RAINBOW BASKETBALL
COURTESY OF HEATHER HORN
Hawaii's Matt Gibson found his path to the basket blocked by Nevada's Demarshay Johnson during yesterday's game.
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It’s Reno 911 for Rainbows
Hawaii has no answer for Kemp and McGee as the Wolf Pack roll to an easy WAC win
STORY SUMMARY »
RENO, Nev. » Marcelus Kemp scored 25 points and JaVale McGee had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead Nevada over Hawaii 88-68 in a Western Athletic Conference game yesterday.
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Brandon Fields added 17 points for the Wolf Pack (15-8, 6-3 WAC).
Matt Gibson scored 23 points, Bill Amis 16 and Jared Dillinger 11 for the Warriors (10-12, 6-4 WAC).
Kemp had 20 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer with 14:25 to play that gave Nevada a 10-9 lead. The Wolf Pack did not trail again in the game.
Kemp also scored the final six points of the half with a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws to give Nevada a 44-33 lead at the half.
The Wolf Pack stretched its lead to 24 midway through the second half as McGee and Kemp fueled a 14-4 run to make it 73-49 with 6:49 left. McGee scored five points, including two dunks and Kemp had 5 points, including a 25-foot 3-pointer to cap the run.
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FULL STORY »
By Darrell Moody
Special to the Star-Bulletin
RENO, Nev. » Hawaii was doomed to fail even before it boarded its flight to come to the mainland.
With P.J. Owsley sidelined by a kneecap injury, the Warriors had to play smaller and suited up just nine players. That's a recipe for disaster when you are playing a long and talented team like Nevada.
JaVale McGee, the Wolf Pack's 7-foot sophomore center, took advantage of the size advantage inside to score 20 points and pull down 10 rebounds to send Hawaii to an 88-68 loss before a crowd of 9,258 at Lawlor Events Center.
The loss dropped Hawaii to 6-4 in Western Athletic Conference play and 10-12 overall.
The defeat overshadowed Matt Gibson eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for his career with his team-leading 23-point effort. Gibson is the 13th UH player to reach that plateau.
"I just thought their size bothered us," UH coach Bob Nash said. "They got great performances from McGee, Marcelus Kemp and Brandon Fields. They have great players."
Nash said that his post players couldn't defend because they were afraid to foul. With Owsley out, Nash had just 6-9 Bill Amis, 6-10 Paul Campbell and seldom-used 6-8 Alex Veit at his disposal. Campbell averages just 6.1 minutes a game and Veit 4.4.
"They had more fouls to give," said Amis, who tied his career highs in points and rebounds with 16 and nine. "It's hard to play defense when you're scared to foul."
McGee made his presence felt in the first 15 seconds when he swatted away Amis' first two field-goal attempts.
Amis did have good success early, though, scoring eight points in the first 71 2 minutes. He scored on a short jump shot from the right baseline, flushed one home off a nice give-and-go from Gibson, got a stickback, and dunked again off another Gibson pass. Gibson finished with seven assists.
COURTESY OF HEATHER HORN
Sophomore forward Bill Amis scored two of his 16 points on this dunk in the Rainbows' loss to the Wolf Pack last night.
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Gibson scored five first-half points, which enabled the Warriors to keep the game close, 22-20, in the first 11:55.
Nevada, which shot 61 percent for the game, went on a 14-6 tear over the next 4-plus minutes to get the lead to double-digits, 34-24. Kemp, McGee and Fields did all the offensive damage. They combined for 39 first-half points.
Kemp, who scored 20 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, started the onslaught with a jump shot. After Riley Luettgerodt misfired, Fields converted a three-point play. Amis scored on a layup to slice the lead to 27-22.
Kemp scored again and Kareem Nitoto answered with two free throws. McGee scored on a layup and Fields buried a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 34-24.
"It was a combination of both (bad defense and Kemp's ability)," Nash said of his team's performance in the opening half. "He took good shots. He shot the ball extremely well."
"They shot the ball well," Gibson said. "We had a hand in their face (a lot). All you can do is contest the shot and hope they miss."
Kemp was 7-for-9 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc.
"We were real focused," Kemp said. "It was a big game for us. We needed to win. We played real hard and got the win. I got into a good rhythm, and made some shots."
The outburst was no surprise to Fields.
"I see it every day," Fields said. "He's going to be great at the next level."
Nevada 88, Hawaii 68
Rainbow Warriors (10-12, 6-4 wac)
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fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min
|
Gibson |
8-14 |
5-6 |
3 |
3 |
23 |
7 |
4 |
34
|
Dillinger |
4-7 |
1-3 |
4 |
3 |
11 |
1 |
2 |
34
|
Luettgerodt |
3-9 |
0-0 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
31
|
Nash |
2-10 |
2-2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
35
|
Amis |
8-15 |
0-2 |
9 |
4 |
16 |
2 |
2 |
37
|
Nitoto |
1-3 |
4-6 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
13
|
Campbell |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5
|
Mayen |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6
|
Veit |
0-0 |
0-0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5
|
TEAM |
|
|
5
|
Totals |
26-59 |
12-19 |
28 |
19 |
68 |
16 |
12 |
200 |
Wolf Pack (15-8, 7-3 WAC)
|
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min
|
Fields |
6-8 |
2-3 |
0 |
1 |
17 |
4 |
0 |
25
|
Johnson, A. |
1-6 |
3-4 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
27
|
Johnson, D. |
3-4 |
2-2 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
26
|
Kemp |
9-12 |
2-2 |
4 |
1 |
25 |
3 |
3 |
26
|
McGee |
8-13 |
4-7 |
10 |
3 |
20 |
1 |
3 |
26
|
Burleson |
1-2 |
0-1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
21
|
LaGrone |
0-0 |
2-2 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
12
|
Cooke |
0-2 |
2-2 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
19
|
Kraemer |
2-2 |
0-0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
7
|
Ellis |
0-0 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
9
|
Lynch |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Carp |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
TEAM |
|
|
1
|
Totals |
30-49 |
17-23 |
33 |
20 |
88 |
24 |
16 |
200 |
Key - fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fould; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime - Nevada 44, UH 33
3-point goals - UH 4-17 (Dillinger 2-5, Gibson 2-6, Luettgerodt 0-1, Nitoto 0-1, Mayen 0-1, Nash 0-3), Nevada 11-17 (Kemp 5-6, Fields 3-5, Kraemer 2-2, Burleson 1-1, Johnson, A. 0-1, McGee 0-1, Cooke 0-1). Steals - UH 5 (Gibson 2, Dillinger 2, Amis), Nevada 5 (Burleson 3, Fields, Johnson, A.). Blocked shots - UH 5 (Amis 3, Dillinger, Nash), Nevada 4 (McGee 2, Johnson, D., Cooke).
Officials - Verne Harris, Kevin Brill, Jimmy Casas. A- 9,258.