Freshman Luke Babbitt scored 11 of his game-high 30 points in the first five minutes of the second half to lead Nevada to a 78-69 victory over San Jose State in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament Thursday. Malik Cooke added 16 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, and Armon Johnson had 14 points for the second-seeded Wolf Pack (20-11), who posted their sixth consecutive 20-win season. They advance to Friday night's semifinal against sixth-seeded Louisiana Tech (15-17), which kncoked off Idaho 70-62. DeShawn Wright scored a career-high 22 points, C.J. Webster 14 and Adrian Oliver 12 for San Jose State (13-17). Babbitt made 12 of 13 free throws and shot 8-for-14 from the field. His explosive start to the second half turned Nevada's 37-31 halftime lead into a 50-41 advantage with 14:48 left in the game and the Wolf Pack led the rest of the way.
