Nevada’s K.J. Hymes goes up for a shot against Washington State in Monday night’s game at Lawlor Events Center. The Cougars defeated Nevada, 68-57.
Photo by Steve Ranson.
A look at the key moments, players and plays from the Nevada Wolf Pack basketball team's 68-57 loss to Washington State on Monday at Lawlor Events Center:
KEY RUN
The Wolf Pack, which trailed by at least nine points the entire second half, was still technically in the game after a Kobe Sanders 3-pointer cut the Cougars' lead to 38-29 with just under 16 minutes to play. Washington State, though, went on an 8-0 run to take a 46-29 lead with 11:27 to go. The Pack then retreated to its corner and never put up a fight the rest of the way. The run, which lasted 4:22, saw the Pack go 0-for-3 from the floor, turn the ball over three times and commit a foul.
KEY STAT
The Wolf Pack bench shockingly outscored the Pack starters, 30-27. And it's not like coach Steve Alford benched all the starters because he was disgusted with the way they were playing. The starters still played 116 of the 200 minutes. The starters were a combined 9-of-29 from the floor, 2-of-16 on threes and 7-of-11 from the line. The bench was 13-of-28 from the floor, 2-of-4 on threes and 2-of-2 from the line.
KEY COACHING MISTAKE
Scheduling the game. The Pack, from start to finish, looked like a team that spent the weekend trapped in an airport after eating too much turkey on Thanksgiving. The Pack hadn't played a game in eight days after spending four days in South Carolina. What? There wasn't a tournament in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan the Pack could have played in before going home for Thanksgiving? It all added up to one of the worst first-half performances by the Wolf Pack in recent memory on Monday. The Pack, which was a 12-point favorite, went 9-of-35 from the floor and 1-of-15 on threes in the first 20 minutes while scoring a mere 21 points.
KEY TONE SETTER
Did Alford have a game plan on Monday? Did his players even listen to him if he did? Well, let's hope that what we saw in the first six minutes of the game wasn't Alford's idea. The Pack's first seven shots were all 3-pointers. They made one of them. I know, I know. Don't blame the plan. Blame the execution. The Wolf Pack, over the first six minutes of the game fired up 11 3-pointers and missed 10 of them. If at first you don't succeed, well, then just keep missing. The Pack's only shots inside the arc in the first six minutes were a mid-range jumper by Kobe Sanders and a dunk by Nick Davidson. It was like watching a bunch of scared puppies fitted with an electric collar that would zap them if they dared go inside the 3-point circle.
KEY CULPRIT
Xavier DuSell was determined to shoot threes more than the rest of his teammates. The 6-foot-4 fifth-year guard, who is now on his third Mountain West team in the last three years, was 1-of-8 on threes on Monday and didn't even attempt a shot inside the arc. He also didn't have a single rebound or assist. DuSell missed three threes in the first three minutes of the game and was 1-for-5 on threes in the first four-plus minutes. He was then relegated to the bench for eight-plus minutes only to return to miss two more threes in his first two-plus minutes back on the floor. Alford, who would never tell a 3-point shooter to stop shooting, also didn't allow DuSell to start the second half and limited him to just 14 minutes for the game. DuSell's confidence in his 3-point shot on Monday, it must be noted, was warranted since he had made 17 of his last 37 (46 percent) over his last five games.
KEY PACK PLAYER
Don't blame Kobe Sanders for what happened on Monday. The 6-6 transfer from Cal Poly was the only starter who showed up ready to play. Sanders scored a team-high 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line. He also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sanders has been the Pack's most consistent player this year, shooting 54 percent (41-of-76) from the floor, 60 percent (12-of-20) on threes and 77 percent (37-of-48) from the line with 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and nearly a steal a game. He's shot 50 percent or better, has had at least four assists and has scored in double digits in every game but one.
KEY PACK RUN
The Wolf Pack's largest run of unanswered points was seven. But that didn't come until the crowd of 7,748 was well on its way to the parking lot and garages in the final minute of the game. The Wolf Pack, if you're looking for something positive to build on, did outscore Washington State 20-10 over the final six minutes to turn what should have been an eye-opening blowout loss at home into a somewhat respectable 11-point minor disappointment by the final buzzer.
KEY HIDDEN PLAYER
Justin McBride, a 6-8 transfer from Oklahoma State, had 11 points, three rebounds, an assist and a block without a turnover and a foul in 17 minutes off the bench. Most of McBride's numbers, though, came in garbage time when he scored nine of his points in a seven-minute stretch in the second half with the Pack down by 14-plus points.
KEY CONCERN
Nick Davidson and Tre Coleman were unable to step up and lift their new teammates to victory at home on Monday. Davidson and Coleman were a combined 3-of-12 from the floor (0-for-6 on threes) for just eight points. The two veterans came into the game averaging a combined 27 points a game. Coleman has now scored just 21 points over his last four games after scoring 21 against Santa Clara on Nov. 16.
KEY RETURN
Daniel Foster, now in his fifth season with the Wolf Pack, made his first appearance since he played six minutes in the season opener against Sam Houston. The rusty Foster played 17 minutes against Washington State and had two points, a rebound and a turnover. His layup cut the deficit to 20-17 with five minutes left in the first half.
UP NEXT
The Wolf Pack, now 6-2, will travel to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount on Saturday (6 p.m.). The Lions of the West Coast Conference are 3-3 with a game on Wednesday at Colorado State.