#24 Utah State 75, #23 Saint Mary's 65
MORAGA, Calif
. -(USU Media Relations) Senior forward Tai Wesley had 22 points and 11 rebounds and junior guard Brockeith Pane also scored 22 points to lead No. 24/25 Utah State to a come-from-behind 75-65 win against No. 23 Saint Mary's here Saturday night in a ESPNU BracketBuster game that was nationally televised on ESPN2.
Utah State, who had lost its previous two games to Saint Mary's, improves to 25-3 on the season and the Gaels fall to 22-6 after suffering its second-straight loss.
Wesley had 17 points and six rebounds in the second-half as he was 7-of-9 from the field during the final 20 minutes after converting just 1-of-6 first-half shots. Pane scored 14 points after halftime and finished the game shooting 5-of-7 from the field, 1-of-2 from three-point range and 11-of-14 at the free throw line. He also had four assists and a career-high four steals.
Mickey McConnell had 16 points to lead Saint Mary's, while Mitchell Young finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Trailing 39-29 with 18:04 to play, Utah State went on a 25-5 run during the next 10:02 to take a 54-44 lead following a pair of free throws from Pane. During its run, Pane and Wesley combined for 20 of the team's 25 points as Wesley had 12 and Pane eight. USU increased its lead to 12 at 65-53 with 3:23 to play following a steal from Pane and dunk from senior forward Pooh Williams and the Aggies coasted from there for the 10-point win. During the final 9:20 of the game, the Gaels never got closer than seven points.
Utah State shot a blistering 55.6 percent from the field in the second half (15-27) and finished the game at 50.0 percent shooting (24-48). USU was also 25-of-32 (.781) from the free throw line for the game, including 17-of-21 (.810) after halftime. The Aggies were also 2-of-6 (.333) from three-point range overall.
Utah State out-rebounded Saint Mary's by four (33-29) and had four fewer turnovers (17-13) in the game.
Saint Mary's shot just 28.6 percent in the second half (8-28) and finished the game shooting 39.0 percent overall (23-59). The Gaels were also 9-of-22 (.409) from behind the arc and 10-of-13 (.769) at the charity stripe.
Utah State scored the first points of the game on an old fashion three-point play from freshman guard James Walker III. USU later took its largest lead of the half at 13-7 following a layup from Pane with 13:10 to play. The Aggies later led by six at 20-14 at the 10:44 mark before Saint Mary's scored seven straight points to lead, 21-20. USU then got a pair of free throws from Pane only to see the Gaels score 13 straight points over the next 6:04. The Aggies finished the half on a mini 5-2 run on three free throws from Wesley and a running jumper from senior guard Brian Green to cut the deficit to nine at 36-27 heading into halftime.
Pane led Utah State with eight first half points as the Aggies shot 42.9 percent from the field (9-21) and 72.7 percent at the free throw line (8-11). USU was also 1-of-2 (.500) from three-point range. Utah State had 10 turnovers in the first-half as compared to a five for the Gaels.
McConnell and Young each had eight points to lead Saint Mary's in the first 20 minutes as the Gaels shot 48.4 percent from the field (15-31) and 40.0 percent from three-point range (4-10). SMC was also 2-of-2 at the free throw line. The Gaels out-rebounded USU in the first-half, 16-13.
Utah State returns to Western Athletic Conference play next weekend as it hosts Idaho in its final home game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., in a game that will be televised regionally on CW30. Prior to the game, USU will honor its six seniors.
Nevada 74, UC Irvine 63
RENO, Nev.
(AP) - Dario Hunt scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead to lead Nevada to a 74-63 BracketBusters victory over UC Irvine on Saturday.
Malik Story added 15 points and Olek Czyz had 11 rebounds for the Wolf Pack (11-15), who never trailed after opening the game on a 9-1 run.
Patrick Rembert led the Anteaters (11-17) with 13 points while Daman Starring and Derrick Strings each scored 11.
