Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Rice
Men's Basketball Downs Rice, 86-53
1/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Demetrius Porter scored 26 points - including eight of nine 3-point attempts - to lead Fresno State to a 86-53 rout of Rice in a Western Athletic Conference game Thursday.
Porter sat out the final 12 minutes of the game after Fresno State (13-7, 3-1, WAC) opened up a 45-point lead.
Rice (4-12, 0-5) lost its eighth-straight game. Alex Bougaieff led the team with 11 points.
Courtney Alexander added 19 points for Fresno in just 21 minutes of play and Melvin Ely finished with 17. Noel Felix had a career-high 13.
Fresno State unleashed a barrage of 3-point baskets to open the second half. Porter hit four long jumpers and Alexander made three as Fresno opened the half with 27-3 run over the first six minutes to take a 68-23 lead.
Rice's only points in that run came on free throws by Bougaieff. Adam Robinson's basket with 12:38 left in the game was the first field goal by Rice in the half.
Terrance Roberson, who is averaging 17.5 points a game for Fresno, has the flu and missed the game.
Fresno State scored the first eight points of the game and had a 19-3 lead after the first eight minutes. Ely had five in that run and Alexander added four. Rice's only points came on a basket and a free throw by Michael Walton.
Rice closed the gap to 27-16 with just over four minutes left in the half. But Porter buried three 3-pointers over the final four minutes as Fresno State opened up a 41-20 halftime lead.
