New Mexico State 71, Drake 55
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (NMSU Media Relations)-The New Mexico State men's basketball team defeated Drake, 71-55, in the Sears BracketBuster game on ESPNU.
The Aggies (20-8) improved to 6-1 in the BracketBuster series for their 25th 20-win season in school history. Redshirt senior forward Wendell McKines posted his 15th double-double of the year and 42nd of his career with 25 points and 12 rebounds, which were both game-high marks.
Senior guard Hernst Laroche contributed 17 points on a 6-of-7 performance from the field including a 3-of-3 showing from the 3-point line. Freshman guard Daniel Mullings was the third Aggie in double-figures with 10 points along with a career-high five steals. Senior center Hamidu Rahman added nine points and a season-high five blocked shots. Junior forward Tyrone Watson also contributed to the offense with a game-high seven assists.
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Louisiana Tech 84, Central Arkansas 62
RUSTON, La. -(LTU Media Relations) Freshman guard Kenneth Smith set the Louisiana Tech school record for assists in a game with 15 as the Bulldogs defeated Central Arkansas 84-42 Saturday afternoon in the Thomas Assembly Center in front of 3,977 fans that was a part of SEARS ESPN BracketBuster program.
LA Tech improves to 13-14 on the year while the Bears drop to 7-18.
Smith's 15th assist came at the 3:05 mark of the second half on a layup by freshman forward Stojan Gjuroski. Former Bulldog Bud Dean had held the assists record since Jan. 17, 1969 when he had 14 at Nicholls State.
The Bulldogs fell behind 5-0 at the 18:17 mark of the first half after UCA's second fastbreak layup of the contest.
After head coach Michael White called a timeout, Tech went on a 20-5 run over the next 7:38 to go up by 10 as freshman guard Raheem Appleby and sophomore guard Kenyon McNeail scored seven and six points, respectively. During the run, McNeail made a three-pointer at the 12:18 mark to give the team their 203rd made three-point field goal of the year to break the program record set by the 2009-10 squad.
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Iona 90, Nevada 84
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (AP) - Lamont Jones scored 18 points as Iona outlasted Nevada Saturday, 90-84
In a Bracket Busters shootout, Iona (22-6) won its fourth straight. The Gaels, atop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, got balanced scoring from Jones, Michael Glover (15 points), Scott Machado and Sean Armand (13 apiece) and a boost from Randy Dezouvre, who came off the bench to score 17 points.
Machado, the point guard, hitting all 8 of his free throw attempts and had 15 of Iona's 23 assists.
But the Gaels, up 47-46 at halftime, couldn't shake Nevada (22-5), which leads the Western Athletic Conference. Olek Czyz scored 28 points and Deonte Burton 21. Dario Hunt had a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double.
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UC Santa Barbara 72, Utah State 64
LOGAN, Utah -(USU Media Relations) UC Santa Barbara made 53 percent of its field goals and three-pointers on the way to a 72-64 win against Utah State in men's basketball ESPNU BracketBusters action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Saturday night.
USU evened its record at 14-14 with the non-conference loss, suffering defeat in four of its last six games. Saturday was also USU's fourth home loss this season, marking the first four-home loss season since 1994-95. The Aggies fell to 5-2 in BracketBusters games.
UCSB improved to 15-8 overall, winning its 10th game in last 12 outings. The Gauchos win Saturday snapped the Aggies' six-game winning streak in the series, cutting USU's series lead to 39-24, including 22-7 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, as Saturday's win was UCSB's first in the arena since 1999.
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San Jose State 79, Sacramento State 67
Sacramento, Calif.--(SJSU Media Relations)For the fourth time this season, the San Jose State University men's basketball overcame a double-digit deficit to win. In a non-conference game at Sacramento State, the Spartans were down, 46-34 with 16:01 remaining, found their offensive rhythm and went on to post a 79-67 victory.
San Jose State (9-17) countered a 7:57 scoreless span of the first half with its best second-half field goal shooting of the season, 68.2 percent, for its second win in its last three outings. The Spartans were 6-of-7 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes with all six 3-pointers coming in a run of 16 consecutive scoring possessions.
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Montana 94, Hawai‘i 79
MISSOULA, Mont. –(UH Media Relations) The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team fell victim to a red-hot Montana team in a 94-79 loss Saturday night at the Dahlberg Arena. The contest—part of the ESPN BracketBusters event—is the first of three straight road games for the Rainbow Warriors.
Montana (20-6) shot a sizzling 58 percent from the game, including 11-of-23 from three-point range to race past the Rainbow Warriors (15-11). The Grizzlies also got a monster performance from Kareem Jamar who notched a triple double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assist. The win was Montana's ninth straight and 15th in its last 16 contests.
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Idaho 77, Portland State 68
MOSCOW, Idaho –(UI Media Relations) Two underclassmen made sure Senior Night was a memorable one and University of Idaho men’s basketball earned its fifth win in a row with a 77-68 victory over Portland State on Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.
The Vandals won for a third time in their last four Sears BracketBuster series outings, extended their overall win streak to five and their home winning stretch to a season-best four straight in front of a crowd of 3,081.
“What a great crowd for our seniors tonight,” Verlin said. “I was extremely excited with the attendance we had tonight, and what a great way to send off three wonderful guys. I couldn’t be happier for our seniors.”
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Fresno State 62, Cal State Northridge 49
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -(FS Media Relations) The Bulldogs had been there before - needing a monster second half after digging themselves into a hole. But this time felt different.
Fresno State chipped away from a nine-point deficit, stifled a potent Matador attack and pounded its way to a 62-49 road non-conference victory over Cal State Northridge on Saturday evening.
"That was really great team effort out there in the second half," Bulldogs head coach Rodney Terry said. "To be honest, I was really disappointed with our defensive effort in that first half. We can't let that happen. But to respond the way we did and execute when we had to, that was big for us. We've been in games like this all year, and knew what it was going to take to get a win."
The 'Dogs have faced bigger deficits this season, like the 17-point first half hole before stunning Arizona State in the final minute for their first road win.
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