Michael McGarvey
A look at the key plays, players, factors and moments of the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball 77-71 loss to the Colorado State Rams on Tuesday in Fort Collins, Colo.:
KEY NEVADA RUN
The longest unanswered Pack run was 8-0 but all it did was help make the final score respectable. The 8-0 run lasted less than two minutes, slicing a 64-45 deficit with just over eight minutes to play to 64-53 just under seven minutes to go. The bulk (six) of the points on the run came on back-to-back 3-point plays just 31 seconds apart by Nick Davidson and Tyler Rolison. The Pack did score the first five points of the game and went on a 6-0 spurt to take a 22-15 lead with just under nine minutes to play in the first half.
KEY CSU RUN
The Rams put the game away with a 23-4 run starting early in the second half to take control of the game. A jumper by Nevada's Chuck Bailey tied the game at 41-41 with 17:32 left but Colorado State responded by dominating the next nine-plus minutes, taking a 64-45 lead with just over eight minutes to go. Nique Clifford started the domination with a pair of threes 76 seconds apart and scored more than half (12-of-23) the points in the run.
KEY PACK PLAYERS
The only two Pack players to show up (literally and figuratively) were Nick Davidson and Tyler Rolison. Davidson produced 22 points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes while Rolison added 21 points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes while sitting out just 59 seconds. Everyone else combined to score just 28 points with five rebounds. Davidson, though, scored just three points over a stretch of just under 16 minutes (the final 3:43 of the first half and first 11:54 of the second half) as Colorado State turned a 32-27 Pack lead into a 64-46 Pack deficit.
KEY CSU PLAYER
Nique Clifford, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound powerhouse, scored 22 points with nine rebounds, five assists, three threes, 9-of-10 free throws, a block and a steal in his 36 stat-filled minutes. Clifford did all that while going just 5-of-8 from the floor. His first point didn't come until he hit a free throw with 6:28 left in the first half and the Rams trailing 29-22. He would score 22 of Colorado State's final 57 points (16 in the second half). He scored 12 points during a stretch of just 4:37 midway through the second half.
KEY STAT
The Wolf Pack might have set a school record in the modern era of college basketball (since the adoption of the 3-point shot in 1986) for fewest rebounds in a game with 15. It is the Pack's lowest rebound total since the start of the 1998-99 season (before that, records are not readily available). It is the fewest rebounds in a game for the Pack since joining the Mountain West in 2012. The minus-19 rebound margin on Tuesday is the biggest deficit on the glass since it was dominated 47-24 (minus 23) in an 87-66 loss to Utah State on Feb. 28, 2021. The Pack was also outrebounded by 19 in consecutive losses to Boise State and San Diego State on Jan. 12 and 17, 2024.
KEY HIDDEN STAT
The Wolf Pack, during its four-game winning streak which ended on Tuesday, enjoyed a huge 83-33 edge in points off turnovers while beating UNLV, Air Force, Fresno State and San Jose State. The Pack, despite the final score, also had a big 20-9 edge in points off turnovers against Colorado State. The Wolf Pack turned the ball over just seven times to Colorado State's 16. So, if you are looking for a positive silver-and-blue lining in Tuesday's eight-point loss, it's that the Pack defense once again showed up.
KEY FACTOR
The Wolf Pack played Tuesday's game without injured starters Daniel Foster (ankle) and Tre Coleman (a season-ending broken hand suffered against San Jose State last Friday). The Pack tried to beat Colorado State with just eight players (a ninth, Jeriah Coleman, played just 24 seconds). Backup point guard Tyler Rolison played a career-high 39 minutes in the first start of his two-year career and responded with the best game of his college career (21 points, 8-of-16 from the floor, three steals, three rebounds, two assists and a block). Xavier DuSell, a fifth-year senior, played a season-high 34 minutes and took just four shots, had one rebound and scored three points.
KEY PACK DISAPPEARANCE
The officials made Kobe Sanders disappear. Sanders fouled out after playing just 21 minutes and supplying seven points, no rebounds, blocks or steals with three assists (he had 19 assists over the last two games combined). Sanders also turned the ball over three times. Three of Sanders' fouls came in the first half. It was the third foul, with 5:29 to go in the first half, that affected his performance the most. He didn't play the final 5:29 of the opening half and didn't even start the second half, finally entering the game with 16:15 to go. He then picked up his fourth foul 30 seconds later and had to sit out another six minutes.
KEY PACK MYSTERY
On the surface, it would appear the Wolf Pack desperately needed 6-foot-10 senior Brandon Love in a game in which it was outrebounded 34-15. Love, though, played just 18 minutes (just two fouls) and played relatively well with nine points, two steals and a rebound. It might have been his lack of aggression on the boards, though, that prompted coach Steve Alford to sit Love on the bench for more than half the game. Love started and played a dozen minutes in the first half and didn't have a rebound. This was just the third game this year that Love played at least 15 minutes and had one or fewer rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Wolf Pack (15-11, 7-8) will host Boise State on Saturday (3 p.m.) at Lawlor Events Center. Boise State is 17-8, 9-5 with a game against New Mexico on Wednesday (Feb. 19) before it travels to Nevada. Boise State beat the Wolf Pack, 66-56, at Boise on Jan. 29.