Michael McGarvey
A look at the key stretches, players and moments of the Nevada Wolf Pack basketball team's 85-59 victory over the Santa Clara Broncos on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center:
KEY RUN
Any resemblance to an actual basketball game lasted all of roughly 10 minutes on Saturday. The Wolf Pack scored 27 of the first 35 points of the game, taking a 27-8 lead on Brandon Love's three-point play with 10:22 left in the first half. Game over. Santa Clara never led the entire game, never threatened and never truly showed a willingness to compete with the Wolf Pack. The Pack connected on 10 of its first 13 shots (5-of-7 threes) and four starters had either five or six points in the first nine-plus minutes, giving a clinic on how to beat the heart out of an overwhelmed opponent on your own home floor to start a game.
KEY STAT
The Wolf Pack, once again, shot the lights out at Lawlor while burying another handpicked patsy to start the season. The Pack was a blistering 27-of-48 (56 percent) from the floor and 9-of-19 (47 percent) on threes against Santa Clara. The Pack has now shot 56 percent or better from the floor in three of its first four games and 40 percent or better on threes in all four games. If they could just shoot free throws (a mediocre 68 percent so far) like their legendary coach (Steve Alford, a 90 percent free throw shooter in college at Indiana) they'd be winning every game by 40 points instead of just 23.
KEY DEVELOPMENT
The Wolf Pack is now 4-0 after blowing out Sam Houston (91-75), Weber State (88-58) and Santa Clara (85-59) and controlling Washington (63-53) on their home floor. Going 4-for-4 is, without question, a nice way to start a season on the floor. But Steve Alford and his staff were even better this past off-season off the floor. Alford and his team of recruiters went 5-for-5, adding starters Kobe Sanders, Brandon Love, Xavier DuSell and reserves Chuck Bailey and Justin McBride to a roster that went to the NCAA Tournament last season. All five newcomers have been good most every night and great on other nights. That development and blending of so many new faces with the old has been the most important thing to happen in the first four games.
KEY EMERGENCE
Brandon Love, a 6-foot-9 transfer portal purchase from Texas State, started off his Pack career by blending in over the first three games, scoring 17 points with 12 rebounds in the wins over Sam Houston, Washington and Weber State. He established himself to Wolf Pack fans as a solid defensive contributor with six blocks and four steals over the three games. Love, though, flexed his offensive muscles against Santa Clara with a near-perfect performance. Love was 5-of-5 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line against the Broncos for 15 points in addition to doing what he's done from the start (eight rebounds and two blocks). Four of his buckets from the floor were either on dunks or layups so he didn't step out of character at all. Love is all about rolling up his sleeves and getting to work. He had two offensive rebounds that led to one of his dunks and a 42-21 lead late in the first half and his block and rebound led to a pair of his free throws and a 61-34 lead with 14 minutes left in the game.
KEY LEADERS
This team, don't forget, is built on a solid foundation of two veterans that seem to make everything possible. Tre Coleman and Nick Davidson, now in their third year as on-the-floor teammates (this is Coleman's fifth year at Nevada), are Alford's coaches on the floor. Davidson had 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal against Santa Clara in 29 minutes while Coleman had 21 points, three threes and four assists. Davidson is a remarkable 21-of-30 (70 percent) from the floor this season, averaging 18 points and eight boards a game with 2.9 assists. He's also an 82 percent shooter (9-of-11), making his last six in a row over the last three games. Coleman is averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.0 rebounds while shooting a career-best 48 percent from the floor and 46 percent on threes.
KEY HIDDEN PLAYER
Justin McBride, a 6-8 transfer from Oklahoma State, didn't score a single point in his 16 minutes off the bench against Santa Clara. McBride, though, found a way to impact the game just the same with seven rebounds, an assist and a block. He had a block, three rebounds and an assist during his first seven-minute stretch midway through the first half. Almost all of McBride's offense this year (16 of his 20 points) came in the win over Weber State but his rebounding (3-7 every game) always shows up.
KEY REMINDER OF THE PAST
K.J. Hymes is now in his seventh season with the Wolf Pack, since former coach Eric Musselman recruited him for the 2018-19 team. Hymes, though, reminded everyone on Saturday that he'll likely never figure out a way to avoid the officials' whistles. The 6-10 center from Phoenix played just eight minutes against Santa Clara and collected five fouls to go along with two points and a rebound. Hymes, who has fouled out of his last two games over just 25 combined minutes, has played in 119 games in his career and has had four or five fouls in 41 of them while averaging just 14 minutes a game. He's been called for a foul every five minutes he's been on the floor. The Santa Clara game is the sixth of his career when he has fouled out in under 10 minutes.
KEY ADJUSTMENT
Kobe Sanders sailed through his first two games with the Pack, scoring 27 points against Sam Houston and 20 against Washington to go along with 10 total rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and two steals while taking 30 shots. Pack fans, though, have seen a different Kobe Sanders the last two games, one that just might be even more valuable to the team's efficiency. Sanders had just nine points against Santa Clara, failing to reach double digits for the first time this year. He took a season-low six shots (making three) and was content to be a facilitator (four assists) in a game in which the Pack didn't need him to score. Sanders was 2-of-2 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line for seven points with two assists in the second half on Saturday after missing his last three shots in the first half. Sanders has been a conservative 7-of-14 from the floor (3-of-3 on threes) over the last two games after going 5-of-16 in the win over Washington. The Pack has won the last two games (over Weber State and Santa Clara) by 30 and 26 points.
UP NEXT
The Wolf Pack will now leave Lawlor Events Center for the first time this week for the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic at Charleston, S.C. The Pack will play Vanderbilt on Thursday and either Seton Hall or Virginia Commonwealth on Friday before playing a third game on Sunday. Miami, Drake, Oklahoma State and Florida Atlantic will also play in Charleston. All of the tournament games will be televised on either ESPNU, ESPN2, ESPN-Plus or ESPN (the championship game at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday). The Nevada-Vanderbilt game will be on ESPNU.