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Kemp, Fazekas power No. 21 Nevada

Dec 13, 2006 - 5:26 AM RENO, Nevada (Ticker) -- Once Nevada's top two scorers got warmed up, St. Mary's had no chance.

Marcelus Kemp scored 20 points and Nick Fazekas added 19 as No. 21 Nevada used a big second half to post an easy 76-58 victory over St. Mary's.

Fazekas, the two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, went over 2,000 points for his career as the Wolf Pack bounced back from their first defeat of the season, a 58-49 home loss to UNLV on Saturday.

"It feels good. It was something I was hoping to accomplish this year," said Fazekas, who became the first player in school history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds. "I didn't expect to do that when I came to Nevada. It's a definite accomplishment."

Kemp scored 15 points in the second half and Fazekas had 11 as Nevada (8-1) broke away from a 30-23 halftime lead.

"We had the same approach - to run our offense and get defensive rebounds," Kemp said.

The Gaels, who defeated the Wolf Pack last season, closed the first half with a 7-0 run to get within striking distance, 30-23.

Nevada opened the second half with a 16-3 spurt, fueled by eight points from Kemp, who was 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point range after intermission. His shot from the arc extended the lead to 46-26 with 15:00 to play.

"Our guys need to play better basketball and we need to take better shots," St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. "This team (Nevada) is good. Marcelus Kemp played at a very high level."

Kemp finished 7-of-11 from the floor and made all four of his 3-point attempts as the Wolf Pack shot 55 percent (28-of-51) for the game.

The Wolf Pack also got a boost from Denis Ikovlev, who tied a career high with 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

"We were mentally ready to go today. Our shots just dropped tonight," Ikovlev said. "I was just trying to hit open shots. I'm trying to take advantage of my playing time."

Fazekas, despite playing with bruised ribs, hit 5-of-7 shots in the second half as Nevada shot a blistering 63 percent (17-of-27) after the break.

"We were the better 3-point shooting team," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "We played within the system a little better and we were able to get into a rhythm."

Diamon Simpson scored 18 points to lead St. Mary's (6-4), which shot just 33 percent (19-of-58) and made just 4-of-18 shots from the arc.