Fresno St. Bulldogs vs Nevada Wolf Pack Box Score on Feb 23, 2019

Caleb Martin's tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3:58 left Saturday night keyed an 8-0 run by No. 6 Nevada that gave it a 74-68 win over Fresno State in Reno, Nev., keeping the Wolf Pack atop the Mountain West Conference standings.

Martin's 24 points led four Wolf Pack players in double figures. Jordan Caroline added 17 while Tre'Shawn Thurman hit for 14 points, including an emphatic dunk with 45.6 seconds left that gave Nevada (25-2, 12-2 MWC) a 70-65 lead. Jazz Johnson scored 10.

Deshon Taylor pumped in a game-high 30 points for the Bulldogs (19-8, 10-5), who saw their hopes of winning the conference's regular-season title take a fatal blow. Nate Grimes came off the bench to score 16, but it wasn't enough to assure victory in a rough game.

With bodies littering the floor on virtually every possession, Fresno State led as late as the 4:34 mark of the second half, but went scoreless for nearly 3 1/2 minutes down the stretch. Ultimately, the difference came down to the foul line, where the Wolf Pack made 22 of 31, while the Bulldogs hit only 5 of 10.

Nevada maintained a half-game lead over Utah State in the Mountain West. The teams meet on March 2 in Logan, Utah.

Both teams came out of the gate blazing. A jumper by Taylor gave Fresno State a 17-13 advantage just over 4 1/2 minutes into the game, setting the tone for a contest that was much tighter than most anticipated.

Martin's 3-pointer at the 11:14 mark gave Nevada a 21-19 edge and was a theme of the half -- the Wolf Pack smoking from distance. They sank 8 of their first 12 3-pointers in the half and needed all of them to keep pace with the Bulldogs.

Taylor's layup with 5:51 left in the half put Fresno State back in front at 31-30, but Nevada fought back late in the half. Thurman hit a layup with 11 seconds remaining to give the Wolf Pack a 42-39 edge at the break.

--Field Level Media