Jazz Johnson came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points Tuesday night as No. 17 Nevada pulled away from Air Force for a 90-79 win in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Cody Martin added 18 points and five assists for the Wolf Pack (27-3, 14-3 Mountain West), while twin brother Caleb Martin scored 16 points and dished out five assists. Tre'Shawn Thurman tallied 11 points, and Jordan Caroline chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds one game after breaking the glass on a fire-extinguisher cover following the Wolf Pack's loss at Utah State.
Nevada can clinch the top seed for the Mountain West tourney by beating San Diego State on Saturday night in Reno. Utah State (25-6, 15-3) wrapped up at least a share of the league title with a 100-96 overtime win against Colorado State on Tuesday.
Ryan Swan scored 21 points for the Falcons (13-16, 8-9), who canned 50.9 percent of their field-goal tries and hit 12 of 25 3-point attempts. AJ Walker added 18 points while Lavelle Scottie tallied 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Chris Joyce hit for 11 points.
Air Force tied the score at 47 on Caleb Morris' 3-pointer just over a minute into the second half, but the Wolf Pack went on a 12-2 burst to take the lead for good. A run of 12 straight points made it 71-55 with 11:52 left, and Nevada basically coasted to the finish line.
The combination of a three-game winning streak by Air Force and a Nevada hangover from an emotional loss Saturday to Utah State converged in the game's first 5:02. The Falcons raced out to a 13-6 lead as Swan converted a layup.
At that point, the Wolf Pack rattled off 11 consecutive points in just over three minutes, taking a 17-13 advantage as Caroline stuck back his own miss. Nevada maintained that lead for the half's remainder, although it couldn't shake the home team.
Up by seven at one point in the last 6 1/2 minutes of the half, the Wolf Pack couldn't expand it further. Air Force got a layup from Walker with five seconds left to cut the deficit to 45-41 at intermission.
--Field Level Media
Nevada | Air Force | |
Jazz Johnson 27 | Scoring | Ryan Swan 21 |
Caleb Martin 5 | Assists | A.J. Walker 4 |
Jordan Caroline 10 | Rebounds | Lavelle Scottie 10 |
Jordan Caroline 4 | Free Throws Made | Lavelle Scottie 3 |
Cody Martin 2 | Steals | Lavelle Scottie 2 |
Cody Martin 2 | Blocks | Ryan Swan 3 |