Marks on mark as Boise State beats teetering Colorado State

BOISE, Idaho — Derrick Marks scored 33 of his career-high 38 points in the second half to lead Boise State to a 78-65 Mountain West victory over Colorado State on Saturday night.

Marks scored 24 consecutive Boise State points over a 10-minute stretch of the second half as the Broncos (20-8, 8-6 MW) avenged a 77-57 loss to the Rams on Jan. 30.

Greg Smith scored 17 points and Dorian Green 15 for Colorado State (22-7, 9-5), which has lost three of its past four games to drop into a second-place tie with UNLV.

Marks’ output ties for fifth-most in Boise State history. He hit all 11 of his second-half shots to finish 13 of 18 from the field. His previous career best of 35 points came in a victory over Creighton on Nov. 28.

Colorado State’s only lead came on Smith’s basket just before halftime.

Wes Eikmeier added 14 points and Colton Iverson 12 for the Rams, who missed an opportunity to tie the school mark for victories set in 1988-89.

Anthony Drmic added 15 points for Boise State, but the night belonged to Marks, a sophomore guard.

Marks outscored Colorado State by himself in the second half — 33 to 29 — while becoming the fourth player in Broncos’ history to record three 30-point outings in a season.

His stretch of 24 straight Boise State points began with a three-point play with 17:59 remaining as the Broncos turned a 36-34 halftime deficit into a four-point lead. Less than five minutes later, he drained a 3-pointer to make it 12 straight Boise State points, giving the Broncos a 50-44 lead and prompting Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy to call a timeout.

Marks’ string of points ended with two free throws with 8:19 to play. Drmic followed with a driving basket to increase the Broncos’ lead to 64-52 with seven minutes remaining.

The Broncos’ lead topped out at 75-58 on two free throws by Marks with 3:11 remaining.

■u2002No. 14 New Mexico 53, Wyoming 42 — At Albuquerque, N.M., Alex Kirk had 15 points and nine rebounds as the Lobos clinched the regular-season title with a victory over Wyoming.

New Mexico (25-4, 12-2) went 21 of 27 from the free-throw line in winning or sharing the title for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Cameron Bairstow contributed 13 points and nine rebounds, and Kendall Williams had six assists for the Lobos.

Riley Grabau scored 14 points for the Cowboys (18-11, 4-11).

■u2002Fresno State 56, Air Force 41 — At Fresno, Calif., Kyle Johnson scored 21 points as the Bulldogs beat the Falcons.

Allen Huddleston added 11 points for Fresno State (10-18, 4-11).

Kevin Foster grabbed eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, helping the team secure a 44-30 edge on the boards. Fresno State, however, couldn’t connect from 3-point range, hitting 2 of 14.

Air Force (16-11, 7-7) also struggled from long range, making 4 of 20 tries. The Falcons also could muster only 27.9 percent shooting from the floor.

Mike Fitzgerald scored 11 points for the Falcons.