SEATTLE, Wash. - Nevada senior Kyle Shiloh doesn't get nearly the recognition he deserves, and Wolf Pack coach Mark Fox drove that point home again Saturday afternoon.
Shiloh, with some help from teammate Lyndale Burleson, made life miserable for Gonzaga guard Derek Raivio throughout the game, and was a big reason why Nevada was able to outlast the Zags 82-74 at KeyArena before a crowd of 15,110. "No one writes about Kyle Shiloh, but he had a huge impact on this game; unbelievable," Fox said. "We made two mistakes on defense at the start of the second half, and he made us pay. Kyle and Lyndale did an outstanding job."
Fox was referring to two 3-pointers Raivio made that help Gonzaga build a 43-37 lead with 15:46 to play. That was the last basket he made, though he did manage four free throws.
"We moved Derek back to the point," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, explaining Raivio's early success in the final 20 minutes. "We were screening and trying to find him. He gets more (opportunities) when we're in the open floor than he does on our set plays."
"I think they made a consious effort to deny me the ball (in the first half)," said Raivio, who only had two points and two 3-point field goal attempts over the first 20 minutes and only got up seven shots for the game. "Eventually I got some great looks and we had a chance to win the game."
Raivio usually gets plenty of opportunties to shoot. In the first 12 games, he put up 10 or more shots from the floor.
Duke held the Gonzaga sharpshooter to only four field goal attempts in the Zags' last game, and he had seven Saturday. That's what you call great defense.