The Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball team extricated itself from another mediocre first half by playing exceptionally in the second on both ends of the floor. The renewed effort was rewarded with a 77-63 victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Wednesday night at Lawlor Events Center, ending a two-game skid.
The Pack (7-3, 0-0 MW) welcomed the Jackrabbits (8-4) coming off a pair of non-conference losses to Washington State at home and Loyola Marymount in SoCal last Saturday night.
Both losses boiled down the abysmal first half shooting by the Wolf Pack with identical 9-for-35 marks in each game. Nevada also failed to capitalize from beyond the arc with an 8-for-29 combined first half effort.
Further exacerbating their plight, Nevada had only attempted a total of 34 free throws, when their stated goal is 25 per game. Another telltale stat was achieving just 20 total assists in the two games, pointing to a lack of execution and effort.
Nevada plays at a slower pace on offense and would need to get back to the hallmarks of Alford’s system: generating assists and free throw opportunities, playing inside-to-out basketball, and shooting the three when the defense provides the opportunity.
Despite not being a household name, South Dakota State didn’t figure to be a walkover by any means having lost to MW rival and pre-season number one Boise State by a single point in the Cayman Classic.
Six-foot-11 center Oscar Cluff leads the Summit League in five statistical categories and is number one in the nation in double-doubles. Stopping him would be key to Nevada’s success.
Head coach Steve Alford hinted after the LMU loss at some lineup changes so it was a mild surprise that the starters remained unchanged.
“The starters had two really good practices of beating the bench, which I think was a key for them to kind of retain [their spots],” Alford said. “Their starting positions are still not going to be concrete, they’re going to have to continue to prove it but we also gave him the benefit of the doubt.”
His faith appeared to have paid off early as two players that have been struggling hit early shots.
Xavier DuSell notched his first three attempts, good for eight points and Tre’ Coleman knocked down two-of-three for five points in the first six minutes with the Pack assuming a 16-14 lead.
Nevada did a good job defending Cluff, the Jackrabbit big, holding him to just four first-half points.
But their dedication to him came at a cost, opening up looks from outside and SDSU was able to take advantage, hitting seven threes and allowing 6-foot-2 guard Owen Larson to inexplicably snag five defensive rebounds to lead SDSU.
Along with the open looks from deep, Nevada had trouble in their rotations. Despite a considerable size advantage, they were outscored in the paint 16-6.
“We doubled him early and I thought the doubles were great on him, but we had really poor rotations.” said Alford
The Jackrabbits shot 50% from the field (15-of-30), including a 6-0 run to close the half, and Nevada once again headed to the locker room in their own building trailing a non-conference opponent despite shooting a reasonable 40%, 37-30.
Whatever Alford and his staff said to the players in the locker room, bottle it. The second half Wolf Pack played like the MW preseason No. 3 Wolf Pack on both ends of the floor but on defense in particular.
“The guys figured it out in the second half. We got back to playing the way we’re capable of playing, and it’s not easy when you’ve lost. The hardest thing to do is win again,” said Alford, adding, “I just didn’t like our effort defensively and if this team’s going to accomplish the things they want to do they’ve got to learn to get better defensively.
The Jackrabbits actually started the half the way they ended the first by pushing their lead to 10 in the first couple of minutes to 42-32.
But that’s when Nevada’s Nick Davidson decided damn the double-teams and flipped the script with a pair of three-pointers and a layup.
The 8-0 run would become a 22-4 run in the next nine minutes as Nevada took control 57-46.
The nine-minute stretch was keyed by guard Tyler Rolison, who had a career-high 14 points and nine straight in the middle of the run, with Davidson’s game-high 16 book-ending Rolison. The pair would combine for 23 second-half points.
Nevada kept their foot on the gas all the way to the end maintaining the defensive pressure and staying aggressive on offense, preventing any surge from the Jackrabbits and extending their advantage to 18 points on Davidson’s emphatic dunk with 1:04 left at 77-61.
Next up: Nevada wraps up its non-conference slate hosting Texas Southern on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. The Pack begins conference play at home vs. Colorado State on Dec. 21 at 2 p.m.
Notes
- Nevada shot 70% in the second half and 50% from beyond the arc.
- Nevada had 22 assists after generating just 20 combined in their two previous outings, and committed only eight turnovers.
- After being outscored in the paint 16-6 in the first half, the Pack flipped that stat to 18-8 in their favor in the second half.
- Nevada held SDSU’s Cluff to just six points and four rebounds, both season lows.
- The Pack had four players score in double figures.
