Boxscore

RENO, Nevada -- It was a tale of two halves in the Lawlor Events Center Thursday night as the No. 18 ranked Nevada Wolf Pack (18-2; 6-1 WAC) bested the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-13; 4-3 WAC) 84-67 in conference competition in front of 8,270 fans.

?We talked a lot this week about how we would have to match their intensity at the beginning of the ballgame if we wanted to be in it, and we did,? Tech head coach Keith Richard said. ?We had a tremendous first half, but the first five minutes of the second half was poor. We couldn?t afford that. Nevada is too good of a team for us to not score for five minutes.?

The Bulldogs shot out of the cannon for a 6-0 run before Nevada finally scored, and with 15:44 left in the first half, Tech held an 11-4 lead, thanks to five points from senior Chad McKenzie.

Tech never gave up the lead in the first half, but a pesky Nevada defense helped the Wolf Pack fight its way back into a tie at halftime 37-37. Bulldog senior Trey McDowell led Tech scoring with 10 points at the half, while McKenzie was just behind with nine.

The Wolf Pack, much like Tech in the first half, started with a run; this time of 10 unanswered points before senior Jerome Richardson finally scored for the Bulldogs with a shot-and-a-foul for a 47-40 score in favor of Nevada. Nevada would not relinquish control for the remainder of the night and finished with the 84-67 win.

Richard attributed part of the loss to the opening five minutes of the second half when Nevada opened with its run when the Bulldogs were unable to score.

?You can?t have a five when you don?t score against this team, or they?ll beat you,? Richard said. ?Still, we played really well tonight, especially in the first half.?

McKenzie led the Bulldogs with 19 points for the night, while McDowell finished with 17. Senior Harry Disy totaled 11 points, and senior Jerome Richardson scored 10 points and tacked on five rebounds. The Wolf Pack was led by Ramon Sessions with 21 points. Senior Nick Fazekas finished the night with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs will remain on the road for a contest with Fresno State Saturday, Jan. 27, beginning at 9 p.m. in the Save Mart Center.