Nevada 68, New Mexico State 60
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - Deonte Burton scored 17 points and Nevada won its 14th straight game with a 68-60 victory over New Mexico State on Thursday night.
Dario Hunt added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Wolf Pack (17-3, 6-0 Western Athletic), who shot 57 percent from the field and were 7 for 17 from 3-point range. Olek Czyz and Malik Story scored 14 points each.
Hernst Laroche led New Mexico State (14-7, 4-2) with 21 points. Wendell McKines added 15 points and eight rebounds.
Nevada finished the first half on a 12-5 to go on top 44-30. The Wolf Pack led by 18 with 7:08 left in the game but the Aggies got as close as 62-57 with 2:06 to play on a pair of Tshilidzi Nephawe free throws.
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Louisiana Tech 59, Fresno State 58
RUSTON, La. -(LT Media Relations) Junior guard Brandon Gibson's buzzer-beating layup gave Louisiana Tech a 59-58 victory over Fresno State Thursday night in the Thomas Assembly Center in front of 3,282 fans. The victory ended Tech's six-game winless streak at home in Western Athletic Conference games.
LA Tech improves to 11-10 on the year and 3-3 in the WAC while FS drops to 9-13 and 1-5 in conference play.
Fresno State scored the first four points of the game before a free throw from Gibson finally put Tech on the scoreboard two and a half minutes into the contest.
A layup from senior forward Romario Souza at the 14:13 mark was LA Tech's first basket of the game.
Senior guard Trevor Gaskins' three-pointer from the left-corner gave Tech their first lead of the game 8-6 with 13:24 remaining until halftime.
A three-point basket from Fresno State's Kevin Olekaibe put LA Tech down four with just over seven minutes to play in the first half.
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Utah State 77, Hawai‘i 72
LOGAN, Utah -(USU Media Relations) With a game-high 25 points, sophomore guard Prestin Medlin was one of five Utah State players in double-figures as the Aggies got back on the winning track by holding off Hawai`i for a 77-72 win Thursday night in Western Athletic Conference men's basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
USU bounced back from losing two road games with a win in its first home game in nearly three weeks, improving to 11-10 overall and evening its WAC record at 3-3. Hawai'i was dealt its third defeat in its last four games in falling to 11-9 overall and also leveling its league mark at 3-3.
The Aggies now hold a 13-4 mark over the Warriors, winning their seventh in a row in the series Thursday night in improving to 9-1 vs. UH in Logan, including 7-0 in WAC regular-season games. USU also improved to 9-2 at home this season and have won 92 of its last 96 home games. Additionally, the Aggies have won 43 of their last 45 WAC home games and are 47-4 all-time at home against WAC foes.
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Idaho 74, San Jose State 66
MOSCOW, Idaho –(UI Media Relations) San Jose State came out hot early, but it was Idaho that finished the strongest in a 74-66 Vandal win on Thursday at the Cowan Spectrum.
The visiting Spartans went 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half and had a nine-point cushion at 35-26 with 2:22 remaining in the first half, but Idaho answered with an 18-2 run over the end of the first and the first two minutes of the second half to seize control of the contest.
“That last 2:22 of the half was probably the key to the game,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “We did a great job of finishing that half and getting it back to one. We knew we had to pick up our defensive intensity, but I think more than anything we just needed to wear them down and I thought we did that as the half wore on.”
With the win, Idaho climbs to 4-2 in Western Athletic Conference play and 11-9 overall. The Spartans slip to 0-6 in the WAC and 7-14 on the year. The win is Idaho’s fourth in its last five games.
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