Nick Davidson achieved his third career double-double, a career-high 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds as the Nevada Wolf Pack evened up their record in Mountain West conference play, demolishing the visiting San Jose State Spartans 90-60 on Friday at Lawlor Events Center.
“We weren’t the team that we are at New Mexico. [We] came back, refocused, reset, and said, ‘Hey February and the rest of the season should be ours,’ and I like [that] we played like that tonight,” Davidson said.
Nevada (17-5, 4-4 MW) returned home after suffering their worst defeat in the Steve Alford era, a 34-point road loss at New Mexico. A home date versus the Spartans, with their 1-7 MW record, appeared to be what the doctor ordered to get the Wolf Pack back on track with a tough stretch of Mountain West play dead ahead.
While San Jose State was short on victories, they had given some quality MW foes a tussle with a close three-point loss to San Diego State and a two-point loss on the road at Wyoming.
The Spartans don’t offer much in the way of resistance defensively, but their three-point shooting can be deadly if left undefended, coming in as the fourth-best, three-point shooting team in the conference.
Wolf Pack losses have had a common thread of getting off to slow starts, losing five of six games when trailing at halftime. Getting off to a fast start would be vital to securing a win on their home floor.
Nevada wasted little time jumping out to an early lead thanks to 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc in the first seven minutes of play, building a 10-point advantage at 18-8.
The Spartans would stay within striking distance on the strength of the three-pointer, going 3-for-5 in the early going.
Head coach Steve Alford was determined to get his guys to defend, yelling instructions from the bench. The Nevada defense began to extend outward and beyond the arc to challenge every deep attempt once it became apparent that the Spartans posed little threat in the painted area.
With Kenan Blackshear on the bench with a pair of early fouls, freshman Tyler Rolison spent extended minutes manning the point. Rolison got the offense in motion a little faster than Blackshear. The result was a Spartan defense that couldn’t get set, creating some easy buckets in the paint, open looks for the likes of Jarod Lucas, who would finish with 20 points, and trips to the free-throw line.
“He had a big time first half,” head coach Steve Alford commented. “Tyler’s someone who can give us a huge lift. He’s quick, he’s fast, and he’s hard to keep in front. He had a little dip in the second half, but that’s what freshmen go through.”
San Jose State committed their tenth team foul midway through the half. They’d have 14 total, leading to 21 Wolf Pack free-throw attempts versus just two for the Spartans.
Further testament to increasing the pace of the offense was the 13 assists on 14 made baskets against just two turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Tylan Pope also saw extended minutes in the first half, converting his only three-point attempt and a thunderous dunk with 6:35 remaining to put the Pack ahead 36-15 and get the Friday night crowd up.
Nevada kept their foot on the gas, pushing the lead to 44-17 on a Davidson dunk. The 6′- 9″ sophomore was the beneficiary of some pretty tic-tac-toe passing from Tre’ Coleman and Daniel Foster on the play.
The Pack headed to the locker room with a 49-24 lead, which should have been more, thanks to missing seven of their last eight shots.
The game was well in hand, but Nevada came out of the locker room intent on staying aggressive, converting four consecutive three-point attempts.
Four minutes into the second half, the Pack extended the lead to a commanding 43-point bulge at 67-24 thanks to a dominating 18-0 run out of the gate.
“We did a really good job in a lot of areas, but the starters did what they needed to do. We had a good start to the game and a really good start to the second half, and that’s the job of the starters,” said Alford.
The Wolf Pack got the get-right game they needed with the added benefit of extended minutes for some players off the bench. With a trip to Logan, Utah to take on MW leaders Utah State next week, they’ll need contributions off the bench. Whether Friday’s effort will translate against the step-up in competition on the road remains to be seen.
Next up: Nevada travels to Utah to take on Utah State on February 6 at 6 pm before returning home to host San Diego State on February 9 at 5 pm.
Notes
- The Wolf Pack had just five turnovers.
- Nevada converted 24 free throw attempts to just four for the Spartans.
- The Wolf Pack won the rebound battle 45-31.
- The Pack defense limited the conference’s fourth-best shooting team to just 28.6 percent (8-28) from beyond the arc.
- Nevada had ten players score at least 10 points, and five were in double-figures.
- Tyler Rolison’s 12 points matched his career-high.
- Tylan Pope scored a season-high 10 points.
