March 2, 2006
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RENO, Nev. (AP) - The Nevada Wolf Pack are getting used to winning around here.
Nick Fazekas had 20 points and 12 rebounds and No. 24 Nevada beat San Jose State 83-60 Thursday night to clinch the Western Athletic Conference title.
"This is the reason I came here," junior Demarshay Johnson said. "This is a great program. Winning is becoming a tradition here."
Nevada, which also won the WAC regular-season title last year and shared it with Texas-El Paso the year before, won its 10th game in a row. But the Wolf Pack's players aren't packing their bags for the NCAA tournament just yet.
"We can't look too far ahead. We're not in one of those conferences where we're a lock to go," said Fazekas, who notched his fifth consecutive double-double.
Marcelus Kemp scored 14 points, Johnson 12 and Kyle Shiloh 11 for Nevada (23-5, 12-4).
"The most difficult thing in athletics is to win the championship when everybody says you are supposed to," said Nevada coach Mark Fox, whose team was the unanimous preseason pick to win the league title.
"Fortunately for us, we've got quality young men and they were able to take care of business on a daily basis. They have been very determined to go out and add another trophy to our trophy case," Fox said.
Demetrius Brown had 16 points and nine rebounds and Matt Misko a career-high 15 points for the Spartans (6-23, 2-13), who lost their seventh in a row.
San Jose State coach George Nessman said he expects Nevada to do well in what would be its third straight appearance in the NCAA tourney.
"They are good enough to play with anybody in the country. I think their win at Kansas (on Dec. 1) proved that," Nessman said. "But I don't think winning in the first round is enough for them anymore. They look like a team that could go to the second weekend and do some damage."
Fazekas entered the game ranked 16th in the nation in scoring at 21.6 points per game and 14th in rebounds (10.3).
"We're playing well right now, but I think we can be better," Fazekas said.
Mo Charlo had eight rebounds and Ramon Sessions added eight assists and six rebounds for Nevada, which outscored the Spartans 15-4 over the last 7:36 of the first half and led 43-35 at halftime.
Nevada opened the second half with a 12-2 run, including two dunks and a 3-pointer by Fazekas for a 55-27 lead with 17:56 left.
The Spartans answered with a 9-0 run to pull to within 55-36 on Lance Holloway's basket. But the Wolf Pack scored the next six, including Lyndale Burleson's two free throws to go ahead 61-36 with 11:34 remaining to put the game out of reach.
Nevada shot 54 percent from the field, including 9-of-17 from 3-point range, compared to San Jose State's 30 percent shooting.
"Coming out of high school, this is what you want to do - win championships," said Shiloh, a junior.
The Wolf Pack are 13-1 at home this season, 41-5 dating to the 2003-04 season. They finish the regular season at home Saturday night against Fresno State before the WAC postseason tourney begins in Reno next Thursday.
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