UTSA pulls off stunner in WAC tourney

Kannon Burrage had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 9 seed UTSA stunned top-seeded Louisiana Tech 73-67 on Thursday night to reach the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals.

Michael Hale II added 17 points for the Roadrunners (10-21), who shot 54 percent from the floor in the second half to rally for the win. UTSA went ahead for good, 43-41, on Hale's layup with 14:14 to play and later led by as many as 12.

Friday, the Roadrunners will face the winner of Thursday's late game between fourth-seeded Texas-Arlington and fifth-seeded Utah State.

Kenneth Smith had 16 points for the Bulldogs (26-6), who were on the verge of rejoining the Top 25 before ending their regular season with losses to New Mexico State and Denver. Louisiana Tech shot just 32 percent from the floor and now will have to hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Texas State upsets Denver to reach WAC semis

Joel Wright scored 32 points to lead Texas State in a 72-68 upset over No. 2 seed Denver on Thursday in a Western Athletic Conference quarterfinals match.

Wright, who scored 16 points in the first half, also had seven rebounds for the seventh-seeded Bobcats.

Phil Hawkins had 13 points. Reid Koenen had nine points and seven rebounds.

Texas State (12-21) never trailed, leading 37-32 at halftime and by as much as 14 in the second half. The Bobcats shot 65.7 percent from the field for the game, while the Pioneers shot 40 percent. Texas State outrebounded Denver 28-21.

Brett Olson led Denver (21-9) with 19 points. Jalen Love had 17 and Chris Udofia added 12. Royce O'Neale had a team-high eight rebounds.

Texas State will play No. 3 seed New Mexico State on Friday in the semifinals.