BoxscoreRENO, Nev. -- It turned into the clash of the Western Athletic Conference titans Monday night in the Lawlor Events Center.
And as Nevada?s junior forward Nick Fazekas tipped in a blocked three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to play, the Wolf Pack (19-5; 9-3 WAC) pulled away with a 50-49 victory over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (15-10; 8-4 WAC) and sole possession of first place in the conference.
?That was a tough loss,? Tech head coach Richard said. ?It?s one of those deals where it?s no one?s fault. It was a tough game and a close game, but we?ve just got to move on.?
In what will go down as a defensive battle, the two teams were only able to score a total of 36 points combined in the second half; the same amount Tech scored in the first half on its own.
Tech?s junior forward and two-time defending NCAA rebounding champion
Paul Millsap finished 6-of-15 from the floor for 17 points and 10 rebounds. Fazekas finished 4-of-14 for 12 points, all in the second half.
?With how Millsap and Fazekas shot tonight, that tells you how much it was a struggle to score,? Richard said. ?It still came down to a couple of big plays that didn?t go down for us. It was a shame the game was lost on an offensive rebound after we held them to six (offensive rebounds) in the first half which I was very proud of.?
The Bulldogs were in sole control in the first half and built a nine point lead in the first half 25-16 with 6:05 left to play. Tech even extended to lead to as much as 11 points in the first half, but Nevada was able to chip away enough to go into the halftime locker room trailing 36-27.
Neither team found much offense at all in the second half, but the Wolf Pack would not seem to go away, and with 12:43 left to go in the game, Nevada put together a 13-1 run that lasted a little over four minutes to take the lead 43-42.
Both teams would stay within one point of each other for the remainder of the game, but it would be the reigning WAC player of the year who would make the big play at the end of the game to give the Wolf Pack the game 50-49.
?Fazekas always seems to be at the right place at the right time, and that?s because he?s a great player,? Richard said. ?They have an allure about them and the will to win those type games. Even so, I?m proud of our guys. I wish we had won, but we didn?t, but we sure did a lot of things well, especially defensively.?
The Bulldogs return to action Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when the San Jose State Spartans pay a visit to the Thomas Assembly Center.
?Every game?s important now,? Richard said. ?We wish we could have that one back. (Nevada has) won a lot of game like this throughout their two or three year run here (as WAC champions), and things like this just happen to go your way. That?s usually a sign that you?ve got really good players.?
