Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Idaho
Fresno State Handles Idaho, 60-41
1/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Kevin Bell scored 14 points to lead Fresno State past Idaho 60-41 on Thursday night in both teams' Western Athletic Conference opener.
Hector Hernandez added 11 points and Quinton Hosley had 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who limited the Vandals to 26.3 percent shooting. Keoni Watson scored a game-high 17 points for Idaho (2-11, 0-1 WAC), and Darin Nagle had 15 rebounds.
Fresno State (12-2, 1-0) opened the second half with a 14-3 scoring run, keyed by six straight points by Bell and five by Hosley.
Ja'Vance Coleman's fall-away 3-pointer with 11:36 left put Fresno State ahead 48-28, and the Bulldogs never looked back. Coleman finished with 10 points.
Dominic McGuire had six points and seven blocked shots, giving the 6-foot-8 junior 17 blocks in Fresno State's last two games. McGuire entered the game averaging 3.38 blocks per game, tops in the WAC.
Idaho struggled to find any rhythm on offense, shooting 21.9 percent in the second half and making just 3 of 21 3-pointers. Nagle, the Vandals' 6-10 center, went 0 for 9 from the field. David Jackson had 10 points for Idaho. Watson and Jackson were the only Vandals with multiple field goals.
Fresno State led 29-21 following a sluggish first half highlighted by poor shooting and extended scoring droughts. Hernandez's 3-pointer with 2 seconds left capped a 7-0 Bulldogs scoring run to close the half.
Fresno State led 20-13 following an 8-0 run but then went 5:35 without scoring. Idaho went 6:26 without scoring until Watson hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second coming with 3:08 left. Watson's 10 first-half points were nearly half of the Vandals' total.
Fresno State returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Utah State at 7 p.m. at the Save Mart Center.
