PCAA Roundup : Las Vegas Rolls Past Utah State

Freddie Banks scored 22 points, and Jarvis Basnight added 21 Saturday night at Las Vegas to power No. 1-ranked Nevada Las Vegas to a 117-94 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory over Utah State.

The Rebels built a 30-point lead before the midway point of the second half and cruised to their 14th victory of the season without a loss and third PCAA victory. Kevin Nixon scored 17 points for the Aggies (8-8, 1-3).

Basnight, who also grabbed 10 rebounds, was the last UNLV starter to leave the game with 6:20 left and the Rebels leading, 108-74. Over the next six minutes, the Aggies outscored the Rebels’ reserves, 20-4.

The Rebels broke away from an 18-18 tie after five minutes of the first half, outscoring the Aggies, 12-1, over the next three minutes en route to a 59-42 halftime lead.

The Aggies cut the lead to six late in the half, but seven points by Gerald Paddio in a one-minute spurt gave the Rebels a 53-36 lead with 3:30 remaining.

Banks hit three consecutive field goals, including his fourth from 3-point range, in the first 1:30 of the second half to move the Rebels to a 70-44 lead. Paddio’s dunk with 13:59 remaining boosted it to 83-53.

New Mexico State 62, Fresno State 48--Kenny Travis, demoted to reserve status last week, came off the bench for 14 points in 29 minutes to lead the Aggies past the Bulldogs in a PCAA game at Las Cruces, N.M.

Travis scored 14 points in 29 minutes of playing time as the Aggies improved their conference record to 2-2 and overall mark to 8-7. Fresno State dropped to 1-3 in the PCAA and 6-9 for the year.

Travis, who lost his starting job in the midst of a four-game losing streak, has led New Mexico State (8-7, 2-2) to conference wins over Pacific and Fresno State since going to the bench.

Johnny Roberson had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Aggies, who built a 26-21 halftime lead and increased their lead to 17 points late in the game.

Derrick Barden scored 13 points for Fresno State (6-9, 1-3).