Lynch feels the love in last home game

Curry feels the love in last home game

BY DARRELL MOODY

Appeal Sports Writer

RENO - Curry Lynch, the bubbly and personable red-headed kid from Virginia City, found out again just how much he is adored by Nevada basketball fans.

They gave him a standing ovation when he was introduced in a special pre-game ceremony along with fellow seniors Demarshay Johnson, Marcelus Kemp and David Ellis, and they cheered even louder when he was announced as the fifth starter.

Lynch played the first three-plus minutes of the contest, and then played eight straight minutes in the second half when the Pack built a comfortable lead.

Lynch logged a season-high 11 minutes and scored two points and pulled down a career-high three rebounds in Nevada's 87-57 win over Louisiana Tech Saturday at Lawlor Events Center.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Lynch said when asked about playing his last regular-season home game. "It was a great team effort, and I'm glad I got the chance to participate a lot more than normal."

Lynch missed two free throws before he was taken out of the game in the first half, and he scored his lone basket during a 17-2 run in the second half.

"Curry played real solid," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "I'm disappointed he missed his free throws tonight because he's a good free-throw shooter. Defensively, he was very solid.

"If he didn't have so many talented players in front of him, he'd play more. Curry has been a huge part of this team. He has a great love for this university and for this team. We see that every day and he's given us so much. He's been productive in the role he has. He's touched the program in a lot of ways."

FOX GETS TICKED

Fox became the fastest coach to win 100 games at a Western Athletic Conference school.

UTEP's Don Haskins reached 100 quicker, but that was before the Miners entered the conference.

Fox had an upset look on his face when the public address announcer told the crowd that the win was Fox's 100th.

"It's all [the] players," Fox said. "I haven't won any games. The players won the games and they're great players. It's not about me. It's about these kids. It's not about the coach - ever. It's about the players. That's what it should be about."

BENCH PLAY

Nevada had a season-high 56 points off its bench, but that statistic was skewed because Brandon Fields and JaVale McGee didn't start.

Fields and McGee combined for 40 points, combining to shoot 16-for-20 from the floor. McGee scored his 26 points in just 25 minutes, while Fields had 14 points in 19 minutes.

FACTS & FIGURES

The win was Nevada's 37th in its last 40 games at Lawlor. Nevada is 13-2 at home this season, the only losses coming against California and Boise State ... Nevada now leads the series against Louisiana Tech 12-3, and has won the last 11 games against the Bulldogs ... With his nine points, Kemp now has 1,859 and needs 19 more points to move past Edgar Jones and into second place all-time behind Nick Fazekas (2,464) ... Nevada is 19-1 when leading at halftime , 12-0 when it shoots better than 50 percent and 13-2 when winning the battle of the boards ... Galena High School's Luke Babbitt watched Nevada's big win from right behind the Louisiana Tech bench. Babbitt, a power forward for the Grizzlies, will play for the Pack next season ... Ray Kraemer knocked down a 3-pointer and is now shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc (11-for-22), which is tops on the team ... Nevada had 27 assists, a season best. The previous best was 24, which was done in three consecutive games against San Jose State, Hawaii and Utah State earlier this year... Nevada gave up just 19 rebounds, just two more than it gave up in its win over Tech back in late January... The 183 points scored in the last two games is Nevada's highest this season. Nevada had 173 in wins over Hawaii and Utah State.

• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281