Idaho 72, Nevada 68
RENO, Nev. – (UI Media Relations) The Idaho offense got hot and the defense made enough plays to give the University of Idaho men’s basketball a marquee road win on Saturday at Western Athletic Conference-leading Nevada, 72-66.
The Vandals denied the Wolf Pack an opportunity to set a school-record for consecutive wins and handed Nevada (19-4, 8-1 WAC) its first loss since Nov. 25, 2011, against BYU. The Vandals move to 12-11 overall and 5-4 in conference play with the win, and they claim their third win in four regular-season tries at Lawlor Events Center under head coach Don Verlin.
“I thought we had a lot of guys step up and play very, very well and play very hard,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said after the game.
Idaho was dreadful offensively in Thursday’s 65-55 loss at Fresno State, but that was certainly not the case on Saturday as the Vandals shot 52.2 percent from the floor and went 10-of-22 (.455) from 3-point range in the game.
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New Mexico State 83, Louisiana Tech 72
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (NMSU Media Relations)-The New Mexico State men's basketball team began the second half of WAC play with an 83-72 win over Louisiana Tech.
The Aggies (17-7, 6-2 WAC) ended the game with a 20-5 run to hold off the Bulldogs (11-12, 3-5). Senior center Hamidu Rahman had a team-high 20 points, which tied his season-high mark, on a 7-of-10 performance from the field. It was the fourth 20-point showing of his career. Freshman guard Daniel Mullings added 15 points, with 14 scored in the second half including eight consecutive in the late Aggie run, and seven rebounds.
Redshirt senior forward Wendell McKines posted his 14th double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while junior forward Tyrone Watson had a game-high seven assists, which tied a career high.
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Fresno State 60, Utah State 54
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Kevin Olekaibe scored 26 points, including the clinching dunk with 4.8 seconds left, to lead Fresno State over Utah State 60-54 on Saturday night.
Jerry Brown added 14 points and Tyler Johnson had 12 for the Bulldogs (11-14, 3-6 Western Athletic), who won consecutive conference games for the first time this season while ending a 10-game losing streak to the Aggies.
Morgan Grim and Preston Medlin led Utah State (12-12, 4-5) with 13 points apiece.
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Hawai‘i 83, San Jose State 81 (OT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. – (UH Media Relations) In a roller coaster of a game, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team pulled off a dramatic 83-81 overtime win over San Jose State Saturday night at the Events Center. The Rainbow Warriors (13-9, 5-3 WAC) overcame a 14-point second half deficit en route to their third win in the last four conference games.
Joston Thomas scored a career-high 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting—including 11 points in a crucial 16-0 run—to help lift UH to victory. That total surpassed his previous high of 27 points in UH's win over San Jose State last month. The junior forward also added 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year.
With the win UH maintained its hold of third place in the Western Athletic Conference, just a game behind second-place New Mexico State. The Spartans (7-16, 0-8 WAC), meanwhile, remained winless in league play.
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