UNR seals outright WAC title
RENO -- Senior Olek Czyz scored 15 points and junior Malik Story added 14 points as UNR held off New Mexico State 65-61 on Thursday to clinch the Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship.
Senior Dario Hunt added 10 points for the Wolf Pack (24-5, 12-1 WAC), who will carry the No. 1 seed into the conference tournament, which opens Wednesday at Orleans Arena.
The conference title is UNR's sixth overall in the WAC and first since it shared the crown with three other teams in the 2007-2008 season.
Wendell McKines had 19 points and 13 rebounds for New Mexico State (22-9, 9-4), which had its five-game winning streak snapped.
The Wolf Pack led 63-54 with 3:02 remaining before New Mexico State reeled off seven straight points. Bandja Sy hit a 3-pointer from the corner, then scored on a breakaway dunk after a steal on the ensuing possession to make it 63-59. Another dunk by Daniel Mullings with 56 seconds left made it 63-61.
UNR's Deonte Burton missed a desperation 3-pointer as the shot clock wound down, giving New Mexico State a chance to tie or take the lead on its last possession. But Hernst Laroche's pass went out of bounds with 1.1 seconds left, giving the ball back to UNR.
Burton was then fouled and hit a pair of free throws to put the game away.
UNR made 7 of 16 3-point attempts and shot 43 percent overall from the floor. New Mexico State shot only 34 percent.
UNR has made a habit of winning close games this season, improving to 8-2 in games decided by five points or less.
AROUND THE NATION
KENTUCKY BURIES 'DOGS -- At Lexington, Ky., Darius Miller hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, and No. 1 Kentucky (29-1, 15-0 Southeastern) extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 52 games with a 79-49 win over Georgia (13-16, 4-11). Kentucky made a season-best 15 3-pointers, hitting six in a row in the second half.
MICHIGAN STAYS IN TITLE HUNT -- At Champaign, Ill., Tim Hardaway Jr. had 25 points and 11 rebounds to help keep No. 13 Michigan in the Big Ten title race with a 72-61 victory over Illinois. Trey Burke added 21 points for Michigan (22-8, 12-5). Illinois closed to 40-39 with about 15 minutes left, but missed three chances to tie or take a lead. Meyers Leonard led the Fighting Illini (17-13, 6-11) with 18 points and nine rebounds.
SEMINOLES SHOCK VIRGINIA -- At Charlottesville, Va., Ian Miller made a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left, and No. 22 Florida State (20-9, 11-4 Atlantic Coast) rallied from 11 points down in the last 4½ minutes to stun No. 24 Virginia, 63-60. Mike Scott scored 28 points, his career high in an ACC game, for the Cavaliers (21-8, 8-7), who played with only seven scholarship players available to coach Tony Bennett.
