BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Writer
RENO - With five games in 10 days, Nevada coach Mark Fox wanted to accomplish two things Thursday night.
The first was to avenge the two-point conference-opening loss to San Jose State, and the second was to parcel out the playing time to keep his players fresh.
Mission accomplished.
The Pack, who had 10 players record double-digit minutes, shot 57 percent en route to a 84-46 win over the Spartans before a crowd of 6,895 at Lawlor Events Center.
Nevada, 14-8 overall and 6-3 in WAC play, posted its most lopsided win since pasting Division II University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, 88-33, in Fox's first game as a head coach back on Nov. 20, 2004.
It was a tremendous team effort. Nevada dished out a season-high 24 assists on 35 baskets, and had five players in double figures - JaVale McGee 19, Marcelus Kemp 14, Ray Kraemer and Brandon Fields 11, and Lyndale Burleson 10. It was a career high for Kraemer, who scored all 11 of his points in a 5 minute 12 second span in the second half.
"I'm not surprised," Fox said. "I hoped we'd play well. We practiced well. We have improved in the last month. I thought we would play well. We showed we understand how to play offense a little better. We played together. A lot of guys got the ball in the right spots to score.
"Five games in 10 days is a big challenge. We have to take it one day at a time and one game at a time. Fortunately, we were able to spread the minutes. Hopefully we can stay as fresh as we can during the stretch."
No doubt Nevada had that early loss on its minds. The Pack made life miserable for San Jose State from the outset, and the Spartans certainly made life miserable for themselves by not defending well and shooting a conference-worst 30 percent from the floor.
"It was a combination that they played real well and we played really poorly," San Jose State coach George Nessman. "Put those two things together, and we got the butt-kicking we deserved.
"I thought we got discouraged, and that's more discouraging for us (coaches). You have to compete every play, and I don't think we did that at times."
Nevada was solid at both ends of the floor in building a 43-23 first-half lead. Nevada shot 56 percent from the floor and held the Spartans to a frigid 27 percent.
The Pack set the tone early, roaring to a 22-7 lead in the first 7 1/2 minutes. Everybody chipped in, too. McGee showed good aggressiveness early, scoring seven points in that span. Fields added five on two early baskets and Kemp and Lyndale Burleson rifled in 3-pointers.
"JaVale played well early," Fox said. "He got the ball in the right spots, and somebody was throwing him the ball. A lot of guys played well."
"JaVale got off to a good start," Nessman said. "Young players respond when they're doing well. The last time we played them, he didn't get off to a good start, and I think that has something to do with it."
The Spartans climbed back into the game with an 11-4 run, cutting the deficit to 26-18, as Tim Pierce and Mac Peterson drained 3-pointers.
Nevada roared back with a 17-5 surge in the last 8 minutes 46 seconds, including a 13-3 run. Kemp scored seven points in that span, while McGee dunked one off a nice pass from Demarshay Johnson and Fields ended the half with a buzzer-beating dunk to make it 43-23.
The Pack didn't slow down in the second half, either.
Nevada hit nine of its first 14 from the floor and increased its lead to 62-33 with 12:47 left in the game. It was garbage time, thereafter.
McGee was again instrumental at the offensive end.
In a span of 82 seconds, McGee took a feed from Kemp and dunked the ball, scored on a nice finger roll in the lane and soared down the key to slam home a Fields misfire and make it 51-28. That last dunk started a 13-5 surge that got the lead to 29. Kemp knocked down two field goals and Kraemer drained the first of three 3-pointers to complement McGee.
"Everything was clicking for everyone," Burleson said. "We were really excited to play the game, especially these guys. We played really good. We brought our A game, played defense and won."
What was most impressive is that Nevada built on its lead, which is something that hasn't always happened this year.
"I think we defended with the lead, and we were able to get some points off our defense and sustain our defense," Fox said. "A lot of times when you get the a lead, you get sloppy offensively. We were able to execute even though we were ahead."
Nevada increased its lead to a game-best 40 points, 83-43, with 2:47 left on a Malik Cooke free throw. Cooke scored four points and pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds in his 18-minute stint.