RENO, Nev. – Center Will Baker capped his dominant, 23-point night by scoring 10 of the Pack's final 17 points in Tuesday night's 81-72 win over San José State.

Baker finished just a point shy of his career high, going 11-for-13 from the field and grabbing six rebounds. His play inside over the final five and a half minutes helped Nevada (11-13, 5-8 MW) overcome the Spartans' hot shooting night from outside.

San José State (7-18, 0-13 MW) hit 14 3-pointers on the night, and one from Omari Moore put the Spartans up, 65-64, with 6:25 to play. That was when Baker took over. The Austin, Texas, big man put the Pack in front for good with a hook shot in the paint a minute later, then, following Kenan Blackshear's three-point play, scored the next eight points, a run which culminated with an alley-oop dunk to make it 77-70 with 34 seconds remaining.

Nevada's nine-point margin at the buzzer was its largest lead of the night, as the Pack was consistently frustrated by the Spartan 3-point shooting. Moore hit four of those triples, scoring 22 points, as San José State built a 43-39 halftime lead.

But the Pack defense buckled down in the second half, limiting the Spartans to just 29 points and just a 5-for-14 showing from behind the arc.

Grant Sherfield scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, including four free throws in the final 30 seconds, to go with eight assists. Desmond Cambridge Jr. was 4-for-8 from deep and finished with 14 points, while Tré Coleman (eight points, 3-for-3 from the field) and K.J. Hymes (nine points, 4-of-5 shooting) made strong contributions.

The teams wrap the home-and-home Thursday night in San Jose, with tip set for 9 p.m.