Boise State holds off Utah State, moves atop Mountain West

Feb 4, 2017, 11:23 pm

BOISE, Idaho -- Chandler Hutchison had 18 points and Boise State went without a field goal in the final 3 1/2 minutes but hung on to beat Utah State 72-70 on Saturday night.

Paris Austin added 16 for the Broncos (15-7, 8-3 Mountain West) and took the lead for good early in a 21-8 run that Austin's basket capped to make it 66-56 at 3:33. From there, Boise State missed its final four attempts from the field and made 6 of 10 from the foul line to move ahead of Nevada (7-3) for first place in the conference standings.

The Aggies (10-12, 4-7) led for the most of the first eight minutes of the second half and rallied back within two on Alexis Dargenton's basket in the final seconds. But Utah State never had a chance to tie or go ahead on any of its final possessions.

Dargenton and Sam Merrill led Utah State with 14 points each.