James' perfect shooting leads Wyoming past San Jose St.

Mar 8, 2018, 02:08 am

LAS VEGAS -- Justin James scored 24 points and didn't miss a shot as No. 6 seed Wyoming beat 11th-seeded San Jose State 74-61 in the first round of a Mountain West Conference Tournament game Wednesday night.

Wyoming advances to play No. 3 seed New Mexico Thursday night.

James made all nine of his field-goal attempts, including three from 3-point range and three free throws. He scored 16 of Wyoming's first 22 points with three 3s, a 3-point play, a layup and a dunk in the first seven minutes for a 22-14 Cowboys lead. James had 20 by halftime and Wyoming (20-12) led 40-30 at the break.

The Cowboys used an 11-0 run during the first three minutes of the second half and were never threatened. Alan Herndon scored 15 points, Alexander Aka Gorski scored 11 and Hayden Dalton 10. Wyoming finished shooting 29 of 57 (51 percent) from the field including 10 of 28 from 3-point range.

Ryan Welage scored 25 points for San Jose State (4-26) and Jaycee Hillsman added 24.