Michael McGarvey
A look at the key plays, players and moments of the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball team's 84-61 victory over the Wyoming Cowboys on Tuesday night at Lawlor Events Center:
KEY FIRST-HALF RUN
The Wolf Pack went on an 11-0 run late in the first half to take control of the game for the rest of the evening. Eight of the 11 points came on free throws (two each by Brandon Love and Nick Davidson and four by Kobe Sanders) as the aggressive Pack bullied the Cowboys. A Davidson 3-pointer capped off the run, giving the Pack a 32-20 lead with three minutes left in the first half. The Pack led by at least six the rest of the way and by 10 or more for the final 10 minutes.
KEY SECOND-HALF RUN
The first-half run took the edge off the game and a 12-2 surge midway through the second half, for all intents and purposes, ended the game. The Wolf Pack led comfortably 51-44 with just over 12 minutes to play and then went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes or so to prompt the Cowboys to start warming up their bus. Sanders started and finished the run with jumpers, sandwiched around two free throws by Xavier DuSell, a jumper by Tyler Rolison and two layups by Justin McBride and Chuck Bailey to give the Pack a 63-46 lead with 8:33 to go. The 63 points were the total the Pack scored in a 66-63 loss at Laramie, Wyo., back in late December.
KEY PACK PLAYER
Well, there were about five (Rolison, Davidson, DuSell, McBride and Sanders) of them but the one that shoveled the most dirt the quickest on the Wyoming grave was Sanders. The 6-6 senior scored 27 points in 29 minutes off the bench, draining 8-of-12 shots from the floor and 9-of-10 free throws. Sanders scored 25 of his 27 points in the final 24-plus minutes of the game, 16 in the final 15:22. Yes, nine of his points came after the Pack had already built a 61-46 lead but Sanders first established his authority on Tuesday with nine points in the final 4:28 of the first half to give the Pack a 39-28 edge at the break. His 57 points (he had 30 against Boise State last Saturday) in his last two games are his most with the Wolf Pack in consecutive games and his most since he had 35 against UC Riverside and 31 (66 combined) against UC Santa Barbara when he played for Cal Poly last February.
KEY PACK COMEBACK
Tyler Rolison had just three points in his first 15 minutes, but he caught fire midway through the second half. He scored 13 of his 16 points for the game over a stretch of just seven-plus minutes late in the second half. Yes, those 13 points came in mop-up times as the Pack had already built a 55-46 lead with 10 minutes to go, but Rolison's efforts made sure Wyoming didn't have any comeback ideas. Rolison poured in nine points in just 2:25 as the Pack took a 75-54 lead with 4:32 to play.
KEY OVERLOOKED PLAYER
Nick Davidson, the Pack's leading scorer (16.2) and rebounder (6.3), took a secondary role in the second half and sort of let his teammates bury Wyoming on their own. Davidson did finish with 14 points and seven rebounds, but the bulk of those numbers (11 points, six rebounds) came in the first 17 minutes of the game as the Pack took a 39-28 halftime lead. Davidson did play 15 minutes in the second half (it was a bit careless to have him on the floor for five-plus minutes late in the game with the Pack up by 15-23 points) but the only shot he took in the second half was an off-target 3-pointer with 16:30 to play.
KEY HISTORICAL NOTE
Sanders' 27 points are the most off the bench by a Nevada player since Jazz Johnson had 27 against Air Force on March 5, 2019. Other Pack players to score 23 or more off the bench since the program joined the Mountain West in 2012-13 are Johnson again (26 vs USC on Nov. 16, 2019), Caleb Martin twice (26 vs. Idaho and 24 against Rhode Island on Nov. 10 and 13, 2017), Cody Martin (27 against Wyoming on Jan. 24, 2018), Josh Hall (25 against Pacific on Nov. 18, 2017), Cam Oliver (25 against Air Force on Feb. 15, 2017), Tyron Criswell (26 against Fresno Pacific on Dec. 9, 2015 and 23 against Utah State on Feb. 24, 2016) and Marqueze Coleman (23 against Wyoming on Jan. 2, 2016). Other notable bench performances this century are Olek Czyz's 25 points against Boise State (Jan. 26, 2011), Marcelus Kemp's 24 against Vermont (Nov. 23, 2005) and Joey Shaw's 23 against San Jose State (Feb. 12, 2009).
KEY STAT
The Wolf Pack's aggressiveness and suddenly improved free-throw shooting were the difference. The Pack was 26-of-31 from the line compared to Wyoming's 7-of-14. Davidson (9-of-11) and Sanders (9-of-10) led the way. The Wolf Pack was coming off a 70-69 loss to Boise State on Saturday in which it was a timid 6-of-12 from the line and was just 46-of-74 (.621) over the previous five games combined. The 26 successful free throws on Tuesday are a Pack high this season.
KEY HIDDEN STAT
The Wolf Pack held Obi Agbim, Wyoming's leading scorer (17.7 points a game), to just 11 points, equaling his second fewest this season in 26 games. The only game this season the 6-foot-3 guard scored fewer than 11 was seven against San Jose State on Jan. 25. Abim was 4-of-15 from the floor against the Pack and missed 3-of-4 3-pointers. He scored 18 in a 66-63 win over the Pack (7-of-12 from the floor) in late December and was coming off a pair of 20-points efforts (22 against Air Force and 20 against San Jose State) in his previous two games before Tuesday. Agbim also was 14-of-23 on threes over his four previous games.
UP NEXT
The Wolf Pack (16-12, 8-9) will travel to Las Vegas on Friday to take on UNLV. The Rebels, who lost to the Wolf Pack, 71-65, on Feb. 1 at Lawlor Events Center, won at San Jose State (77-71) on Tuesday to improve to 15-13, 9-8. The Wolf Pack beat UNLV last season in Las Vegas, 69-66.