Associated Press LOGAN, Utah — Preston Medlin scored 25 points to lead five Aggies in double-figures as Utah State topped Hawaii 77-72 on Thursday night. ADVERTISING Danny Berger scored 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Aggies (11-10, 3-3 WAC).
Associated Press
LOGAN, Utah — Preston Medlin scored 25 points to lead five Aggies in double-figures as Utah State topped Hawaii 77-72 on Thursday night.
Danny Berger scored 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Aggies (11-10, 3-3 WAC). Ben Clifford had a career-high 11 points off the bench while Kyisean Reed and Brockeith Pane added 10 apiece.
The Rainbow Warriors (11-9, 3-3) were led by Vander Joaquim, who scored 24 points on 12 of 16 shooting and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Hauns Brereton had 15 points and Joston Thomas added 14.
Medlin made 13 of 14 attempts from the free-throw line, including two with 18 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Utah State was sparked by a 10-2 run shortly after the beginning of the second half, pushing out to a 52-38 lead. The Aggies received 3-point shots from Berger and Medlin during the stretch and two consecutive layups from Pane.
Utah State maintained a double-digit lead until 4:52 remained, when Brererton hit a 3-point shot, followed by a short jumper from Joaquim to cut the lead to 66-59.
The Aggies missed on four straight trips to the free-throw line in the final two minutes to give the Warriors life, but a length-of-the-court pass to Pane resulted in a layup to frustrate the visitors.
In the first half, the teams exchanged leads seven times and there were two ties before Hawaii went on a scoring drought. USU extended its lead to 25-15 on long jumper by Reed with 7:35 to play.
A 3-point shot by Zane Johnson and free throws by Davis Rozitis in the final three minutes kept the Rainbow Warriors within 34-30 before Medlin scored a layup and free throws as the half ended with Utah State leading 38-30.
Hawaii scored 20 of its points in the paint compared to only eight for Utah State.
Johnson came into the game as Hawaii’s leading scorer, but was held to nine points on 4 of 16 shooting.
Hawaii has yet to win in Logan since joining the WAC. Utah State avoided its first three-game losing streak since 2008, having dropped road games at Idaho and Seattle last week.
NO. 7 N. CAROLINA 74, N.C. STATE 55
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tyler Zeller had 21 points and a career-best 17 rebounds and Reggie Bullock added 11 points in his first career start for the Tar Heels (17-3, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their 11th straight against their longtime rivals.
NO. 14 FLORIDA 64, MISSISSIPPI 60
OXFORD, Miss. — Patric Young scored 15 points and Kenny Boynton added 12 for Florida, which rallied from a double-digit first-half deficit.
NO. 25 WISCONSIN 57, NO. 16 INDIANA 50
MADISON, Wis. — Ben Brust scored 13 points and Wisconsin continued its recent rebound in the Big Ten.
Ryan Evans added 12 points for the Badgers (17-5, 6-3), who had recovered from a rough start to conference play by winning their past five games — including road victories at Purdue and Illinois.
NO. 19 VIRGINIA 66, BOSTON COLLEGE 49
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Mike Scott scored 18 points and Virginia pulled away from a 44-all tie with a 22-3 run.
NO. 21 ST. MARY’S 68, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 60
LOS ANGELES — Stephen Holt scored 19 points as the Gaels (20-2, 9-0 West Coast Conference) beat Loyola for the 11th straight time, dating to 2005-06.