Nevada led 36-25 at halftime and quickly stretched the lead to 15 on back-to-back baskets by Hunt and Czyz.
UC Irvine whittled the lead to 51-41 with 12:32 remaining but couldn't get any closer after Nevada put together a 14-6 run to go up by 18 with 5:15 left.
The Wolf Pack shot 43.9 percent from the field and were 10 of 24 from 3-point range. The Anteaters shot 38.3 percent and made 9-of-24 3s.
Nevada outrebounded UC Irvine 46-28.
Idaho 65, Montana State 50
BOZEMAN, Mont. -(UI Media Relations) The University of Idaho men's basketball team rode an impressive first-half defensive effort for a 65-50 road win on Saturday at Montana State in the ESPN BracketBusters game at Worthington Arena.
Idaho improved to 15-11 with the win, while MSU slipped to 11-16 overall. The victory is Idaho's third in a row outside Western Athletic Conference play and gives the Vandals an 8-5 non-conference tally this season.
"We really played well in the first half," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "I thought we dominated every facet of the game - guys came out with an unbelievable amount of energy."
The victory also gave Idaho its first three-game non-conference road winning streak since 1990.
The Vandals jumped out to their biggest halftime lead of the season, a 39-16 edge, after shooting 54.2 percent in the opening period. It was Idaho's biggest halftime advantage since its 15-point edge against Louisiana Tech on Dec. 31 at the break.
Sophomore Kyle Barone led Idaho with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, along with five rebounds and two assists. Senior forward Brandon Wiley put in 13 points with five rebounds and two blocks.
MSU's Bobby Howard led all scorers with 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting, but he was one of just two Bobcats to reach double-digit scoring totals on the day.
As a team, Idaho shot 47.6 percent from the field, 30 percent from 3-point range and 64.7 percent from the free throw line. The Vandals held MSU to 35.8 percent shooting overall and 11.8 percent from 3-point range.
"I thought the game was won tonight with our defensive intensity," Verlin said. "Holding them to 50 points, 35 percent from the field, 11 percent from three, that was a pretty good defensive performance."
Idaho posted one of its most impressive first halves of the season, as the Vandals shot 13-of-24 (.524) overall from the field and 3-of-6 (.500) from 3-point range. Idaho held MSU to a season-low 16 first-half points on 31.8 percent (7-22) shooting overall, including zero 3-point makes on eight attempts.
Idaho also drew seven first-half fouls and went to the line 14 times in the opening half. MSU earned just five free throw attempts and the Vandals out-rebounded the Bobcats 17-12 in the first 20 minutes.
After an MSU jumper by Howard made it 24-14 at the 8:43 mark of the half, Idaho unleashed a 15-2 run to end the half and send the teams into the locker room with the score 39-16.
Next week sees the Vandals jump back into WAC play, as they start the difficult road trip at Nevada on Thursday, then Utah State on Saturday. At 7-6 in WAC play, Idaho's three remaining conference games will be crucial in determining where the Vandals will start the WAC Tournament. They're currently tied in fourth with Boise State.
Hawai‘i 83, UC Davis 69
HONOLULU
–(UH Media Relations) Behind the hot hand of junior guard Zane Johnson the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team defeated UC Davis, 83-69 Saturday afternoon at The Pavilion. Johnson poured in a career-high 32 points, including nine three-pointers, to lift UH (15-10) to its third road win in its last four tries.
Johnson scored 19 of his points in the second half, including a half dozen three-pointers to help UH pull away from the Aggies (9-17) after clinging to just a one-point lead at halftime. Johnson's nine three pointers fell just one shy of the school record of 10 set by Trevor Ruffin in 1993.
UH also got a strong effort of its frontcourt of Bill Amis (20 points) and Vander Joaquim (14 points). Meanwhile Jeremiah Ostrowski ably filled in for an injured Hiram Thompson, tallying nine points and seven assists in his first career start.
