Curry grateful for minutes
Tuesday, Mar. 4, 2008 @ 1:19 am
Crowd favorite dazzles in his first start
Nevada senior Curry Lynch spent most of his career watching games from the end of the bench.
On Saturday, for his last game at Lawlor Event’s Center, Lynch finally made his first start alongside fellow seniors Marcelus Kemp, David Ellis and Demarshay Johnson.
Lynch grabbed three rebounds during 11 minutes of play and put in his first field goal of the season with a layup in the second half.
“I was tired after the first couple minutes, but then I got my second wind and I was alright,” Lynch joked after the game. “It really hasn’t sunk in that it was my last game. I’m really grateful that I was able to get some good minutes. It was a great experience for me.”
Lynch arrived at Nevada five years ago as a walk-on after starring nearby at Virginia City (Nev.) High School.
Playing time has been scarce during Lynch’s time at Nevada, but he fought through and stuck with the team anyway.
He’s long been a fan-favorite and “Curry” chants have been a Lawlor staple over the last four seasons.
His coach and teammates understand his value, too.
Nevada coach Mark Fox said he’s going to miss watching Kemp and Lynch play “Horse” before practices.
“He has a great love for this university and great love for this team,” Fox said. “And we see that everyday and he’s given us so much. He’s been so productive in the role he has, behind the scenes, in practice and with his leadership. He’s really touched this program in a lot of ways.
Win No. 100
Aside from sending the seniors off with a win, Saturday’s victory was also the 100th win of Fox’s career.
Fox is 100-28 since taking over for former coach Trent Johnson before the 2003-2004 season and is the fourth coach at Nevada to win 100 games.
He’s the fastest coach to win 100 games at a Western Athletic Conference school and, nationally, only 21 coaches who spent at least half their careers in Division I got to 100 wins faster than him.
Fox downplayed the milestone during the week, and he was noticeably upset on the bench when the accomplishment was announced just after the Wolf Pack beat the Bulldogs.
“It’s not about me,” Fox said. “It’s about the kids. It’s not about the coach ever. It’s about the players and kids. That’s what it should be about.”
Super sophomores
The two games last week may have been about celebrating the seniors’ last two home games, but the Wolf Pack’s two sophomore starters stole some of the attention with career-high performances.
Guard Brandon Fields led all scorers with a career-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 98-85 win against New Mexico State on Thursday.
Fields made his first eight shots from the field and finished 9 of 11.
Center JaVale McGee went of on Saturday, scoring a career-high 26 points on 12 of 14 shooting.
T’ed up
Somehow Fox’s signature floor stomping, jacket flinging intensity had gone unpunished all season – until Saturday night’s game against Louisiana Tech.
But after Kemp was called for a questionable travel with 5:25 left in the first half, Fox spent the better part of two minutes screaming at the nearest official.
He was finally whistled for a technical, but the move fired up his team.
“To be honest with you, I thought our team was flat,” Fox said. “I thought the crowd was flat. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But I hadn’t had one all year so might as well get one and get the people going.”
After Kyle Gibson hit one of the two technical free throws to make the game 29-21, the Wolf Pack ran off a 13-2 run.
More Senior stuff
Senior forward Demarshay Johnson finished up his career at Lawlor Events Center by scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds.
Johnson has started for most of the season after he was academically ineligible last season.
He’s averaging more than six points and four rebounds per game.
Center David Ellis, who has been a key reserve all season, made the start Saturday as well and scored four points.
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