Marquette Puts The Clamps On Nash, Santa Clara

WCC/Big Sky

Marquette held star guard Steve Nash in check and dominated No. 22 Santa Clara 78-49 Saturday at Milwaukee. Nash, the subject of a recent Sports Illustrated profile, was held to 11 points and four assists.

“Give complete credit to them,” Santa Clara coach Dick Davey said. “They played at a real high level. We were ranked but we probably won’t have to worry about that much longer.”

Chris Crawford and Aaron Hutchins added 14 apiece in Marquette’s biggest win this season.

Marquette (5-1) shot 47 percent from the field and outrebounded the Broncos (6-2) 44-21 despite the absence of 6-foot-11 Amal McCaskill, who was out with a sprained ankle.

“They did everything very well,” Davey said. “They lost one of their best players and still played at a tremendously high level.”

The game was played at the old Milwaukee Arena, which was Marquette’s home when it won the 1977 NCAA championship. Marquette hadn’t played a regular-season game in the Arena since the 1987-88 season, although it beat South Florida there in March in an NIT quarterfinal game.

A spirited group of 9,089 fans sounded louder and more into the game than larger crowds at the Bradley Center.

Texas A&M 83, St. Mary’s 55

At College Station, Texas, Derrick Hart led five Aggies in double figures with 23 points as Texas A&M knocked the Gaels from the unbeaten ranks.

Gary Nottingham had 18 points and 10 rebounds while Calvin Davis scored 11 and also had 10 boards for A&M (4-1).

David Divulich led St. Mary’s (3-1) with nine points.

Portland 91, Cal Poly-SLO 70

At Portland, Lemont Daniels scored 17 points to lead the Pilots (6-0) to a win over the Mustangs (3-4).

Loyola 67, Cal St.-Fullerton 63

At Fullerton, Calif., Mike O’Quinn scored 16 points and Jim Williamson added 14 to lead the Lions (6-1) past the Titans (1-4).

Pepperdine 68, UCSB 67

At Santa Barbara, Calif., Gerald Brown hit a layup with 14 seconds remaining to lift the Waves (5-2) past the Gauchos (2-3).

Brown finished with 16 points for the Waves, who won their fourth straight - their longest winning since the 1993-94 season.

Montana St. 81, S. Utah 51

At Bozeman, Mont., Quadre Lollis scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in leading the Bobcats (5-2) to a non-conference win over the Thunderbirds (3-4).

Montana 77, Lewis-Clark St. 59

At Missoula, senior forward Shawn Samuelson led three Montana players in double figures with 17 points as the Grizzlies (7-2) defeated the Warriors (6-5) in a nonconference game. Chris Spoja had 16 points and Brandon Dade added 14.

The Warriors were led by senior guard James Long with 18 points.

N. Arizona 66, Montana Tech 50

At Flagstaff, Ariz., Brent Bowden and Mike Chapman each scored 12 points as the Lumberjacks (3-3) used a first-half rally to beat Montana Tech.

Down 8-0 only 2 minutes into the game, Montana Tech (8-5) took a 15-11 lead with 13:04 left in the half. But the Lumberjacks (3-3) regained their composure and used a 15-0 run to take control of the game.

Weber St. 81, Utah St. 79 (OT)

At the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Bryan Emery sank two foul shots with 8 seconds left in overtime to lift the Wildcats to a win over the Aggies (3-5).

The Wildcats (4-4) hit 15 of 18 from the free-throw line in the extra period, with Ryan Cuff getting six points. Cuff also led Weber with 21 points on the night.