Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada
Bulldogs Fall at Nevada
1/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2008
RENO, Nev. (AP) - In a game that saw Fresno State outrebound its opponent and a freshman emerge with a shining performance, the Dogs could not overcome a poor shooting performance in a loss at Nevada. Marcelus Kemp scored 28 points to lead Nevada to a 79-67 victory over Fresno State on Thursday night.
Brandon Fields added 17 points and JaVale McGee scored 15 with a team-high six rebounds and two blocked shots as the Wolf Pack (13-7, 5-2) earned its first three-game winning streak in Western Athletic Conference play this season. Nevada has won 32 of its last 35 games at Lawlor Events Center.
Kevin Bell scored 22 points to lead Fresno State (10-12, 3-5). Eddie Miller added 17 for the Bulldogs, and Brandon Webster scored 11 with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Fresno State pulled within eight points twice in the second half.
Bell scored in the lane with 7:30 to play to cut Nevada's lead to 64-56, and Nedeljko Golubovic scored inside to cut the deficit to 66-58 with 6:50 to go.
Kemp, though, scored on a jumper off the glass and Richie Phillips put back an offensive rebound of a Kemp miss, and Nevada stretched its lead to 72-58 with four minutes to play.
Nevada, which has won 11 of its last 14 games, jumped out to a 44-28 halftime lead.
Kemp scored 12 points in the first half and moved into fourth place on Nevada's career scoring list. The senior now has 1,639 points behind Alex Boyd (1967-70), who is in third place with 1,731 points.
Head Coach Steve Cleveland
"We got beat by a better team tonight. I have to say I'm pleased with the way we battled in the last 20 minutes. Nevada is a very good and well coached basketball team. They have the ability, because of their defense, to create some problems for team. Nevada is the best basketball we've faced in the WAC so far this season. "
"I thought we had some guys play well tonight. Brandon Webster continues to get better. We need him to get himself in better shape to be able to be on the floor for longer periods. I liked the energy we showed in the second half. We were down and in that environment we could have really been in trouble but we battled back and cut the lead to eight. I'm not happy with losing. No one in that locker room is happy with losing but we will keep battling. That's all we can do."
Notes
- The Wolf Pack are the three-time defending WAC Champions and advanced to the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
- Tonight's game was the 22nd of the season for the Dogs. Fresno State has played 11 at home and 11 on the road. Of the nine remaining regular season, the Dogs will play six at the Save Mart Center.
- Senior guard Tyson Parker left the game late in the first half with a cut on his chin. He returned minutes later with nearly a dozen stitches. He showed his toughness as he drew a charge from Nevada's Marcellus Kemp later in the game.
- Brandon Webster continues to improve and played his best game, earning his first career double-double, setting a career-highs with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
- The Bulldogs had more rebounds than the Wolf Pack 39-35.
- Fresno State entered the game leading the WAC in three point field goals, but had a season-low three tonight.
Join the State - Fresno State! It's "Monday Madness" as the Fresno State men's basketball team returns home to the Save Mart Center to battle Louisiana Tech Monday, February 4 at 7 p.m. Upper bowl seats are buy one get one free at the Save Mart Center box office.
