#21 Utah State 77, Boise State 49
LOGAN, Utah -(USU Media Relations) Utah State hit its first seven shots on the way to an early 15-0 streak and the No. 21/22 Aggies blasted the Broncos of Boise State, 77-49, in Western Athletic Conference men's basketball action Saturday night at a sold-out Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
After missing its first eight shots in the first meeting between the two teams back on Jan. 13 at Boise, Idaho, USU hit its first seven shots of the game Saturday night on the way to only missing 15 shots all game, shooting a season and WAC-best 64.3 percent (27-of-42) from the floor. The Aggies, ranked No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press Poll, won their 17th in a row overall and continued their league-record with their 25th-straight WAC game in improving to 22-2 overall and 11-0 in conference action. Saturday was also USU's 28th-consecutive home win as well as its 30th home WAC win in a row.
Boise State suffered its fourth-straight loss and sixth in its last seven games in dropping to 12-11 overall and 5-6 in WAC play. Saturday was also USU's fifth win in a row over BSU, improving to 17-0 at home against the Broncos as part of a 27-8 all-time series lead, winning 21 of the last 26 match-ups.
Saturday was USU's second-straight game in holding the opposition under 50 points and third in the last five games as well as the sixth time this season, winning on all six occasions. The Aggies are also 15-0 this year and have won 23-consecutive games when holding the other team under 60 points.
Senior forward Tai Wesley tallied his fourth 20-point outing of the season and 12th of his career with a game-high 22 points. Wesley also took over sole possession of the No. 4 spot on USU's 10-point games list with his 91st career, breaking free of a tie with Brian Jackson (1978-81) with 90.
The guard duo of senior Pooh Williams and junior Brockeith Pane netted 10 points apiece while the forward pair of senior Nate Bendall and junior Brady Jardine added eight points each. Bendall led USU with seven rebounds while Wesley and Jardine snared six boards each on the way to a 31-27 Utah State rebounding advantage. Pane also dished out a game-best seven assists, part of the Aggies' 20 helpers on the night, their fourth 20-assist game of the year. The USU defense also swiped a season-high eight steals, with Wesley tallying a season-best three steals while Bendall and Jardine logged two apiece.
Boise State was led by Robert Arnold's 12 points off the bench while Ryan Watkins added 11 points to go with a game-high eight rebounds. The Aggie defense held BSU leading scorer La'Shard Anderson scoreless, as he entered the game averaging 15.1 points per game.
Besides their 27-of-42 (64.3 percent) field goal shooting, the Aggies were 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) from three-point range, as well as 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) at the free throw line. It was USU's sixth game with at least 80 percent shooting at the free pitch stripe.
The Broncos shot a paltry 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the field, making 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) of their three-pointers and were just 6-of-10 (60.0 percent) at the charity stripe. Saturday marked the 10th time that USU has made more free throws than its opponent had attempted.
After Thomas Bropleh hit a layup to open a 2-0 lead for BSU, Wesley scored six-straight points to start USU's 15-0 run that Pane capped with a pair of free throws at the 15:24 mark and the Aggies led by double-digits from there on out. Daequon Montreal broke BSU's four and a half minute scoring drought with a layup. A three-pointer from the left wing by freshman guard James Walker III gave the Aggies their first 20-point lead of the night at 39-18 with 2:53 remaining in the opening half. Junior forward Morgan Grim hit a long jumper from the top of the arc with 43 ticks to go for USU's largest lead of the half and sent the Aggies into halftime with a 43-21 lead.
USU improved to 19-0 this season when leading at the half and the Aggies have won 43-straight games when leading at intermission. BSU is now 5-6 when trailing at the break.
The Aggie advantage swelled to 30 for the first time at 54-24 on a pair of Bendall free throws with 16:63 left and reached its largest of the night at 34 on a three-point play by Wesley with 12:49 to play and USU coasted to the victory. A total of 12 Aggies saw action with 10 different players scoring, the most players posting points since 10 also scored in USU's 80-39 win over Troy earlier this season on Dec. 23.
USU hits the road, traveling to Moscow, Idaho to take on Idaho on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 9 p.m. (MT) in a nationally-televised game on ESPN2. The Aggies return home to host Fresno State on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. (MT) and Montana-Western in a non-conference game on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. (MT).
Idaho 75, Hawai‘i 61
MOSCOW, Idaho -(UI Media Relations) The effort and intensity were there, and this time, it lasted the full 40 minutes, as University of Idaho men's basketball ended its four-game skid with a 75-61 win over Hawai'i on Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.
Idaho (13-10, 6-5 Western Athletic Conference) earned the season sweep over Hawai'i (13-10, 4-7 WAC) with impressive outside shooting and strong second-half defense.
The Vandals hit a WAC-season-high 55.6 percent on 10-of-18 shooting from 3-point range, and went 17-of-21 (.810) from the free throw line to keep things efficient on the offensive side. Defensively, Idaho forced 10 first-half turnovers, then limited UH to 36.7 percent overall and 22.2 percent 3-point shooting in the second half.
"It was nice to make some shots," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "We just made a bunch of shots tonight, especially from three. When you shoot it 10-for-18, you're pretty hard to beat."
