When March comes around every college basketball season, you want your team to be playing on all cylinders.  Even when the pressure is on, like it was for both Louisiana Tech and Nevada tonight, your team still must execute and battle to the end.  Tonight, the Pack did that, pushing themselves to the No. 2 seed for the upcoming WAC Tournament.

Nevada, which for the second straight year will host the WAC Tournament, will play the No. 7 seed Idaho next Thursday night in the quarterfinals with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 PM. Louisiana Tech, knowing had they beat Nevada at Lawlor tonight, that they would have earned the No. 2 seed, now fall to fourth place overall in the conference.  They’ll play No. 5 Fresno State next Thursday in the WAC quarterfinals.

Tonight, the Pack broke up a 10-9 score with a solid 20-7 run with just over 8 minutes left in the first half.  Although the Bulldogs battled back to trim the lead a few times, at the half Nevada still held a commanding 41-28 lead.  The pack drilled 7 first-half three-pointers—-most of the wide-open variety—-to take control of the contest.

In the second half, Nevada stretched their lead to 16 points at the 13:23 mark after a lay-up by Marko Cukic.  Although sophomore Luke Babbitt, who we believe will likely be named the WAC Player of the Year, tied his career-high tonight with 29 points, plus 7 rebounds and 4 assists, it was the Nevada freshman, Cukic, who gave the Pack a monster effort in both toughness and hustle.  The big man, who is built nothing like Dennis Rodman, still found a way to “worm” his way around the Bulldog defense, creating havoc every time he stepped on the court.

“He really played a great game for us,” Babbitt said after the win. “He got us a few hustle plays, a few put-backs and just did a lot of things we really needed for the victory.”

Cukic also played strong and physical defense, staying down and strong on outstanding Tech big man Magnum Rolle, plus outmaneuvering a number of Louisiana Tech defenders for a handful of offensive boards.

The win was tremendous for the Pack on senior night as well, celebrating the careers of Joey Shaw, Brandon Fields, Ray Kraemer and the medically retired Richie Phillips with jersey ceremonies.

Louisiana Tech-Nevada Box Score

Louisiana Tech-Nevada Game Notes

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