Jarod Lucas led Nevada with 22 points, and nine players had at least four points as the Nevada Men’s Basketball team notched their 13th victory of the season, matching a non-conference program record with a 92-59 pummeling of the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds at Lawlor Events Center.
Nevada (13-1, 0-0 MW) took the floor rested after a Christmas Eve victory over Georgia Tech in the Diamond Head Classic, securing the championship trophy for a trip back across the Pacific and going 4-0 on the road trip to the islands that included wins over Hawaii, Temple, and TCU.
Head coach Steve Alford used the contest as an opportunity to get his bench some minutes and put some different combinations out on the floor. 11 Nevada players saw action in the first half, with eight getting on the score sheet.
The different lineups sometimes struggled with continuity, but it was an important exercise, nonetheless. The Mountain West is deep with five teams entering league play in the top 38 in NET rankings.
Nevada’s depth will be counted on given how an over-achieving 2022-23 squad, through no fault of their own, simply ran out of gas down the stretch, rolling only seven or eight healthy players all season.
Head coach Steve Alford commented, “We got our bench a lot more minutes than they got on the island. I think that really helps us because everyone should be feeling pretty good about themselves individually and collectively with what we’ve been able to do. We should have really good confidence going into Fresno (State).”
Division two Fresno Pacific arrived in Reno with a 1-9 non-conference mark but showed some fight as they tested themselves against a Nevada team that has a chance to reach the NCAA Tournament. A more than respectable 40% shooting (4-10) beyond the arc kept the Sunbirds hanging around midway through the first half at 20-14.
The Wolf Pack was not about to mess around with Alford’s game plan and stepped things up on both ends of the floor, even working on back-court defensive trap pressure. The Pack went on a 26-6 run in the next 9:47 to secure a comfortable 25-point halftime advantage.
With the game in hand, the challenge for the Wolf Pack in the second half was to remain disciplined, play solid basketball on both ends of the floor, and escape healthy.
Aside from perhaps some lazy three-point line defense resulting in the Sunbirds’ Kyle Monk going an insane 10-13 from deep and racking up 32 points in the game, Nevada accomplished all three second-half goals while getting 12 players at least five minutes of floor time.
“You know to tie a program record and get 13 non-league wins, these guys have just done an incredible job and I couldn’t be more proud of them, and we are ready to start league play,” said Alford.
Next up: Nevada travels to Fresno State to begin Mountain West Conference play on Saturday, January 6, at 4 pm before returning home to face Air Force on Tuesday, January 9, at 7 pm.
Notes
- K.J. Hymes (5-6), Hunter McIntosh (7-11), and Lucas combined for 54 points.
- Jarod Lucas has scored in double figures in all 14 games this season.
- Nevada dominated points in the paint 58-12.
- The Wolf Pack had 21 assists, 12 steals, and just six turnovers.
- The Nevada bench scored 36 points.
- Tulane transfer forward Tylan Pope made his home debut with nine points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.
- Nevada enters league play ranked 36th in NET. The Mountain West has five teams (Colorado State, San Diego State, New Mexico, Utah State) in the top 38.