The 'Bows shot a scorching 61 percent in winning its first non-conference road game after a string of six straight losses dating back to since 2007. UH's last non-conference road win came at Long Beach State, which was also the last time it won a designated ESPN BracketBusters matchup.
The Rainbow Warriors needed all the offense it could against an Aggie squad that buried 10 three-pointers. UH, however, clamped down on the Aggies after halftime, holding them to just 37 percent shooting in the second half.
The first half was a shootout with both teams shooting lights out. The 'Bows got the upper had early, scoring 13 unanswered points to go up 15-3 in the opening minutes. UCD stayed in the game with the long ball, nailing seven three-pointers as UH held a slim 38-37 lead at the break.
UH went on a 16-4 run to start the second half to again go up by double digits. The Aggies would get no closer than six points after that. Johnson effectively shut the door on the Aggies with back-to-back three-pointers giving UH a 16-point lead with five minutes left.
UH next returns to Honolulu for its final two home games of the season against Louisiana Tech (Feb. 24) and New Mexico State (Feb. 26).
Louisiana Tech 51, Georgia State 45
RUSTON
-(LT Media Relations) Junior forward Olu Ashaolu recorded his 15th double-double of the season as the Louisiana Tech men's basketball team defeated Georgia State 51-48 in its ESPN BracketBusters game on Saturday at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The win improved the Bulldogs to 12-16 overall as well as 5-3 in ESPN BracketBuster games while the Panthers fell to 11-16.
"I'm really proud of the guys," said head coach Kerry Rupp. "We've regrouped and re-circled the wagons. We battled, fought and did a good job defensively. Georgia State did a good job pressuring us and we did a good job responding to that pressure."
The Panthers' 45 points was a season-low for a Tech opponent this season. Also, the Bulldogs' 51 points was their lowest amount in a win since winning 51-48 at Hawai'i on March 3, 2006.
Ashaolu recorded 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 11 rebounds for the 26th double-double of his career.
Freshman guard Lonnie Smith scored 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Tech's other freshman guard, Kenyon McNeail, also scored in double-digits with 10 points to go with five rebounds and three assists.
Prior to this game, Tech had held a double-digit first half lead in three of its last four games and lost. The Bulldogs ended the bad habit on Saturday as they had a 13 first half lead over the Panthers, but held on for the win.
Tech scored 11 unanswered points to take an early 21-8 lead with 9:48 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs then went on a scoring drought as the Panthers closed the half on a 15-5 run. Louisiana Tech led 26-23 at the half despite going the last 12:02 without a field goal.
Junior forward Romario Souza ended the field goal drought with a basket early in the second half. The Panthers took their first lead of the game, 32-31 at the 15:13 mark.
Tech retook the lead 34-32 as Ashaolu made a lay-up, was fouled and converted on the three-point play. Although GSU pulled to within one point with 2:24 remaining, the Bulldogs maintained the lead for the remainder of the game and hit some crucial free throws down the stretch. An Ashaolu dunk at the buzzer put an exclamation point on Tech's first win in four games.
Tech hit the free throws down the stretch, but overall struggled and hit 63.0 percent (17-27) from the line. Ashaolu was just 9-for-18 from the charity stripe.
"You got to knock down free throws," Rupp said. "We were very fortunate and lucky to pull away with a win after shooting free throws the way we did."
The Bulldogs shot 36.8 percent from the field while the Panthers shot 34.0 percent.
Nine GSU players scored at least two points with none of them getting more than eight. Jihad Ali led the Panthers with eight points and six rebounds.
Louisiana Tech resumes Western Athletic Conference play on Thursday at 11:30 p.m. CT at Hawai'i.
Fresno State 68, UC Riverside 49
FRESNO, Calif.
-(FS Media Relations) Fresno State had never lost a basketball game to UC Riverside and this young Bulldog team wasn't about to let it happen this year.
