Armon Johnson scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and Luke Babbitt added 23 to help Nevada come back from an early 12-point deficit to defeat Louisiana Tech 77-68 Friday night and advance to the finals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

Lyndale Burleson and Brandon Fields each added nine points and
two steals for the second-seeded Wolf Pack (21-11), who opened the
second half with an 11-2 run to take their first lead of the game
then put together a 12-1 run late in the game to help secure the
win.

They will play Saturday night against top-seeded Utah State
(29-4), which beat New Mexico State 71-70 in Friday night's other
semifinal.

Kyle Gibson had 25 points and Magnum Rolle 24 for the
sixth-seeded Bulldogs (15-18), which led by as much as 21-9 midway
through the first half but shot only 28 percent from the field the
second half.

NEVADA 77, LOUISIANA TECH 68

LOUISIANA TECH (15-18)
Guyton 1-10 1-2 3, Ashaolu 3-7 2-3 8, Rolle 8-12 8-12 24, K.Gibson 7-13 7-8 25, Loe 2-6 0-0 4, B.Gibson 1-3 0-0 2, Rogers 0-1 0-0 0, Berhe 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Oliverson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 18-25 68.

NEVADA (21-11)
Burleson 3-4 0-1 9, Babbitt 8-13 7-7 23, Cooke 2-5 0-0 5, Johnson 10-16 2-2 24, Hunt 3-5 0-0 6, Fields 4-9 1-2 9, Shaw 0-2 0-0 0, A.Phillips 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 30-54 11-14 77.

Halftime-Louisiana Tech 35-31. 3-Point Goals-Louisiana Tech 4-18 (K.Gibson 4-9, Loe 0-1, Jackson 0-2, Guyton 0-6), Nevada 6-14 (Burleson 3-4, Johnson 2-3, Cooke 1-2, Shaw 0-1, Babbitt 0-1, Fields 0-3). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Louisiana Tech 37 (Ashaolu 11), Nevada 30 (Babbitt, Johnson 6). Assists-Louisiana Tech 7 (K.Gibson 4), Nevada 12 (Johnson 6). Total Fouls-Louisiana Tech 16, Nevada 21. A-7,397.

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