Boise St. 80, Hawaii 74

3/13/2008 4:38 PM

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -Reggie Larry scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half and Boise State survived a shaky start, beating Hawaii 80-74 in the WAC tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

Tyler Tiedeman scored 14 points and Matt Nelson added 10 as the Broncos (23-8) advanced to Friday's semifinals against Utah State, which beat San Jose State 85-65 in another quarterfinal.

After trailing by as many as nine points, Boise State began the second half with a 12-2 run to make it a game. It was tied at 60 with six minutes remaining when Larry scored inside to put the Broncos ahead for good.

From there, Boise State hit 15-of-18 from the free throw line over the final 4:09.

Larry had nine rebounds and missed matching a career scoring high by one point. He had 10 points at halftime, hitting 7-of-8 from the free throw line, then took over as the Broncos got him more involved underneath.

After making 1-of-6 from the floor in the first half, Larry was 7-for-10 after the break.

Hawaii (11-19) ended the season on a seven-game losing streak, its longest since the 1995-96 season, and hasn't won in the WAC quarterfinals since 2005. The Warriors had their first losing season in nine years under first-year coach Bob Nash.

Riley Luettgerodt and Matt Gibson each scored 17 while Jared Dillinger added 14 and Bill Amis scored 10.

Hawaii trailed 64-60 after Dillinger made consecutive 3-pointers with 5:51 remaining, but they were forced to foul down the stretch and the Broncos answered the challenge.

Boise State swept the season series with Hawaii but the Broncos were sluggish this time, hitting 6-of-18 from the field in the first half and matching their 40-minute average with 15 turnovers.

The Warriors led 35-27 at the break, but the Broncos attacked the rim to open the second half. Larry scored twice, Nelson added a hook and it was tied at 37 with 16 minutes to play after Thomas swished a 3-pointer.