Nevada guard Lindsey Drew brings the ball downcourt in the second half against New Mexico.
RENO — Even when he was scoring at will earlier this season, Nevada senior guard Marcus Marshall always said he let the game come to him.
On a day when Cameron Oliver scored a season-high 26 and Jordan Caroline added 20, Marshall played the role of facilitator for much of Saturday’s 82-65 win over New Mexico.
Marshall scored 13 points, but he had a team-high eight assists. The eight dimes were one off his season best of nine against Oregon State.
“As I have said before, we have other guys on this team that can score,” Marshall said. “Obviously Cam and Jordan had big games, and D.J. didn’t shoot it great, but he had some good looks.”
Marshall extended his streak of double-figure scoring games to 22, tops on the team.
HANDLING THE ROCK
Point guard Lindsey Drew dished out another five assists to give him 117 for the season, 14 more than he had all last year.
Drew spent most of his time chasing Elijah Brown, who finished with 18, but had just 10 in the final 35 minutes of the game after getting off to a fast start.
Drew also produced six rebounds and had three steals in his 35 minutes of playing time.
STEPPING UP
The Pack got good production from Leland King, who didn’t play against Boise State, and freshman Josh Hall.
“I thought Josh and Leland played phenomenal,” Nevada coach Eric Musselman said. “We used Josh as a sub for D.J. Fenner, Lindsey Drew and Marcus Marshall.
“He hit a couple of floaters, and that is a shot he works on every day.”
Hall finished with four points, three rebounds and a steal. Hall hit a floater in a 11-0 first-half run, and his second floater capped a 6-2 run and gave Nevada a 51-43 lead.
King didn’t play against Boise on Wednesday, but he was productive against the Lobos, scoring five points and pulling down three rebounds in 12 minutes.
“Leland rebounded the ball well and didn’t have any defensive lapses,” Musselman said.
The Nevada coach said King had a really good week of practice and showed a good attitude and proved that he could be trusted with playing time.
MUSS AT LAWLOR
Nevada improved to 25-4 at home under Musselman, and the coach is 42-18 in what amounts to 1 1/2 seasons.
STREAK SNAPPED
The loss snapped New Mexico’s four-game win streak, which had moved the Lobos within a half-game of the Pack.
The Lobos shot just 40 percent, 8 percent lower than their season average, and Elijah Brown was held to 18, three below his 21 point per game average.
SEA OF WHITE
Several local companies — Coldwell Banker, Dolan Automotive Group, Wedco, Security National Mortgage, Western Nevada Supply and Eide Bailly — donated white shirts with pink lettering to the first 8,000 fans through the gates on Saturday.