The Nevada Sagebrush

With team leader Armon Johnson in foul trouble and sitting on the bench, the Nevada men’s basketball team went on a key 10-0 run in the waning minutes of the first half to take a five-point lead in to halftime over the Portland Pilots on Monday night at Lawlor Events Center.

“We kind of go as Armon goes usually, so that’s a good step, because he can’t play 40 minutes,” Nevada forward Luke Babbitt said.

The Wolf Pack (8-5) added to its run to begin the second half, stretching the stretch to 16-0 and jumping out to an 42-31 lead two minutes in to the second half, which led to a 78-69 victory over Portland (7-5).

“Momentum was huge for us,” said Johnson who had 16 points in 31 minutes. “Coming out of the first half, the team just turned it up, found an extra boost, and that was huge.”

Nevada took the momentum from the crucial run and never trailed again.

“That’s always huge to get a momentum like that,” Wolf Pack head coach David Carter said. “They are a good team and for us to make that run early was really key.”

Another key to the victory for the Wolf Pack was its defensive play. Nevada finished with seven steals and held Portland to just 14 free throw attempts.

“That was the key to the whole night, was our defense,” Babbitt said. “If we were going to win tonight, we knew it had to be with defense.”

Babbitt had a career-high five steals in the game, as well as seven rebounds, all on the defensive glass, while also pouring in 22 points.

Along with Babbitt, three other starters added double-digits. Wolf Pack guard Brandon Fields scored 17 points, while forward Joey Shaw tallied 14 points.

With the victory, the Wolf Pack remained prefect at home, improving to 7-0. The win was also Nevada’s sixth in its last seven games. Nevada is averaging 87 points per game in its last seven contests.

“Whenever you can get a streak, you get confidence going in to conference play. That’s huge,” Carter said. “Right now I think we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves and we’re looking forward to starting conference play.”

Nevada opens Western Athletic Conference play Saturday at Louisiana Tech (11-2), with tip off set for 5:07 p.m.

Damian Tromerhauser can be reached at sports@nevadasagebrush.com.

QUICKIE STATS:

Nevada:

F Luke Babbitt: 22 points, seven rebounds, five steals

G Brandon Fields: 17 points, five rebounds

PG Armon Johnson: 16 points, four assists

F Joey Shaw: 14 points, eight rebounds

Portland:

F Robin Smeulders: 22 points, 12 rebounds

G Jared Stohl: 14 points

G T.J. Campbell: Eight points, 10 assists

KEYS TO THE GAME:

– Nevada went on an 11-0 run at the end of the first half, which it stretched into a 17-0 run at the start of the second half, never trailing in the game again.

– Portland’s bench outscored Nevada’s bench 20-2 (Wolf Pack guard Ray Kraemer scored the 2 points on free throws).

– Portland outscored the Wolf Pack 36-20 in the paint.

– Of the 200 combined minutes played by the Wolf Pack players, 28 minutes came from bench.

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