Western Athletic Conference Tournament Recaps

Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) – Joel Wright scored a game-high 26 points as the Texas State Bobcats posted a 68-56 win over the Seattle Redhawks in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena.

Wright, who shot 12-of-14 at the free-throw line, added nine rebounds and four steals for the seventh-seeded Bobcats (11-21), followed by Matt Staff with 13 points in the triumph. With the victory Texas State now heads to the quarterfinals on Thursday night to take on second-seeded Denver.

Prince Obasi registered a double-double for the 10th-seeded Redhawks (8-22) as he tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Deshaun Sunderhaus put up 15 points and Chad Rasmussen 11 in the losing cause.

Texas State scored the first points of the night and never looked back, shooting not only 50.0 percent from the floor in the first half but also a perfect 10-of-10 at the free-throw line in order to establish a 36-28 advantage at the break.

In the second half the Bobcats again shot an even 50 percent from the field and came up big at the charity stripe, 12-of-16, all while holding Seattle to a mere 32.3 percent from the floor.

The Redhawks were guilty of 19 turnovers and were outscored by a 22-13 margin at the free-throw line.

Final Score: Texas-San Antonio 67, San Jose State 49

Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) – Jeromie Hill registered a double-double with 21 points and a game-high 10 rebounds as he helped guide the Roadrunners of Texas-San Antonio to a 67-49 win over the San Jose State Spartans in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena.

Also scoring in double figures for the ninth-seeded Roadrunners (9-21), who now advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday where they will battle top-seeded Louisiana Tech, were Kannon Burrage with 20 points, Edrico McGregor 14 on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting, and Michael Hale III with 10 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.

The eighth-seeded Spartans (9-20) were paced by LaVanne Pennington who dropped in 21 points, but shot just 1-of-9 behind the 3-point line. Chris Cunningham pitched in with 12 points and a team-best nine rebounds in the setback.

UTSA opened the contest on a 5-0 run and then held the Spartans to single digits until there was less than five minutes remaining in the period. Despite shooting only 37.0 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes of action, the Roadrunners enjoyed a 28-16 lead at the break as SJSU connected on an abysmal 26.9 percent.

In the second half UTSA left no doubt as it connected on an impressive 62.1 percent from the floor, en route to the 18-point victory.

San Jose State finished the night shooting a mere 32.1 percent from the field, including 2-of-21 beyond the arc, as the team closed out the campaign on a 14- game slide.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball