RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Larry Sanders had 17 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks as Virginia Commonwealth held off Nevada for an 85-76 win on Friday night.
The Rams (4-1) broke to a 16-5 lead and pushed to a 26-15 margin with 6:11 left on T.J. Gwynn's jumper. The Wolf Pack, who missed 18 of their first 21 shots, then cut the margin to 30-28 with 2:13 left.
Virginia Commonwealth held on for a 35-28 halftime lead and began the second half on a 10-2 run. The Rams built the lead to 60-40 with 12:20 left on Ed Nixon's dunk.
Nevada (2-2) pulled within eight points as Virginia Commonwealth went without a field goal for 5:11 before a Brandon Rozzell jumper in the lane ended the dry spell. Nevada could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Nixon added a career-high 17 points for the Rams.
Luke Babbitt led the Wolf Pack with a career-high 27 points, 23 in the second half.
Nevada shot just 35.4 percent from the field (29-82) and 7.1 percent from the three-point line (1-14) in the contest.