Dec. 3, 2005
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STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) - Mo Charlo scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds and Nick Fazekas added 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, helping No. 20 Nevada snap a 20-game losing streak in Stockton with a 77-70 victory over Pacific on Saturday night.
The Wolfpack preserved their 14-game road winning streak dating to last season with a strong second half that featured a 25-for-28 performance at the free throw line.
Nevada (5-0), playing its third game against a team that won its conference last season, won at Pacific for the first time since taking two in a row here during the 1949-50 season, though no dates were available.
Christian Maraker had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, who had been 9-0 in the Spanos Center since the arena opened in 1981.
The Wolfpack won in their final game of an exhausting four-game road trip that will have covered 10,028 miles in 11 days by the time Nevada's bus returns to Reno on Sunday - including a 72-70 at Kansas on Thursday night.
At 5-0, this is Nevada's best start since before the 1961-62 season, but the school's records prior to that year are incomplete. The Wolfpack won 10 of their first 11 games in 1978-79.
Nevada pounded the ball inside early in the second half and Charlo made three quick trips to the line in less than 2 minutes, making all six of his shots to start a 14-4 run that put the Wolfpack ahead 47-45 and on their way to overcoming a nine-point halftime deficit.
They were already in the bonus on Pacific's seventh foul of the half when Charlo sunk two free throws at 16:12. Fazekas followed with eight straight points to end the spurt for a 47-45 lead with 12:05 to play.
After Demarshay Johnson blocked a putback attempt by Pacific's Michael White with just more than 6 minutes left, Marcelus Kemp scored Nevada's next five points and then Fazekas scored the following five to give the Wolfpack a 66-59 lead with 3:52 remaining.
Kemp finished with 14 points in 18 minutes.
Pacific got a big lift from speedy freshman guard Steffan Johnson, who had five of his 11 points, a steal and an assist during Pacific's 21-5 run to end the first half.
The Tigers (4-3), who had won the past two meetings against Nevada, ended the Wolfpack's 18-game home winning streak with a 72-69 win on Dec. 11, 2004, in Reno. Pacific went 27-4 last season, won the Big West Conference and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
Pacific lost four starters and seven seniors in all - five earned all-conference honors - from that team that set a school record for victories. Maraker is the team's top returning scorer.
Nevada struggled moving the ball around the perimeter in the first half against Pacific's high-pressuring, rotating zone defense. The Wolfpack committed four straight turnovers during a 12-0 spurt by Pacific that helped the Tigers to a 39-30 lead at the break despite being outrebounded 20-12.
The Tigers started the game 6-for-21 and had a tough time on the boards against the aggressive and taller Wolfpack before they took advantage of Nevada's mistakes to come back.
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