Jan. 28, 2012
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| Coach White Postgame | LA Tech Postgame Notes | Nevada Postgame Notes
RUSTON, La. - A three-pointer from senior guard Trevor Gaskins rattled in-and-out with less than two seconds to play as Louisiana Tech fell to Nevada 65-63 Saturday night in front of 3,050 at the Thomas Assembly Center.
With the loss, the Bulldogs are now 11-11 overall and 3-4 in the Western Athletic Conference while the Wolf Pack improve to 18-3 and 7-0 in conference play.
Tech scored the first five points of the game on a jumper from sophomore guard Cordarius Johnson and a three-pointer from sophomore guard Kenyon McNeail.
Five straight points from Nevada tied the score less than two minutes into the contest.
McNeail made his second three-point basket of the game to put Tech ahead on the ensuing possession.
A long-jumper from Malik Story gave the Wolf Pack their first lead of the game 14-13 at the 12:14 mark.
The Bulldogs responded with a 13-2 run over the next 4:41 that was capped off by a dunk from freshman forward Michale Kyser.
For the final eight minutes of the period, Nevada outscored Tech 12-2 to go into halftime tied 28-28.
The Wolf Pack continued their run in the second half, scoring 15 of the first 18 points of the period for a 43-31 advantage.
A 9-2 run from the Bulldogs cut the deficit to five with 11:48 on the clock.
Gaskins made a shot from beyond the arc to pull Tech to within 51-50 with six and a half minutes to play.
Nevada pushed their lead out to six after three free throws from Deonte Burton with 2:16 remaining.
Junior guard Brandon Gibson tied the contest at 62-62 with a conventional three-point play.
Czyz converted his own conventional three-point play on the Wolf Pack's next possession to put Nevada up three with less than 34 seconds left in the game.
McNeail made 1-of-2 free throw attempts and Appleby forced a jump ball call to give Tech the ball back with just over 20 seconds on the clock and down 65-63.
The Bulldog had two chances to tie the game but both layups were blocked by Dario Hunt. Gaskins got an open look at a three-pointer to win the contest from the right corner that went in-and-out.
Appleby paced the Bulldogs with 17 points after having to leave Thursday night's contest with a knee injury. McNeail added 13 while Gaskins chipped in with 11 including three three-point field goals.
Gibson pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and Kyser blocked a shot to give him 40 for the season.
Tech shot 31.1 percent (19-62) from the field and 70.8 percent (17-24) at the free throw line. They also forced 22 turnovers while only giving up the ball 11 times.
Olek Czyz scored 24 points as he went 10-for-12 from the free throw line and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Story and Burton contributed 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Hunt had a game-high 11 rebounds and blocked two of Nevada's five shots.
The Wolf Pack made 47.7 percent (21-44) of their shots and went 19-for-27 (70.4 percent) from the charity stripe. Nevada also outrebounded the Bulldogs 41-31 including 29-16 on the defensive glass.
Louisiana Tech travels to New Mexico State to begin the second half of WAC play Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. CT.
