Nevada tops UNLV on Fazekas night; Tempers flare after Aggies loss
Sparks Tribune and Associated Press
The Nevada basketball team lost more than just a game Saturday night in Logan – they lost their tempers too.
After an 81-76 loss to Utah State on the road resulted in fans storming the court, video quickly surfaced of an upset Wolf Pack team in the hallway outside the locker room that included members of the staff yelling at security and Jordan Caroline punching the glass of a fire extinguisher case.
Reports were conflicting at the time, but after a review by the Mountain West on Monday, it was determined the result of the fracas was due to inappropriate conduct in the handshake line and not the rushing of the court by fans.
The league came out with a statement Monday afternoon.
“After a thorough investigation into the circumstances of Saturday night’s incident, which included a review of numerous video clips from various sources and the collection of written statements from multiple individuals, the Mountain West has concluded the situation was not caused by the court rush,” the statement read. “There was a postgame management plan in place and it was executed successfully.
“Rather, inappropriate conduct by individuals from both programs in the postgame handshake line and subsequently in the locker room areas created the unfortunate circumstances. The Conference office has had multiple communications with both athletics directors and has shared the findings of its review. Each institution will be responsible for the determination and administration of what it deems appropriate disciplinary action for those involved. It must be made clear unsportsmanlike and unprofessional conduct is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”
According to Nevada Sports Net, the university will not suspend Caroline and will handle the matter internally.
Nevada coach Eric Musselman sent out a tweet Monday and had nothing but good things to say about his senior.
“As someone who’s had the honor to know and coach Jordan Caroline for four years, I can testify to his outstanding character, high moral standards and strong integrity. He’s kind, compassionate, and competitive. Basketball aside, we’re fortunate to have such an upstanding young man as a part of the Wolf Pack family.”
Saturday’s loss came after last Wednesday’s season sweep of in-state rival UNLV on a night that saw the Pack retire the No. 22 jersey of perhaps its greatest player, Nick Fazekas. Fazekas was in attendance with his wife and young child, along with other family members and former Nevada players. He spoke briefly after having his jersey raised and a short video highlight package.
The 1-1 week dropped Nevada not only in the AP Top 25 rankings to No. 17, but also dropped the Pack to second place in the Mountain West Conference. Nevada is a half game back (as of Monday) and can still win or tie Utah State for the conference title in the final week.
Nevada closes the regular season out at home against San Diego State on Saturday after playing at Air Force yesterday.
Utah State 81, Nevada 76
Sam Merrill played every minute against Nevada, and the junior guard never wasted a second while on the court. He scored 29 points to lift the Aggies to an 81-76 victory over the Wolf Pack on Saturday night.
He has played all 125 possible minutes over Utah State’s last three games.
“I’m in good enough shape to be able to do it,” Merrill said. “It’s tough at times, but I’m grateful that Coach (Smith) has the trust in me to be able to stay out there for the full 40.”
Merrill scored 15 of his 17 first-half points in the first 12 minutes. His final basket in that stretch put Utah State up 23-14.
Diogo Brito added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Queta had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Aggies (24-6, 14-3). They won their sixth straight game and snapped a five-game losing streak in the series.
Caleb Martin had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Wolf Pack (26-3, 13-3) in their second loss in four games. Tre’Shawn Thurman added 21 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2:47 left, and Cody Martin had 16 points and seven rebounds.
Nevada closed the early gap with five straight baskets. The final one — Caleb Martin’s 3-pointer — cut Utah State’s lead to 28-27. The Wolf Pack couldn’t overtake the Aggies before halftime. Queta and Brito scored back-to-back baskets to keep Utah State in front and a scoop shot from Dwayne Brown, Jr. pushed the lead to 37-31 heading into the final minute of the half.
The Aggies led 46-36 early in the second half behind back-to-back baskets from Merrill and Brock Miller. Utah State led by as many as 13 points, going up 56-43 on back-to-back baskets from Merrill and Brito.
The Wolf Pack used a 10-1 run — highlighted by a pair of layups from Cody Martin — to cut Utah State’s lead to 65-63.
“They’re just so complete. They put so much pressure on you at every single position,” Smith said. “They’re the No. 1 offensive team in our league and the No. 1 defensive team in our league.”
Brito hit a jumper with 4:05 left to keep Nevada from erasing the lead entirely. Nevada had several players foul out over the final three minutes and was never able to complete its comeback. The Aggies hit 7 of 8 free throws and Brito drove for a layup in the final minute.
Nevada 89, UNLV 73
The big three for No. 12 Nevada showed up in a big way last Wednesday night.
Caleb Martin scored 24 points, Cody Martin had a season-high 23 and the Wolf Pack cruised to an 89-73 victory against in-state rival UNLV.
Caroline added 20 points and 12 rebounds for his 16th double-double this season. The trio combined for 26 of Nevada’s first 28 points and 67 in all.
“When our big three play really good (as they did tonight), we are a phenomenal basketball team,” Musselman said.
Nevada shot 53.3 percent from the floor. The Martin twins combined for 10 of 17 from beyond the 3-point arc, and Cody Martin had eight assists.
After shooting 19 percent from 3-point range through the first 18 games, Cody Martin has hit at a 58 percent clip since his game-winning 3 on Jan. 15 against Boise State.
“Whenever (Cody) is aggressive like that, it’s way easier for me, and Jordan, and pretty much everybody,” Caleb Martin said. “He’s a point guard so he is going to get his assists, regardless. He’s going to get in and get his rebounds, regardless. So, I tell him all the time, ‘You need to be aggressive and be ready to shoot the ball.’ . He can do this night in and night out if he wants to.”
Nevada never trailed and entered the break up 46-28. In two meetings this season, the Wolf Pack outscored UNLV by a combined 94-54 in the first half.
“It was pretty much the same as the first game,” UNLV guard Amauri Hardy said. “We came out slow, but we beat them in the second half. But we need to put two halves together.”
Hardy led UNLV with 19 points. Kris Clyburn scored 18 and Noah Robotham had 16.
UNLV outrebounded Nevada 40-28 but committed 17 turnovers to the Wolf Pack’s eight.
Nevada extended its home winning streak to 17 games, one shy of the longest in program history. The Wolf Pack have won four consecutive meetings with UNLV.
“I think it is always important to win, but it’s a big deal to us and the state and the community that we come out and compete like we did,” Cody Martin said. “It’s a big rivalry.”
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