No. 23 Nevada beats San Diego State 83-58
RENO, Nevada (AP) Jordan Caroline scored 26 points and Lindsay Drew just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in No. 23 Nevada's 83-58 victory over San Diego State on Saturday night.
Kendall Stephens added 21 points for Nevada (21-5, 10-2 Mountain West). The Wolf Pack rebounded after falling to UNLV on Wednesday night for their first home game of the season.
Matt Mitchell led San Diego State (13-10, 5-7) with 12 points.
Tied at 33 at the halftime, Nevada turned in a dominant second half, holding the Aztecs to 9 of 32 shooting (28.1 percent), while hitting 15 of their 30 shots (50 percent).
''I thought the defense was phenomenal, the rebounding was phenomenal,'' Nevada coach Eric Musselman said. ''I thought the ball had eyes. We passed it well.''
The Wolf Pack scored the first seven points of the second half and never trailed again. The Aztecs closed to 42-40 with 16:45 to play on a 3-pointer by Devin Watson, but Nevada responded with a 33-14 run, capped by a three-point play by Caroline that made it 75-54 with 5:23 left.
The Wolf Pack outrebounded the Aztecs 26-15 in the second half and 42-35 for the game.
Nevada had struggled to score and rebound in its loss to UNLV, playing without Caleb Martin, its leading scorer, and Musselman criticized his team's effort. He said Saturday's was much better.
''I did know we would play with great energy and effort today,'' Musselman said.
Caleb Martin, who had been listed as out indefinitely with a foot injury, hit 3 of 12 shots from the field, including 2 of 10 from 3-point range, in 23 minutes.
