Basketball: Nevada survives OT vs. Boise State

It might be time to start believing Luke Babbitt.

"We keep saying the same thing," the Nevada Wolf Pack sophomore said Saturday after an 88-80 overtime win over the Boise State Broncos at Lawlor Events Center. "There's no easy game in the WAC. And this was a perfect example of that."

Nothing, once again, was easy for the Wolf Pack. The Broncos, now in last place in the Western Athletic Conference at 2-10 (11-14 overall), didn't allow the Wolf Pack to take its first lead until Dario Hunt hit a free throw with 13:54 to go in the second half.

"They came out and hit us in the mouth," Pack junior Armon Johnson said. "And we were a little surprised by that. It put us back on our heels."

"We feel lucky to win this, that's for sure," Babbitt said. "We were very fortunate."

It wasn't about luck. It was about Babbitt putting his team on his back down the stretch in overtime.

The 6-foot-9 WAC Player of the Year candidate scored eight points in a span of just 1:54 to give the Pack an 87-78 lead with 51 seconds to play in the extra period. Babbitt hit a jumper from about the free throw line for a 79-76 lead with 2:45 left, two free throws for an 81-78 lead (2:13), another jumper for an 83-78 lead (1:21) and two more free throws for the 86-78 lead that put the game away with under a minute to play.

Babbitt finished with a team-high 27 points and was 8-for-8 from the free throw line. He has now made 23 consecutive free throws against Boise (19-of-19 this year) dating back to last season.

"They came out and had more energy than we did at the start of the game," said Babbitt, who has now scored 20 or more points in 13 of his last 14 games. "But the good thing is we responded."

Better late than never. The Pack, now 15-9 overall (11-1 at home) and 7-4 in the WAC, clinched a WAC Tournament berth with the victory.

"I think we're pretty close to where we want to be when the WAC tournament starts," said Johnson, who complemented Babbitt with 24 points. "There's just one or two things we need to fix but we're close and I'm real confident we'll be where we want to be for the tournament."

The Pack nearly put the game away in regulation, taking a 71-66 lead with 1:30 to go in the second half on a lay-up by Johnson. The Pack, though, could muster just two more free throws by Johnson over those final 90 seconds and Boise sent the game into overtime on a 3-pointer by Daequon Montreal with 11 seconds to play.

"That was their only 3-pointer of the game," said Pack coach David Carter of Boise's 1-for-17 performance from beyond the arc. "So the odds were pretty good that he was going to miss. But he made it."

The Broncos dominated the first five minutes of the game, taking a 16-7 lead. The 6-foot-9 Ike Okoye did most of the damage, scoring eight quick points on mostly 15-foot jumpers.

"He can hit that shot," Babbitt said. "Not a lot of people have heard of him but he's a great player, very underrated."

The Pack, which has won 17 of its last 21 games against Boise State, knows that Okoye can hit that shot now.

"We didn't anticipate him shooting the jumper as much as he did," Carter said. "That surprised us. The last time we played them (an 88-82 Pack win in Boise on Jan. 20) he didn't step out and shoot that 15-footer like he did tonight."

The Wolf Pack offense never found its rhythm in the first half as Boise took a 34-28 lead at the intermission. The Pack shot just 34% in the first half.

"You just have to stay aggressive," Carter said. "You can't get down, especially at home with that crowd (a Lawlor season-high 7,598)."

Babbitt and Johnson, who scored all of the Pack's 25 points in the second half of the 67-66 victory at Idaho on Wednesday, had a little more help this time. Joey Shaw turned in his best game since a 25-point, 9-rebound effort against Houston on Nov. 21 with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

Shaw had just 23 total rebounds over his previous eight games.

"Coach Carter challenged me," Shaw said. "My rebounding has been down. That was a big key for me in getting my energy back up."

"He's been kind of a mystery the last few games," Carter said. "You know, we only play six, seven guys a game and when you only play six or seven games, every player is accountable. I just thought his rebounding had been lacking lately."

The Wolf Pack, which has just six regular-season games left, will host Fresno State on Wednesday night (7:05 p.m.).