Doleac Leads Utah Past Rival Aggies

Big Sky/Big West/Pac-10

Michael Doleac scored a career-high 30 points and turned back three Utah State rallies in the second half as No. 9 Utah beat the Aggies 71-55 Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.

Doleac, who scored 18 points in the first half, had three baskets when the Aggies (5-3) of the Big West Conference had cut the Utes (8-0) of the Western Athletic Conference to single digits.

Utah State, led by Kevin Rice with 17 points, pared the Utes’ lead to 47-38 on a jump shot by Justin Jones with 12:43 to play.

Doleac answered on the next possession with a 15-footer from the right baseline.

The Aggies drew within 49-41 on a Brandon Birch hook shot, but Doleac responded with another baseline jumper from the same spot.

Rice hit a pair of free throws for Utah State before Utah’s Andre Miller made a 3-pointer and Doleac converted two foul shots for a 56-43 lead with 8:36 remaining.

Miller had 13 points and six assists for Utah.

Boise St. 86, Idaho St. 51

Senior forward Roberto Bergersen scored 20 of his career-high 31 points in the second half and freshman center Trevor Tillman blocked a school-record seven shots as the Broncos routed the Bengals.

Boise State of the Big West (5-1) held a 32-24 advantage at the half and led by as many as 39 in the second half.

Idaho State of the Big Sky (2-4) trailed 45-30 with 16:07 left in the second half when starting center Odell Stokes and starting forward Tywan Meadows were ejected after a scuffle with Boise State’s Gerry Washington and Kejuan Woods. Both Broncos also were ejected.

San Jose St. 60, Sacramento St. 49

Marmet Williams had a career-high 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spartans over the winless Hornets. David Drakeford scored 17 and Leland Matthews had 13 for Sacramento State (0-8) of the Big Sky. Michael Quinney had 12 points for San Jose State (1-5).

Williams, who came within one assist of recording the first triple-double in San Jose State history, scored nine of his points during a 15-0 run in the second half. It was the longest streak this year for the Spartans.

Oklahoma St. 79, Arizona St. 68

At Oklahoma City, Desmond Mason had a career-high 25 points and the Cowboys (7-0), after trailing by as many as 17 in the first half, rallied to beat Sun Devils at Oklahoma City.

The Cowboys used an 8-0 run at the end of the first half to get within nine, then outscored Arizona State 15-2 in the first 4 minutes of the second half.

The Sun Devils (6-3) of the Pac-10 got within 59-58 on two free throws by Bobby Lazor with 6:34 remaining, then saw Oklahoma State score eight in a row. Mason had two of those buckets, both on assists from Doug Gottlieb.

Baskets by Eddie House and Mike Batiste got the Sun Devils within 67-62, but a short time later they missed the front end of two straight 1-and-1 chances and got no closer than six in the final four minutes.

Center faces surgery

Donnell Harris, the backup center for No. 6 Arizona, will have his gall bladder removed Friday.

Harris has missed the last four games with stomach pain, and doctors diagnosed the problem Wednesday as fluid around the gall bladder. The operation is scheduled at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.