After a tightly contested first half and the Highlanders taking a brief lead early in the second half, Fresno State went on a 24-3 run and cruised to a 68-49 victory in front of 7,499 fans at the Save Mart Center.
Sophomore center Greg Smith, in one of his best performances of his career, scored 23 points and hauled in 14 rebounds to lead the Dogs. He made 8 of 14 field goal attempts in the game. He joined Jonathan Wills, who matched his career-high with 8 points and led the Dogs with four assists, and freshman guard Tyler Johnson who had a career-best seven rebounds to go with seven points.
The Bulldog led by six points at halftime 29-23 but that lead slipped away to a 34-32 UCR lead early in the second half. Fresno State followed that with an 8-0 run, which was followed by shutting the Highlanders out for over four minutes and another 10-0 run, the Dogs steamrolled to victory.
Fresno State had 16 more rebounds than the Highlanders in the game, 42-26.
"All in all this was a game we needed to win and it was good to be able to take control in the second half," said head coach Steve Cleveland. "It was great to see Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Wills play so well tonight. Jonathan is going to start for us the rest of the year. He gives is a good defensive presence. This game and the Cal State Bakersfield games would have better served us early in the season because we could have used them as confidence builders for this young team but right now we have to focus on the three WAC games we have left and the first one on Thursday against Boise State."
Boise State 78, UC Santa Barbara 76 (OT)
Box Score
SANTA BARARA, Calif. –(BSU Media Relations) La’Shard Anderson scored on a put-back as time expired, sending the Boise State men’s basketball team to a 78-76 overtime victory against former Big West Conference foe UC Santa Barbara Saturday at the Thunderdome.
UCSB’s Orlando Johnson nailed a 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds left in the extra session, tying the game at 76. A Wes Perryman 3-point attempt was off the mark, but Anderson grabbed the rebound under the basket and sank the put-back as time expired for the win.
Paul Noonan scored a team-high 20 points, becoming the 20th men’s basketball player in school history to eclipse 1,000 for his career.
Daequon Montreal scored 19 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, Anderson scored 18 and recorded a career-high-tying nine assists and Jeff Elorriaga (10) scored in double figures for the first time in his career.
The Broncos improved to 15-11 on the season, and the Gauchos dropped to 14-11.
Northern Colorado 82, New Mexico State 80
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (NMSU Media Relations)-The New Mexico State men’s basketball team suffered its first defeat in the ESPNU BracketBuster series with an 82-80 loss to Northern Colorado. The Aggies are now 5-1 in BracketBuster games.
Junior guard Hernst Laroche posted a team-high 19 points for NM State (14-13, 8-4 WAC), while junior forward Troy Gillenwater and senior guard Gordo Castillo contributed 13 points each.
The Aggies trailed Northern Colorado (15-10, 10-3 Big Sky) at halftime, 52-43, with both teams shooting over 50 percent from the field, including nine 3-pointers from the Bears. Gillenwater and Laroche paced the Aggies with 12 points each, while Castillo added seven.
The game was tied six times with six lead changes in the first half. The Aggies increased the defensive pressure after the break and didn’t allow a 3-pointer. With 14:57 remaining and down nine, 61-52, the Aggies scored the next seven straight points to pull within two, 61-59, on a layup from freshman guard Christian Kabongo.
NM State tied the game, 78-78, for the first time in the second half with 1:48 left on a Kabongo free throw. Then with under a minute to play and the Aggies trailing by three, 81-78, Laroche made a pair of free throws to pull NM State within one, 81-80.
The Aggie defense held the Bears scoreless on the next possession. Laroche directed the offense and drove to the basket and was whistled for an offensive foul with 4.2 seconds remaining.
NM State proceeded to foul and Northern Colorado made 1-of-2 ensuing free throws. With 3.2 second left, the Aggies raced down the floor and Gillenwater missed a shot at the buzzer.
The Aggies return to WAC play with their final road trip of the regular season. NM State meets San Jose State, Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPN2 in San Jose, Calif.