Wolf Pack get back

Marcellus Kemp makes the difference as Nevada avenges an overtime loss to UH earlier this month

RENO, Nev. » Having seen Nick Fazekas torch them for 37 points the first time they faced Nevada, the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors could be forgiven if they focused on him a little too much in last night's rematch.

Nevada 73 Hawaii    55 Next Up Vs. Utah State Tomorrow

Yesterday, though, it was Marcellus Kemp they should have been worried about.

Kemp scored 21 points and stopped two Hawaii runs with key baskets to lead Nevada to a 73-55 Western Athletic Conference win at Lawlor Events Center.

"That was just a good old ass-kicking," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "We don't get those too often."

It was a frustrating loss for the Rainbows, who had beaten the Wolf Pack 73-69 in overtime on Jan. 5.

"I'm embarrassed that you had to watch that and I'm embarrassed that we performed like that," Wallace said. "You've got to give Nevada credit. I guess we stirred them up a little bit beating them at our place."

The game turned on a pair of crucial shots by Kemp that killed Hawaii's momentum.

After trailing 36-23 at the half, the Rainbows scored the first six points of the half to get back within 36-29, but Kemp faked a drive and stepped back to nail a 15-footer over Julian Sensley. Moments later Kemp hit another jumper just inside the 3-point line to get Nevada's lead back to double digits

After Deonte Tatum's 3-pointer cut Nevada's lead to 42-34, the Wolf Pack went on an 8-2 minirun, the first six points by Fazekas and the last two coming with 12:06 left in the game on a follow slam by Mo Charlo after Fazekas missed a layup.

"We came out of the locker room with a little fire, but it didn't last very long," said Wallace. "Kemp hit a couple of shots on us when we were making a run and we dropped our heads."

Nevada (15-5, 5-3 WAC) followed up that run with a 9-1 spurt to lead 59-38 with 7:27 remaining, stretched the lead to 25 on a 3-pointer by Kemp at the 5-minute mark and eventually led by as many as 26 on a fast-break dunk by Fazekas with 3:38 left.

"We usually don't let teams run up and down the court like that," said Sensley.

Kemp keyed Nevada's 15-2 run near the end of the first half that gave Nevada control of the game.

Sensley's turnaround jumper with 5:28 left in the half made it 21-19, but Kemp nailed a 3-pointer 26 seconds later, then another with 3:14 left in the half that made it 27-19.

"We were just running our offense and I was able to square up to the basket," Kemp said.

"I just did a horrible job playing defense on him," Sensley said. "He came ready to play tonight, I didn't. He just got the better hand."

Fazekas made the first of two free throws with 2:28 left in the half, but Charlo converted an offensive rebound when Fazekas missed the second free throw, Fazekas hit two more free throws, then Ramon Sessions hit a pair of pull-up jumpers to finish the run, the last with 36 seconds left in the half to make it 36-21 before Matthew Gipson's reverse layup with 6 seconds left.

"We couldn't execute," Sensley said of Nevada's run to end the half. "They got a stop on us and we couldn't get back in a rhythm again and we weren't able to stop them. They were able to move the ball on us and get good shots and get to the free-throw line and that's what we were lacking."

Kemp led all scorers with 21 points, while Fazekas finished with 19 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for Nevada.

"Fazekas shows up every night," Wallace said. "He's one of those guys that can't jump, is slow and can't run very well, but he's a PhD in basketball, I guess. One of the great players that ever played in this league. Everyone lays for him and he still comes up with numbers."

Matt Lojeski led Hawaii (10-7, 4-3) with 15 points, 11 of them in the second half, while Sensley added 11 and Chris Botez finished with 10.

Nevada outrebounded Hawaii 40-24 and made 54.4 percent of its shots from the floor (31 of 57).

Hawaii hit 21 of 55 shots from the floor (38.2 percent) and was just 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

"We played tonight like we were afraid," Wallace said.

"I think we gave up as far as a our defensive game," Sensley said. "I think our shots weren't falling and we were dropping our heads and not getting back on defense. We were settling for jumpers and everyone was going for offensive boards."

Nevada coach Mark Fox said it was the most complete effort his team has had in several weeks.

"We played solid in all three areas and to beat a good basketball team like Hawaii is you have to do that," Fox said.

The loss was the 19th in the last 21 road games for the Warriors, who will look for their first road win of this season Monday night in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

"We're a better ballclub than that and we'll be better down the line," Wallace said. "Now we've got to go to Utah State and right now they're better than these guys are, because they came here and won."

"We've just got to put this game behind us and look forward," Sensley said. "We were able to beat them at our place and we just got to come ready to play."