Early on, it didn't appear that Idaho would be able to handle the Warriors, as UH jumped out to a 17-10 lead at the 11:14 mark, but true freshman Stephen Madison came off the bench and nailed 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to key a 15-0 Idaho scoring run that put the Vandals ahead, 25-17, at the 7:07 mark. The score would be tied once more, at 30-30, but Idaho never trailed after the run.
"When Stephen came in and knocked down three (3-pointers) - probably the difference in the game," Verlin said. "I thought he changed the momentum of the entire game by knocking those shots down and it kind of became contagious."
Idaho junior Deremy Geiger didn't light up the scoreboard on Saturday, but he made sure his teammates did. He had a career-high nine assists by halftime and finished the game with 11, which are the most dimes by a Vandal since Mac Hopson had 11, also against Hawai'i, on Mar. 6, 2010.
"Just trying to do different things and get my teammates involved," Geiger said after the game. "That was my main focus from the beginning of the game, to really get them going, because whenever the team plays really well, we always win.
"I've got great teammates that can shoot the ball and create, so just get them the ball where they like it and let them do what they do."
Vandal senior Jeff Ledbetter continued his torrid pace from long range, as he nailed four triples and finished with a game-high 15 points. Senior forward Brandon Wiley added 13 points, two rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Madison, who set a career-high in scoring, was one of four Vandals to notch nine points on Saturday, joining senior Shawn Henderson, junior Landon Tatum and sophomore Kyle Barone.
Vander Joaquim led the Warriors with 14 points and 14 rebounds, along with two blocks, while Joston Thomas added 12 points and led all players with three steals.
While Idaho surrendered late leads in two of its four games in its losing streak, that would not be the case on Saturday. Leading 62-50 at the 10:00 mark, Idaho gave up a layup to UH's Trevor Wiseman, then didn't allow another field goal by the Warriors over the next 4:34 and extended its lead to 17 points at 69-52.
"We played better defensively in the second half than we have in the previous three halves," Verlin said. "We really locked them down in the second half: 36 percent, 22 (percent) from three and five turnovers - that's a pretty good half of basketball, and we did it primarily guarding them man-to-man."
Idaho didn't make a field goal over the final 8:54 of the game, but they did notch eight straight made free throws and went 12-of-13 from the line in the last nine minutes to preserve the lead and the victory. The Vandals extended their lead to as many as 20 points at 75-55 with 1:08 remaining in the game.
Points in the paint (30-22) and second-chance points (16-12) went UH's way in the game, but Idaho held a 23-18 advantage in points off turnovers, 27-18 in bench points and a 10-6 edge on the fast break.
Hawai'i shot 43.6 percent overall and 35.3 percent from 3-point range for the game. The Warriors were 7-of-12 (.583) from the free throw line.
The season sweep is the second in a row by Idaho over Hawai'i. The Vandals have now won four in a row against the Rainbow Warriors.
Geiger's 11 assists tie him for sixth all-time in Idaho single-game history, while Ledbetter's four made 3-pointers bump him up to 66 for the season, which puts him at ninth in Vandal single-season history.
The win gives Idaho some much-needed momentum heading into their meeting with No. 21 Utah State, which enters the game 22-2 overall and 11-0 in the WAC. The Aggies extended their record 25-game WAC win streak with a decisive 77-49 victory over Boise State on Saturday.
Wednesday's game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and will tip off at 8:05 p.m. at the Cowan Spectrum.
Nevada 89, San Jose State 69
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Dario Hunt had 16 points and a career-best 19 rebounds to lead Nevada past San Jose State 89-69 on Saturday night.
Malik Story had 16 points, Jerry Evans Jr. 11 and Olek Czyz 10 for the Wolf Pack (9-14 overall, 6-4 WAC).
Adrian Oliver had 25 points, Keith Shamburger 16 and Justin Graham 14 for the Spartans (11-11, 3-8 WAC).
Nevada controlled the game from the start, making 10 of its first 13 shots from the field and building a 35-17 lead with 7:36 to play in the first half.
The Wolf Pack led 40-31 at halftime. A jumper by Oliver to open the second half pulled the Spartans to within seven points, but they got no closer.
Nevada shot 51.8 percent (29 of 56) from the floor, compared to the Spartans' 39.1 percent (25 of 64).
Fresno State 72, Louisiana Tech 64
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Greg Smith scored 18 points and Kevin Olekaibe added 14 as Fresno State used a second-half surge to defeat Louisiana Tech 72-64 on Saturday night.
Ned Golubovic added 13 points for Fresno State (10-12, 5-6 Western Athletic Conference), which has won back-to-back games after losing six in a row.
DeAndre Brown scored a game-high 23 points for Louisiana Tech (11-13, 2-8), which saw its two-game WAC winning streak snapped.
Fresno State outscored Louisiana Tech by 20 points in the second half after trailing 38-26 at halftime.
Tim Steed and Steven Shepp added 11 points apiece for Fresno State, which forced 21 Louisiana Tech turnovers.
Smith made 10 of 13 free throws, including four straight in the final 3:22, after entering the game shooting 51.4 percent from the line. The 6-foot-10 sophomore also grabbed seven rebounds.
Olu Ashaolu had 14 points and nine rebounds for Louisiana Tech.