New Mexico State 81, Drake 69 (OT)
DES MOINES, Iowa -(NMSU Media Relations) Sophomore center Sim Bhullar tallied his third double-double of the year and junior guard K.C. Ross-Miller hit all eight of his free throw attempts to lead the New Mexico State men’s basketball team to an 81-69 overtime win against Drake University, Saturday, Dec. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Bhullar scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to help his team move to 8-5 on the year. Ross-Miller scored 14 points and had five assists as Drake put him to the free throw line six times in the last minute of regulation and twice more in overtime.
The Aggies finished shooting 45 percent from the field after hitting 5-of-8 field goals in overtime; although NM State was held to just 33 percent in the second half. The Aggies also hit 7-of-15 3-pointers on the night with senior guard Kevin Aronis leading the charge going 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc. Aronis tied his career-high of 12 points as he also had two rebounds.
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Idaho 76, Portland State 75
PORTLAND –(UI Media Relations) The Idaho men’s basketball team escaped with a thrilling 76-75 victory at Portland State behind 26 points from Glen Dean and 21 from Connor Hill on Saturday night.
The Vandals (5-6)trailed by as many as seven points twice in the first half, but cut that deficit to just two at the break, setting the stage for a back-and-forth second half that featured nine lead-changes and three ties.
“I was really proud of our guys finding a way to win,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “It was nice to see us passing the ball tonight, 18 assists on 27 field goals, that’s a tribute to our team tonight. It was a good second half. I knew it was going to be a game like this, Portland State has some good players.”
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Northern Arizona 63, Grand Canyon 61
Flagstaff, Ariz.-(GCU Media Relations) Northern Arizona University's Max Jacobson drained a jumper with 18 seconds on the clock to put an end to Grand Canyon University men's basketball four-game win streak. In their first meeting since 1987, the Lumberjacks' 63-61 win over the Antelopes today at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz., pushed their record to 3-7 while GCU is now 5-4 on the season.
The game saw 12 lead changes and four tied scores, including two changes in the lead and three tied scores over the final eight minutes.
After sitting out for the past year due to his transfer from Texas A&M, Daniel Alexander made his presence felt for the 'Lopes, scoring 14 points, aided by a team single-game high of four three-pointers. That point total marked a new career-high for Alexander, besting his previous high of 12 points, which he set with Texas A&M on Feb. 1, 2012 versus Baylor.
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Utah State 71, Utah Valley 60
LOGAN, Utah -(UVU Media Relations) Despite outscoring Utah State by 12 points in the second half, Utah Valley University could never recover from the Aggies' hot start in a 71-60 loss Saturday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Wolverines (4-6) got a season-high 21 points from Holton Hunsaker, with 13 coming in the second half. Hayes Garrity added 17 points -- just one point off his season-best -- while Zach Nelson rounded out UVU's double-digit scoring with 10.
Nelson and Brenden Evans each pulled down a game-high five rebounds for the Wolverines, with the latter also snatching two steals in 18 minutes of play.
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Indiana State 74, Kansas City 63
Kansas City, Mo. -(UMKC Media Relations) The UMKC men's basketball squad took a lead into the halftime break against Indiana State on Saturday, but an early second period run proved to be the difference in a 74-63 road win for the Sycamores at Municipal Auditorium.
“I thought that the way they started off in the second half really hurt us,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “I like the way we battled back in the first half, but we have to put together playing that hard in longer stretches.”
The Sycamores (7-2) jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the opening eight minutes, but Kansas City (2-7) rallied quickly, going on a 10-2 run in less than two minutes to get within one. Indiana State held on to the lead until the 6:22 mark though, when UMKC freshman Martez Harrison hit the ‘Roos only three of the half to get their first advantage of the game, 23-22.
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