UC San Diego entered the Lawlor Events Center undefeated and came away with its first loss. It was a 76-70 victory for Nevada, but strong performances from the freshmen and veterans propelled Nevada to 6-3 with two non-conference games remaining.
Advertisement
Summary of scores
1st half
UCSD 27 – Nevada 35
2nd half
UCSD 43 –Nevada 41
Final: UCSD 70, Nevada 76
Offense
The deep ball got off to a good start, with Tayshawn Comer and Elijah Price hitting threes each in the first three minutes. Corey Camper Jr. followed with a shot of his own from beyond the arc, and Nevada quickly had a 9-4 lead.
Nevada attacked the rim all the way and built the lead to as many as 11 points midway through the first half. Camper Jr. made his second three of the night and led the team with 15 points on 3-10 shooting. The Wolf Pack shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, but went just 1-5 from the free throw line.
Advertisement
Missing free throws is something head coach Steve Alford hates, and I mean, what basketball coach doesn’t hate missing them? Nevada went 13-22 from the line, with second-half misses, notably from Price (0-4) and Comer (2-3), that allowed UC San Diego to get within reach.
Despite a few late mistakes, Camper Jr. ended up being the one to ice the game. In the final 16 seconds, he was fouled three times and made six free throws in total. Camper Jr. made all six, throwing the dagger to help Nevada secure the victory.
“I kept writing toughness on the board,” Alford said. “And yeah, our percentage was horrible, but that’s going to be a goal tomorrow when we meet, because they had eight, we had 13, and one of our goals was plus five on free throws. They made it 11 times, we made it 22, so you’re not always going to make it. The other day we were 24 of 26, so it’s not always going to happen, but we made the big ones. We put the right guy on the line the last two or three trips, and Corey stepped up and made some really big foul shots so I thought we made some really good game-winning plays down the stretch, and that was good to see.
Nevada also continues to receive big production from its freshmen group, especially guys like Ethan Croley, Peyton White and Myles Walker, players who Alford said “are freshmen but don’t play like freshmen.”
Advertisement
White had 11 points and nine rebounds. After starting center Joel Armotrading was out a few games with a chest injury, guys like White stepped up to fill the big man’s presence.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” White said of being around the freshmen. We talked about it before the match. Just keep having fun, keep bringing energy off the bench. Give us a little kick when we enter. And I think we’ve done it very well over the last two games.
Defense
UC San Diego was shooting 43 percent from three heading into this game. The Tritons made just one three-pointer in the first half and finished the game shooting 6-23 (26%) from deep. Because of this, the Tritons had to get to the rim, but Nevada’s defense did a good job of limiting them there as well.
Advertisement
The Wolf Pack grabbed 45 rebounds and forced four turnovers. Although three UCSD players scored in double figures, Nevada was able to use that toughness to force more errors than itself. The Tritons only had the lead for 2:49, with their largest lead of the game being two points when they began the game with a 2-0 lead.
Almost the final four minutes of the game did not include a Nevada point from the field, so an even stronger testament to its defense, which had to hold it back in the final minutes.
“I thought our defense in the first half was outstanding,” Alford said. “We had a couple slip-ups in the second half, but we were willing to give up a few twos to take away threes. And they were one for 10 in the first half, and then they went five for 13 in the second half. And a couple of them were loose balls that fell their way. Both teams were fighting, but they were really proud of our guys. They had to find a way.”
What’s next
Nevada will return to the road to face Washington State. Nevada suffered a brutal loss to the Cougars at home last year, a game where the season began to go off the rails. Washington State, however, is coming off a tough loss to Bradley of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The game will take place on Sunday, December 7 at 2 p.m. PST.
