Kemp, Fazekas too much for New Mexico St

Marcelus Kemp scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half and Nick Fazekas added 22 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 10 Nevada to a 69-65 victory over New Mexico State on Saturday night.

Kemp was 9-for-17 from the field and 12-for-13 on free throws, including four in a row after a foul and technical foul that gave Nevada a 50-47 lead midway through the second half that it didn't relinquish.

The Wolf Pack (27-3, 14-2 in the Western Athletic Conference) pushed their home record to 60-6 since the start of the 2003-04 season while claiming their fourth straight WAC regular-season title with four consecutive seasons of 25 or more victories.

Tyrone Nelson scored 15 points, Elijah Ingram 13 and Ted Knauber 12 for New Mexico State (22-8, 11-5 WAC), which trailed 21-15 early but closed the first half with an 11-4 run to take a 31-28 halftime lead before a sellout crowd of 11,462.

Nelson scored six points in a row, including a 19-footer to put the Aggies ahead 47-46 with 10:39 left in the game. But on the next possession, Shaun Davis fouled Kemp, was called for a technical when he complained and Kemp made all four free throws for the three-point lead with 10:17 left in the game.

Kemp then made a 3-pointer and Fazekas a pair of free throws for a 54-49 lead. Ingram answered with a 3 to pull New Mexico State to 54-52, and after Kyle Shiloh's basket off a behind-the-back dribble on a break, Nelson converted a 3-point play to get to 56-55 at 7:12.

Kemp was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to put Nevada ahead 59-55 with 6:56 left.

Ingram went the length of the floor for a layup to make it 64-61 at 1:20. Knauber made a basket and was fouled, but couldn't convert the free throw to leave it 65-63 with 28 seconds. Kemp and Fazekas each made a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

It marked the 66th time in his career that the senior Fazekas has scored 20 or more points in a game, the most among active players in the NCAA. He started the night averaging 20.9 points on the season and ranked fourth in the nation with 11.4 rebounds per game. He and Texas' Kevin Durant (24.9 points, 11.5 rebounds) are only two players in country averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The Aggies outshot the Wolf Pack 40 percent to 39 percent and outrebounded them 41-29, but were only 9-for-17 from the foul line to Nevada's 29-of-35. The Aggies scored 17 points off 15 Nevada turnovers in the first half, but the Wolf Pack turned the ball over only three times the second half.

Kemp followed a baseline floater with a pair of free throws on an 8-1 run that put Nevada ahead 21-15 with 8:45 to go in the first half.

Fazekas didn't score until he made a pair of free throws midway through the first half and didn't get his first field goal until a 12-foot hook shot from the baseline put Nevada ahead 27-24 with 2:39 left in the half.

Knauber's 3-pointer capped a 12-6 NMSU run to tie it 27-27 at 2:21. Nelson made a pair of free throws and Fisher scored inside for three-point lead at the half.