WAC tournament: Guyton, Louisiana Tech defeat Fresno State

RENO, Nev. — Jamel Guyton scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech to a 74-66 win over Fresno State Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

Guyton made 11 of his 14 shots from the field, and was 3-for-5 from 3-point range for Louisiana Tech (23-9). Magnum Rolle added 12 points and nine rebounds and Olu Ashaolu contributed 11 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Bulldogs.

Louisiana Tech advances to Friday night's semifinals against top-seeded Utah State (26-2), which defeated Boise State 84-60.

Paul George had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Fresno State (15-18), the fifth seed.

Fresno trailed 33-32 at the half and held its last lead when Sylvester Seay's 3-pointer made it 48-46 with 13:30 remaining.

Louisiana Tech answered with an 8-0 run when Rolle converted a 3-point play inside, Guyton hit from 3 and Rolle scored again inside to go back in front for good, 54-48 with 9:11 left.

Brandon Sperling made a pair of free throws to pull Fresno State within 67-64 and came close to making it a one-point game, but his basket in the lane was waved off when he was called for charging with 48 seconds left. Guyton and Kyle Gibson each made a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the win for Louisiana Tech.

NEVADA 87, IDAHO 71: Luke Babbitt scored 21 points to lead five Nevada players in double figures and the Wolf Pack poured in seven 3-pointers in the first half en route to an win over Idaho.

Brandon Fields had 15 points, Joey Shaw 14, Armon Johnson 13 and Dario Hunt 12 for the Wolf Pack (20-11). Nevada shot 55 percent from the field and made 10 of 18 from 3-point range.

On Friday, the Wolf Pack will meet the winner of Thursday night's quarterfinal between third-seeded New Mexico State and sixth-seeded San Jose State.

Luciano de Souza had 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field for Idaho (15-16), which shot 40 percent from the field and missed 8 of 19 free throws.