BoxscoreRUSTON -- After winning seven of their last eight games, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (14-8; 7-2 WAC) were finally bested in their first home loss of the 2005-06 season to the University of Nevada Wolf Pack (16-5; 6-3 WAC) in Western Athletic Conference action Feb. 2 in the Thomas Assembly Center in front of a crowd of 4,683.
?You look at the defensive stats in conference play, these two teams were exactly alike,? Tech head coach Keith Richard said. ?Two really good defensive teams. And one of us tonight was going to have an offensive spurt and somewhere in this game just play a little bit better offensively and win this game. I think that?s exactly what happened.?
Neither team was able to get much offense going in the first half or get a lead bigger than four points before Nevada took a 26-25 lead thanks to a last-second lay up from sophomore guard Ramon Sessions.
?We struggled offensively for most of the night, but we?ve struggled a lot offensively this year,? Richard said. ?We?ve won with defending and rebounding and getting to the free throw line. I think in that second half, we didn?t get some of that done.?
The Wolf Pack opened the second half with an 8-0 run before junior forward
Chad McKenzie knocked down two free throws to give the Bulldogs their first points of the second half at the 15:38 mark.
?You have to credit Nevada,? Richard said. ?That made some big plays at the right moments, and that?s why they?re a good team. We need to learn from them and get better from it.?
Nevada extended its lead to 12 points over a minute later after guard junior Kyle Shiloh knocked down a three-pointer at the 14:17 mark.
The Bulldogs would chip away at the lead for most of the second half, and with 5:11 left to go in the game junior guard Marcus Elliot knocked down a 16-foot jumper to cut the lead to 51-47.
Nevada answered, however, with a three-pointer from sophomore guard Marcelus Kemp with the shot clock running out that would prove to be the dagger for the night for a Bulldog comeback.
The Wolf Pack kept Tech out of reach for the remainder of the game, and as the final buzzer sounded, Nevada handed the Bulldogs their first home loss of the season 65-53.
?There were some defensive lapses,? Richard said. ?And we were 3-of-26 from the three-point line. The offense doesn?t bother me as much. There were four guys in the paint, so we had to take some outside shots. They got some back door plays and got 19 offensive rebounds on us. It seemed like every time we needed that one big defensive stop and defensive rebound, Nevada made a play and kept us from getting over the hump.?
Two-time defending NCAA rebounding champion and star junior forward
Paul Millsap earned his 60th triple-double after scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Nevada junior forward and 2005 WAC Player of the Year Nick Fazekas finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolf Pack. Millsap finished shooting 8-of-15 from the floor.
?It was tough on Millsap in there,? Richard said. ?We knew that going in to the game tonight. You want to throw it in there every time, but he?s got tall guys all over him all night. Some other players have got to make plays.?
The Bulldogs went from shooting 41.4 percent in the first half to 32.4 percent in the second half with 23-of-63 total for the game.
?I do want to repeat that we?ve struggled offensively a lot of the year,? Richard said. ?It wasn?t surprising to me how we shot the ball, but I was really disappointed in our play in the second half. We didn?t get the defensive rebounds that we needed.?
Nevada shot near the same as the Bulldogs at 23-of-62 and out rebounded Tech 43 to 39.
?They?re good and we?re good,? Richard said. ?When too good teams play each other, sometimes the road team wins.?
The Bulldogs return to action this weekend in the Thomas Assembly Center against the Utah State Aggies Saturday at 3 p.m.
