The Hoops National: February 12, 2010

Big Games

West Coast: at Gonzaga 80, Saint Mary's 61
GONZ - 20-4 (8-1) [RPI: 24, State: 20] SMC - 21-4 (8-2) [RPI: 41, State: 47]
Star of the Game: Matt Bouldin 18 Pts (8-14 FG)

Bulldogs Regain WCC Lead With Victory Over Saint Mary's - The No. 16 Zags are still in first place in the West Coast Conference after a surprisingly easy 80-61 win Thursday night that put them in the driver's seat for a 10th consecutive regular-season title... After leading by three at halftime, the Zags held Saint Mary's to 29 percent shooting in the second half and outscored them 41-25 to beat perhaps their closest league foes for the sixth consecutive time. (via Gonzaga)

Western Athletic: Utah State 72, at Boise State 67
USU - 19-6 (9-2) [RPI: 47, State: 42] BOIS - 11-13 (2-9) [RPI: 219, State: 196]
Star of the Game: Tai Wesley 13 Pts (5-9 FG, 3-3 FT), 6 Ast, 2 Stl

Aggie Men Hold On For 72-67 Road Win At Boise State Thursday Night - BOISE, Idaho - Senior guard Jared Quayle led a quarter of double-figure scorers for Utah State with 14 points as the Aggies held off Boise State for a 72-67 Western Athletic Conference win here inside Taco Bell Arena Thursday night. Utah State improves to 19-6 overall and 9-2 in WAC play with the win, while Boise State falls to 11-3 on the season and 2-9 in league play with the loss. USU also took over sole possession of first-place in the WAC as New Mexico State lost at Fresno State, 83-64. (via Utah State)

Western Athletic: at Fresno State 83, New Mexico State 64
FRES - 13-12 (6-5) [RPI: 173, State: 140] NMSU - 15-9 (8-3) [RPI: 69, State: 103]
Star of the Game: Paul George 30 Pts (8-19 FG, 9-9 FT), 7 Reb

Bulldogs Bury Aggies, 83-64 - FRESNO, Calif. - On its stretch run to the 2010 WAC Tournament, Fresno State came out on fire while fueled by the return of Paul George, who sparked the Bulldogs to a crushing 83-64 victory over New Mexico State on Thursday night with an entry into the 30-point club. (via Fresno State)

Horizon League: Butler 68, at Youngstown State 57
BUTL - 22-4 (15-0) [RPI: 12, State: 15] YSU - 8-16 (2-12) [RPI: 252, State: 265]
Star of the Game: Gordon Hayward 22 Pts (6-10 FG, 8-9 FT), 17 Reb

Bulldogs Clinch Horizon League Title - Gordon Hayward scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and Butler pulled away in the second half to hand host Youngstown State a 68-57 setback and clinch its fourth consecutive Horizon League championship at the Beeghly Center on Thursday (Feb. 11). The victory was Butler's 14th straight, the second-longest winning streak in school history. (via Butler)
Other Games of Note

Southern: at Appalachian State 66, Davidson 56
APST - 15-10 (9-4) [RPI: 122, State: 134] DAV - 12-12 (7-5) [RPI: 165, State: 153]
Star of the Game: Donald Sims 25 Pts (9-14 FG, 5-5 FT), 2 Stl

Mountaineers Complete Season Sweep of Davidson - BOONE, N.C. - A pair of Donald Sims three-pointers with 11 minutes to play broke open a tight game and propelled Appalachian State University men's basketball to a 66-56 win against visiting Davidson on Thursday night. Sims scored 19 of his game-high 25 points after the intermission as the Mountaineers out-shot the Wildcats 47.9 percent to 32.8. The reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week honoree sank 9-of-14 field goal attempts, including both shots from downtown and all five free throws. He also led the team with four assists and two steals. (via Appalachian State)

Ohio Valley: Murray State 94, at Tennessee Tech 62
MURR - 23-3 (14-0) [RPI: 87, State: 61] TNT - 12-13 (6-8) [RPI: 188, State: 245]
Star of the Game: B.J. Jenkins 23 Pts (8-11 FG, 4-4 FT), 2 Stl

Racers Push To 14-0 In OVC - 94-62 Over Tech - The Murray State Racers moved their winning streak to 14 Thursday with a 94-62 victory against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn. The Racers, 23-3 overall and 14-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, have also won 21 consecutive conference regular season games and seven straight away from home. (via Murray State)

Top Performances

Gold: Donavan Monroe, College of Charleston - 29 Pts (13-18 FG, 3-6 FT), 6 Reb in 80-77 win vs. Elon
Silver: Gordon Hayward, Butler - 22 Pts (6-10 FG, 8-9 FT), 17 Reb in 68-57 win at Youngstown State
Bronze: Norris Cole, Cleveland State - 22 Pts (7-12 FG, 8-8 FT), 7 Reb in 80-71 win vs. Valparaiso

Honorable mentions:
Alex Young, IUPUI - 30 Pts (10-14 FG, 7-8 FT) in 88-77 win at Centenary
Stan Okoye, Virginia Military Institute - 26 Pts (10-15 FG, 5-7 FT), 11 Reb in 92-85 win at Gardner-Webb
Kyle Johnson, Long Island - 26 Pts (8-14 FG, 7-8 FT), 10 Reb in 81-75 win at Sacred Heart

