RENO, Nev. — Marcelus Kemp scored 22 of his career-high 35 points in the second half and a young, error-prone Nevada team avoided turnovers down the stretch as the Wolf Pack hung on to beat the Aggies 85-80 last night in the Western Athletic Conference.

Kemp made 4 of 8 3-pointers and 13 of 14 free throws for the Wolf Pack (16-8, 8-3 WAC), who had lost their past three games against league-leading Utah State.

"Marcelus is such a warrior. He loves the big games and the big moments," Nevada coach Mark Fox said.

"We beat an excellent team that we have a lot of respect for," he said. "We're not picked to win the conference so to be where we're at is a great accomplishment for this team."

Jaycee Carroll scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half for the Aggies (18-7, 8-2 WAC), who had pulled as close as 78-74 on Gary Wilkinson's slam dunk with 46 seconds left after trailing by as much as 64-46 midway through the second half.

Brandon Fields followed that dunk with a pair of free throws and Kemp made 4 of 5 from the line the final 35 seconds to secure the win for Nevada, which has won six of its past seven.

It was only the second loss in the last 15 games for Utah State, which outrebounded Nevada 36-33.

"We had no answer for Kemp," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "You've got to guard a guy like that with the whole team and we didn't do that."

The Wolf Pack entered the game averaging 14 turnovers per outing but finished the night with only four, a sign Fox said his team is maturing offensively.

"I think you've seen that the last few games," he said. "I'm real proud of the way we handled the ball and that was a big key to this game."

Kemp, who also had seven rebounds and six assists, moved into third on Nevada's career scoring list with 1,757 points. He surpassed Alex Boyd, who scored 1,731 from 1967-70, and now trails only Nick Fazekas, 2,464 (2003-07) and Edgar Jones, 1,877 (1975-79).

"It's a great honor but the main thing is we won the game," said Kemp.

Nevada beat Hawai'i, 88-68, last Saturday. Utah State plays UH at the Stan Sheriff Center this Saturday.

NO. 11 TEXAS 72, NO. 3 KANSAS 69

AUSTIN, Texas — Damion James scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the second half, and the Longhorns (20-4, 7-2 Big 12) held off the Jayhawks (23-2, 8-2). James finished with 14 points. Connor Atchely led Texas with 16 points and A.J. Abrams added 14 points.

NO. 8 GEORGETOWN 55, VILLANOVA 53

WASHINGTON — Jonathan Wallace, fouled in the backcourt by Corey Stokes with one-tenth of a second remaining, sank both free throws to give the Hoyas (20-3, 10-2 Big East) their first home win over the Wildcats (14-9, 4-7) in more than a decade. Wallace came up with the loose ball in a mad scramble after Scottie Reynolds turned the ball over in traffic while Villanova was holding for the last shot. Wallace started to dribble and was slightly bumped by Stokes, who became the fourth player to foul out in a game that was marred by 48 fouls.

NO. 25 SAINT MARY'S 54, SANTA CLARA 50

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Diamon Simpson made two free throws with 24.4 seconds left to give the Gaels (21-3, 8-1 West Coast Conference) the lead and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in a win over the Broncos (12-11, 4-4).

TOP 25 WOMEN

NO. 1 TENNESSEE 59, NO. 5 RUTGERS 58

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Nicky Anosike sank two free throws with two-tenths of a second left and the Lady Vols (22-1) rallied to beat the Scarlet Knights (19-4) in a rematch of last season's national championship game. Trailing 58-57, Anosike grabbed an offensive rebound and was grabbed by Kia Vaughn from behind. Unclear whether the foul had come before time expired, the Rutgers bench began to celebrate, but officials reviewed the play and determined that the foul had been committed just before the buzzer.