Michael McGarvey
A look back at the key stretches, players and moments of the Nevada Wolf Pack basketball team's 63-53 victory over the Washington Huskies on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center:
KEY FACTOR
The Wolf Pack completely frustrated Washington center Great Osobor the entire game. The 6-foot-8 Osobor, in his first season with Washington after being named the Mountain West's player of the year last year at Utah State, had one of his worst games in his four-year college career. Osobor, who was born in Spain and went to high school in England, missed all seven of his shots from the floor, scored a mere three points while turning the ball over five times, and was called for four fouls in 30 nightmare minutes. Yes, he had nine rebounds, but he's 6-8, 245 pounds and there were plenty of rebounds (Washington missed 37 shots and the Pack missed 34) to gather. The three points and the zero successful field goals are the first time the 21-year-old has done that since going 0-for-1 from the floor and scoring no points in 13 minutes as a sophomore for Montana State on Dec. 20, 2022, against Arizona. The three points are his fewest in his 106-game career when he's played 20 or more minutes in a game.
KEY STAT
The officials called 24 fouls on Washington while whistling the Pack just 17 times. That led to the Wolf Pack going 17-of-25 from the floor (Kobe Sanders, Nick Davidson and Tre Coleman were a combined 15-of-18) while Washington was just 8-of-13. No Pack player was called for more than three fouls (just Brandon Love) while four Washington players had four fouls and two more had three. Washington freshman Vazoumano "Zoom" Diallo, who had 12 points and four assists off the bench in a win over UC Davis last week, was called for four fouls and limited to just five minutes on Saturday.
KEY STRETCH
The Wolf Pack outscored Washington 19-9 over the final seven minutes, breaking a 44-44 tie and securing the 10-point win. Kobe Sanders set the tone in the final seven minutes, with seven points, all from the free-throw line. Nick Davidson added five points on a layup and three free throws. Washington was called for eight fouls (the Pack had three) in the final seven minutes.
KEY WAKEUP CALL
Kobe Sanders, who had a game-high 27 points in a 91-75 season-opening win last week, struggled mightily to start the season half. The 6-6 transfer from Cal Poly was solid in the first half with 11 points as the Pack built a slim 31-29 lead at the break, but he came out ice cold after halftime. Sanders had just two points on 0-for-7 shooting over the first 12-plus minutes of the second half as the Pack fell behind 42-38 with 10:41 to go and 44-42 with 7:40 left. Sanders, though, once again put the Pack on his back down the stretch, scoring nine points over the final 7:22 on seven free throws and a dunk. His awakening came after sitting the bench for 1:32 before returning with 7:40 to play and the Pack trailing 44-42.
KEY CONCERN
While Sanders' Wolf Pack debut has been great (47 points in two games), the arrival of former Wyoming and Fresno State guard Xavier DuSell has been a bit underwhelming. DuSell, who averaged 11.5 points a game last year for Fresno State, has struggled to find his niche with this team over the first two games. He scored seven points in 26 minutes against Sam Houston to open the year and then failed to score a point on 0-for-6 shooting in 23 minutes against Washington. DuSell had three rebounds against Washington but also was called for three fouls. His night started with a pair of frustrating moments. He missed a 3-pointer but grabbed the offensive rebound and proceeded to miss the layup just three minutes into the game and a minute later missed a layup but also grabbed the offensive rebound and missed the tip-in. The gun-shy DuSell took just one shot over the final 36 minutes.
KEY VALUABLE PLAYER
Sanders, once again, led the Pack in scoring with 20 points and he basically always has his hands on the ball the entire game (five assists, a block, a steal, 10 free throws, four rebounds). He clearly has confidence at his new school and his head coach clearly has confidence in him. Steve Alford, after all, has never had a problem letting his best player dominate the ball and take the bulk of the shots, at least since he's been at Nevada. The seemingly smooth transition from Cal Poly to Nevada has helped the Pack all but forget the loss of seniors Kenan Blackshear, Jarod Lucas and Hunter McIntosh off last year's team — at least for now. Sanders, especially like Blackshear, doesn't seem to have any problem filling up the stat sheet every game.
KEY FOUNDATION PIECE
Nick Davidson, once again, was the perfect complement to Sanders. The 6-8 junior quietly had yet another productive night against Washington with 14 points, a game-high nine rebounds, an assist and a block while shooting an efficient 5-of-9 from the floor, 1-of-1 on threes and 3-of-4 from the line. Alford saw fit to basically never take Davidson off the floor (38 minutes) in just the second game of the year. In two games Davidson is averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 52 percent from the floor.
KEY TREND TO WATCH
It's been just two games, and the Pack has won them both, so there really is nothing to be awfully concerned about. But Sanders and Davidson seem to be taking on an abnormally heavy load in the scoring department. The two have combined to score 87 of the Pack's first 154 points this year (56 percent) while taking 49 of the 108 shots (45 percent) and making 27 of the 49 successful field goals (55 percent). That's all well and good and Alford certainly has never had any problem with two players hogging the ball. But it does leave the Pack vulnerable against good teams that know how to play defense. Also, what works at home doesn't necessarily translate consistently to the road.
KEY HIDDEN CONTRIBUTIONS
Tyler Rolison and K.J. Hymes gave the Pack a productive combined 35 minutes off the bench. Rolison had nine points, three rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes and was on the floor for the final 13:32 as the Pack finally put the Huskies away. Rolison, who was 4-of-6 from the floor, scored six points in a five-minute stretch during the final 8:31. Hymes had five points and five boards in just 12 minutes and also had two steals.
UP NEXT
The Wolf Pack (2-0) will host Weber State on Wednesday at Lawlor Events Center. Weber State, of the Big Sky Conference, is 1-1 and coming off a 76-48 loss to Oregon State last Friday.