Nevada has looked like two different teams this year between its home and road games. At home, the Wolf Pack are 14-2 and consistently look like an energized team. Only one of those two home losses is from a conference opponent.
On the road, Nevada is 4-8, including tonight’s loss to Wyoming, 83-73. The team simply looks flat when away from Lawlor and it’s coming at one of the worst times in the season.
Scoring Summary
1st Half
Nevada 28 – Wyoming 49
2nd Half
Nevada 45 – Wyoming 34
Final: Nevada 73, Wyoming 83
1st Half
Wyoming’s
offense started hot within the first three minutes, scoring 11 points while making three shots from beyond the arc. The momentum just kept rolling for the Cowboys up until the first media timeout with a 15-4 lead.
Nevada scored those four points within the first two minutes and went stagnant from there. The trend of sloppy ball protection and untimely shots on the road stuck through the first few minutes of this one. Nevada broke the scoring drought of over three minutes with a floater by Corey Camper Jr. to give Nevada six.
Camper Jr. gave Nevada its first three of the game to cut it down to a one-point deficit. It was a 15-14 game after that three, and by the time Steve Alford had to call a timeout with under nine minutes to go, it was a 29-14 lead for Wyoming. Myles Walker came off the bench and broke another offensive skid for the Pack with a layup to give them 16 points.
The Cowboys kept knocking them down from deep, making seven three pointers in the first half. Guard Khaden Bennett made six of those seven in those first 20 minutes. Nevada shot 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from three. Nevada also only shot 6-11 from the free-throw line.
2nd Half
Nevada opened up the second half scoring heavily off the backs of Elijah Price and Vaughn Weems. The defense kept Wyoming off the board for the first three minutes of the game until a foul gave the Cowboys two free throws.
Wyoming took advantage of Nevada’s fouls, including putting Price into dangerous territory with four personal fouls early in the second half. Price was Nevada’s lead scorer with 20 points on 6-8 shooting on the night. The Wolf Pack made small dents in the deficit, dropping it as far as 12 points, but the Cowboys kept responding quickly.
The shots just weren’t falling for Nevada. The first three-pointer of the second half came from Chuck Bailey under eight minutes left, with Nevada shooting 0-5 from deep before that. Nevada couldn’t seem to escape the 12-14 point deficit, and Wyoming’s three-point shooting kept the gap open.
Nevada managed to cut it down to a 1o-point game with just over three minutes left and kept the defense as aggressive as it could, but it led to another foul and more free throws for Wyoming. Luckily for Nevada, both free throws were missed and led to free shots of its own for the Pack. Tyler Rolison went to the line and made two shots, cutting it down to an eight-point deficit.
Price got fouled shortly after, shooting and making one of two free throws to make it a 77-68 Wyoming lead with two minutes left. Wyoming went up for a shot and missed, but the Cowboys picked up the critical offensive rebound to keep possession and forced Nevada to start fouling.
Camper hit a three with 1:18 left to cut it down to 79-71. After a timeout, Nevada forced a turnover on the inbound and Bailey went in for the layup, but it rolled around the rim and fell, forcing Nevada to foul and giving Wyoming the chance to push it to an 80-71 game.
Nevada continued to have chances but just ran out of time. The Wolf Pack shot 46 percent from the field, 27 percent from three, and 65 percent from the free-throw line. Wyoming shot 63 percent from the field, made nine threes, and had two players combine for 45 points (Bennett with a team-leading 27 and Damarion Dennis with 18).
What’s Next
Nevada will end the regular season at home to take on Air Force, which is currently winless in conference play. Tip-off at Lawlor is set for 7 p.m. PST on Saturday, March 7.
Nevada no longer controls its own destiny for a first-round bye in the MW tournament. To finish in the top four, Nevada will need to beat Air Force on Saturday and GCU will have to fall to Fresno State in its season finale.
