March 12, 2002

Box Score

LOGAN, Utah (AP) - Pete Conway made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 23 points as Montana State beat Utah State 77-69 Tuesday night in the opening round of National Invitation Tournament.

Aaron Rich added 17 points and Damir Latovic scored all nine of his points in the second half to help the Bobcats (20-8) beat Utah State (23-8) for the first time in three meetings this season.

Conway, a reserve who played only 22 minutes, was 6-of-10 from 3-point range to help the Bobcats' to their first NIT victory.

Montana State, the Big Sky Conference regular-season champion, advanced to a first-round game against the winner of Wednesday night's game between Wagner and Richmond.

Desmond Penigar led Utah State with 25 points, and Jeremy Vague added 18.

Utah State pulled to 72-69 with 29.5 seconds left, but the Aggies were assessed a technical foul 2 seconds later when the crowd threw debris onto the court.

James Erickson made both free throws and the Bobcats sealed the victory with three more foul shots down the stretch.

A back-and-forth game most of the way, Latovic made a follow shot with 6:17 remaining to give MSU a 56-54 edge.

The Bobcats, upset by Montana in the Big Sky tournament semifinals, shot 53 percent, the first time a Utah State opponent has shot over 50 percent in 17 games.

The Aggies lost for just the second time in their last 47 home games and have not won an NIT game since 1960.