Box Score Jan. 24, 2015 Final Stats
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Paul Watson scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots to lead Fresno State to a 66-62 victory over Nevada on Saturday.
There were two ties and three lead changes over the final five minutes, the last coming with 2:37 left when Fresno State's Cezar Guerrero hit a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs (10-10, 5-2 Mountain West) a 58-57 lead.
Nevada (6-12, 2-4) would have four chances to take the lead over the next two possessions, but Eric Cooper Jr. missed from 3-point range and A.J. West missed three layups, two of which came after offensive rebounds.
Marvelle Harris made a 3-pointer and then layup on the ensuing two Bulldog possessions put the game away. Harris finished with 15 points and seven boards.
Fresno State improved to 9-1 this season when leading with five minutes to play.
Cooper led Nevada with 20 points.
Men's Basketball Postgame Notes
Nevada is 6-12 overall and 2-4 in Mountain West play after falling 66-62 at Fresno State (10-10, 5-2 MW) today. The Bulldogs won both games this season.
The Wolf Pack leads the series with FS 51-41.
Nevada hosts UNLV on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Wolf Pack has lost its last four games after starting MW play 2-0.
Freshman Eric Cooper, Jr. and junior Tyron Criswell both made their first starts of the season for junior Marqueze Coleman and sophomore D.J. Fenner. Coleman and Fenner had started every game this season.
Cooper scored a career and game-high 20 points which is the second 20-point game of the season for a Pack player. Fenner had 24 points at Pacific. It is the first time Cooper led the team in scoring.
Criswell's 19 points was also a career-high and was the second most points scored in the game.
Cooper's four 3-pointers made tied the four he made at UNLV and is the high by a Nevada player this season.
Junior AJ West finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds to record his eighth double-double of the season. West has four double-doubles in six MW games.
West has a block in every game this season.
Nevada won the rebounding battle 47-33. It is the seventh time the Pack outrebounded its opponent by double figures. On the season Nevada has outrebounded 12 opponents.
West has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games, 13 on the season and 20 in his career. The 13 double figure scoring games tops on the team.
West has topped the team in rebounding a team-high 13 times and 12 times has posted a game-high.
Michael Perez made his 50th consecutive start and Fenner has appeared in all 50 games during his Pack career.
Coleman was the fourth Nevada player in double figures finishing with 10 coming off the bench for the first time this season.
Head coach David Carter is now 95-87 in his sixth season at Nevada and 15-25 in his third season of MW play.
