Feb. 19 in a 7 p.m. (MT) game on ESPN2. The Aggies return home and resume conference action on Saturday, Feb. 26, welcoming Idaho to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum for Senior Night in USU's home finale.
New Mexico State 50, Louisiana Tech 49
RUSTON, La. (Feb. 12)-(NMSU Media Relations) The New Mexico State men’s basketball team escaped Louisiana Tech with a 50-49 victory to record its second WAC road win of the year after junior guard Hernst Laroche made two free throws with 12.2 seconds remaining in regulation.
NM State improved to 14-12 and 8-4 in the conference, while the Bulldogs fell to 11-15 and 2-10. The Aggies also notched their fifth win of the season after trailing at halftime.
With the Aggies down one, 49-48, Laroche drew a foul and sank both free throws to reclaim lead the 50-49. He finished the game with seven points, three assists and three steals.
Junior center Hamidu Rahman led the Aggies with a team-high 14 points. Sophomore forward Tyrone Watson and senior guard Gordo Castillo contributed to the offense with seven points each, while sophomore forward/center B.J. West provided six. NM State played without its leading scorer junior forward Troy Gillenwater, who suffered a sprained ankle in the game with Louisiana Tech in Las Cruces, Feb. 7.
The Aggies started the second half strong and quickly erased a five-point halftime deficit, 31-26. NM State scored the first seven points to take its first lead of the game, 33-31, on a Laroche fast break layup at the 18:38 mark.
The Aggies extended the lead to seven, 40-33, when Watson hit a 3-pointer with 12:56 to play. NM State controlled the advantage until Bulldog freshman guard Kenyon McNeaill hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 2:04 and 36 seconds left in the game to give Louisiana Tech a 49-48 lead.
After a woeful start to the game, hitting just one of the first 10 shots of the contest, the Aggies rebounded to end the half on a 9-of-16 shooting performance including four consecutive baskets.
Rahman paced the Aggies with 10 first half points after a monstrous dunk at the buzzer. Castillo added five points, and West contributed four points and a pair of assists.
The Aggies fell behind early and trailed by 11 in the first half before a 10-3 rally cut the Bulldog lead to four, 20-16, with two free throws from Rahman at the 7:46 mark.
NM State takes a break from WAC play to host Northern Colorado, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the ESPNU BracketBuster.
Nevada 84, San Jose State 76 (OT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Malik Story scored 23 of his career-high 29 points after halftime and Nevada rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to beat San Jose State 84-76 in overtime on Saturday night.
Story scored 12 points in a five-minute stretch of the second half that brought the Wolf Pack (10-14, 7-4 WAC) back from the brink. Olek Czyz added 15 points.
San Jose State's Adrian Oliver, the nation's fourth-leading scorer, had 30 points before fouling out in the waning moments of the second half. He gave the Spartans (11-12, 3-9) a 70-68 edge after converting a three-point play with 1:24 left in the regulation, but his foul allowed Czyz to tie the game with a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining.
The Spartans led 25-10 with 8:31 left in the first half but scored five points the rest of the way, allowing Nevada to crawl within 32-27 by halftime.
Boise State 69, Idaho 63
BOISE, Idaho-(BSU Media Relations) Robert Arnold scored 16 points and La'Shard Anderson added 13 to lead Boise State past Idaho 69-63, Saturday night at a near-capacity Taco Bell Arena.
Boise State (14-11, 7-6 Western Athletic Conference) completed a season sweep of the Vandals for the first time since the 2007-08 season. Idaho (14-11, 7-6), which upset No. 21 Utah State in Moscow on Wednesday, became the first road team to lose in the series in five games.
The Broncos trailed by five with 7:09 to play, but went on a 13-0 run to seize control of the game. Anderson scored 10 of the Broncos' points during the pivotal stretch.
The Vandals led 62-61 with 1:44 to play but the Bronco defense clamped down and Idaho did not hit another field goal. Boise State regained the lead and held on behind an 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line in the final 90 seconds. The Broncos are 28-of-31 from the stripe in the last two games after shooting just 65.7 percent in their previous seven contests.
Paul Noonan knocked down four free throws in the final 32 seconds and Thomas Bropleh made it a four-point game with two of his own at the 21-second mark. Bropleh also hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half, the first breaking a tie and the second giving Boise State a one-point lead with 6:26 to play.
An Arnold 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in the first half gave the Broncos a 36-33 lead at the break.
Jeff Ledbetter led Idaho with 19 points, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range, while Landon Tatum added 13.
The in-state rivals played in front of 12,193 fans, the largest attendance at a Boise State men's basketball game in at least the past 16 seasons.