Full Scoreboard

America East: BING 60 @ UNH 67 ... UMBC 78 @ HART 70
Atlantic 14: MASS 84 @ DUQ 80 (OT)
Atlantic Sun: FGCU 62 @ JAX 68 ... LIP 74 @ SCU 81 ... STET 71 @ UNF 60
Big South: CHSO 58 @ RAD 61 (OT) ... VMI 92 @ GWB 85 ... CCU 65 @ HP 69 ... LIB 72 @ UNCA 75
Big West: LBSU 78 @ POLY 72
Colonial: UNCW 80 @ TOWS 72
Great West: CST 74 @ SDAK 79
Horizon League: VALP 71 @ CLST 80 ... UWM 63 @ WRIG 68 ... BUTL 68 @ YSU 57 ... UWGB 64 @ UDM 62
Mid-American: CMU 76 @ OHIO 89
Northeast: WAG 65 @ FDU 70 ... RMU 60 @ BRY 34 ... SFNY 65 @ QUIN 77 ... MSM 69 @ MON 42 ... LIUB 81 @ SH 75 ... SFPA 69 @ CCSU 60
Ohio Valley: MURR 94 @ TNT 62 ... EKU 59 @ SEMO 56 ... UTM 68 @ JXST 80 ... MORE 75 @ EIU 76
Patriot League: BUCK 73 @ AMER 59
Southern: DAV 56 @ APST 66 ... ELON 77 @ COFC 80
Badlands: IUPUI 88 @ CENT 77 ... IPFW 56 @ UMKC 65 ... WIU 64 @ ORU 62 ... OAK 85 @ SUU 72
Sun Belt: ULL 72 @ FAU 76 ... ARST 68 @ WKU 79 ... ULM 67 @ UALR 64 ... DEN 50 @ MTSU 57 ... NTEX 68 @ UNO 46 ... FIU 65 @ USA 69 (OT)
West Coast: LMU 73 @ SCL 67 ... PEPP 47 @ SF 77 ... SMC 61 @ GONZ 80 ... USD 56 @ PORT 70
Western Athletic: USU 72 @ BOIS 67 ... NMSU 64 @ FRES 83
Other: NOND1 66 @ LONG 101

Today's State of the Other 24 (full list)
1. Northern Iowa 104.261 ... 2. Butler 101.735 ... 3. Rhode Island 96.385 ... 4. Xavier 94.704 ... 5. Temple 93.977 ... 6. Richmond 93.354 ... 7. Dayton 92.781 ... 8. Utah State 92.207 ... 9. Siena 92.175 ... 10. Virginia Commonwealth 91.787

Game! Of! The! Night!

Siena at Niagara (Metro Atlantic)
Gallagher Center - Niagara University, NY
8:00 EST

SIE - 21-4 (14-0) [RPI: 33 State: 43] SOS: 128 Last 10: 10-0 Form: W W W W W PF/PA: 76.4/65.9
NIAG - 13-13 (6-8) [RPI: 171 State: 198] SOS: 165 Last 10: 3-7 Form: L L W W L PF/PA: 71.6/69.2

Players to watch:
Siena - #22 Ryan Rossiter Jr. F (14.1 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 0.9 apg)
Niagara - #22 Bilal Benn Sr. F (13.5 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 3.2 apg)

Niagara-Siena Meet Friday on ESPN2 - Niagara welcomes the nation's hottest team and the two-time defending conference champion Siena Saints to the Gallagher Center for a Friday evening tilt on ESPN2. The contest, which is the third home game in less than a year that will air on either ESPN or ESPN2, pits the last two conference champions against each other. (via Niagara)

Basketball State Preview/Box

Today's Full Schedule (all times Eastern)

Atlantic Sun
Mercer 12-12 (8-6) at Campbell 14-9 (9-5) - 7:00 pm
Kennesaw State 12-13 (7-7) at East Tennessee State 13-12 (9-5) - 7:00 pm

Big Sky
Northern Arizona 11-11 (5-6) at Weber State 15-8 (9-2) - 9:00 pm
Northern Colorado 19-5 (8-3) at Idaho State 6-17 (3-8) - 9:05 pm
Montana 17-7 (8-4) at Portland State 10-13 (5-5) - 10:05 pm
Montana State 12-11 (7-5) at Eastern Washington 6-18 (2-8) - 10:30 pm

Ivy League
Cornell 20-3 (6-0) at Pennsylvania 3-15 (2-2) - 7:00 pm
Dartmouth 4-16 (0-6) at Brown 7-16 (1-5) - 7:00 pm
Harvard 15-5 (4-2) at Yale 9-14 (3-3) - 7:00 pm
Columbia 8-12 (2-4) at Princeton 13-5 (4-0) - 7:00 pm

Metro Atlantic
Saint Peter's 14-10 (9-5) at Loyola (Md.) 12-12 (5-9) - 7:00 pm
Fairfield 16-8 (9-5) at Rider 14-12 (7-7) - 7:00 pm
Marist 1-23 (1-13) at Canisius 11-14 (6-8) - 7:00 pm
Manhattan 8-16 (3-11) at Iona 18-7 (10-4) - 7:30 pm
Siena 21-4 (14-0) at Niagara 13-13 (6-8) - 8:00 pm

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The Game

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