Michael McGarvey
A look at the key moments, players and plays from the Nevada men's basketball team's 69-64 loss to the Utah State on Tuesday at Lawlor Events Center:
KEY NEVADA RUN
The only true run the Wolf Pack put together gave them a 33-28 halftime lead. Utah State basically controlled the first 14 minutes of the game, taking a 27-21 lead with six minutes to play before halftime. The Pack, though, finally asserted itself on its own home floor the final six minutes of the half, going on a dominating 12-1 run to close the half. The run actually started with just under five minutes to play (4:54) in the half on a pair of free throws by Nick Davidson. Tyler Rolison hit a 3-pointer 50 seconds later and Kobe Sanders hit a jumper two minutes later for the first Pack lead of the game (28-27). A Xavier DuSell layup put the Pack up, 30-27, to stretch the run to 9-0. Davidson connected on a three for a 33-28 lead with 30 seconds left in the half. The Pack was 4-of-6 from the floor and Utah State was 0-for-6 with three turnovers. The Aggies would correct their shooting woes in the second half, making 14-of-23 shots.
KEY UTAH STATE RUN
It was just a brief (3:27) 8-0 spurt but it was enough to give the Aggies a lead they would never relinquish. The Pack took a 37-32 lead on a short jumper in the paint by Justin McBride with 17:47 to play. A layup by Mason Falslev (16:56) and consecutive 3-point plays by Tucker Anderson (15:44) and Deyton Albury (14:20), though, gave the Aggies a timely 8-0 run and a 40-37 lead. The Pack would never even the score or take another lead the rest of the way.
KEY PACK STAT
The Wolf Pack connected on 4-of-8 3-pointers in the first half while building its five-point lead at the break. That sort of efficiency didn't continue in the second half, though that didn't prevent the Pack from trying. The Wolf Pack was just 3-of-15 on threes in the second half, misfiring on 80 percent of its long-range attempts. Nick Davidson missed all four of his attempts in the second half but he wasn't alone as six players contributed to the dozen misses. The Pack missed its first five 3-pointers over the first five-plus minutes of the second half, leading to the evaporation of its halftime lead. It missed eight of its first nine threes after halftime. The three that did go in after halftime kept the Pack in the game. Tyler Rolison connected to cut the deficit to 42-41 with 13:02 left, Chuck Bailey pulled the Pack to within 50-46 with 8:08 left and Xavier DuSell trimmed Utah State's lead to 58-56 with 2:23 to go. The dozen misses, though, prevented the Pack from taking control on its own home floor.
KEY COACHING DECISION
Pack coach Steve Alford inserted Justin McBride and Daniel Foster into the starting lineup for Brandon Love and Xavier DuSell for the second game in a row and the result wasn't much better than the first time (a 66-63 loss at Wyoming on Saturday). McBride (20 minutes) and Foster (21 minutes) were somewhat productive, combining for 15 points (11 by McBride) on 7-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. DuSell (19 minutes) and Love (five minutes) were 4-of-6 from the floor and combined for 10 points (all by DuSell), four rebounds, an assist and two steals. The change in the starting lineup, though, is not really about DuSell, Love, Foster and McBride. The rest of their teammates, namely leftover starters Tre Coleman, Nick Davidson and Kobe Sanders, seem to be stuck in neutral after the changes. Coleman, Sanders and Davidson haven't been awful. But they also weren't able to take over two close games down the stretch and pull out victories that were there for the taking. The three foundation starters have been a pedestrian 22-of-63 (35 percent) from the floor, 5-of-21 (24 percent) on threes for just 64 points over the last two games with Foster, DuSell, McBride and Love in new roles. The result has been two losses and an average of 63.5 points a game on offense.
KEY AGGIE LEADER
Guard Ian Martinez stepped up at just the right time for Utah State down the stretch. A 3-pointer by the Pack's Xavier DuSell cut the Utah State lead to just 58-56 with 2:23 to play, giving the Pack all of the moment and the energy of the crowd (7,528) on its side with a chance to steal a game they trailed for the most part since the opening tip. Martinez, a 6-foot-3 guard who was born in Costa Rica and came to the Aggies after a year at Utah and two years at Maryland, put his team on his back. Martinez, who had just eight points and missed all five of his 3-point shots up to the point when DuSell drained his three with 2:23 to play, caught fire. He scored nine points on a 3-pointer, two layups and two free throws over a span of just 75 seconds (1:42 left to 27 seconds left) to hold off the Pack, stretching Utah State's 58-56 lead all by himself to 67-62 with just 27 seconds left in the game.
KEY PACK TREND
The Wolf Pack has lost five of its last seven games after winning six of its first seven. The difference? Offense. The Pack averaged 78.9 points during its first seven games and has fallen to 70.6 a game over its last seven (even with a 105-point effort against Texas Southern four games ago). The Pack is 0-3 in Mountain West play, scoring just 64, 63 and 64 points against Colorado State, Wyoming and Utah State. The offensive slump started with a 68-57 loss to Washington State at home after the Thanksgiving holiday. The Pack has scored between 57 and 64 points in each of its last five losses. The Wolf Pack's field goal percentage was .526 (190-of-361) over the first seven games and has dropped to .365 (177-of-392) over the last seven. The Pack was 55-of-118 (.466) on threes over its first seven games and has fallen to just 58-of-159 (.365) over the last seven. The Pack is shooting free throws much better over its last seven games (.759 to .664) but is getting to the line a lot less (117-of-176 over the first seven games compared to 82-of-108 over the last seven).
UP NEXT
The Wolf Pack (8-6, 0-3) will head to Albuquerque to take on New Mexico (11-3, 3-0) on Friday. The Lobos whipped Fresno State, 103-89, on New Year's Eve on the road and have won four games in a row and six of their last seven. The Lobos are 7-1 at The Pitt this year, with the only loss coming in overtime to rival New Mexico State (89-83). New Mexico is averaging 11,624 fans a game at The Pit. The Wolf Pack lost 89-55 the last time they were in Albuquerque (Jan. 28, 2024) but did win at the Pit (77-76) on Feb. 7, 2023.