The Nevada men’s basketball team cruised to a dominant 88-58 victory over Weber State on Wed., Nov. 13, improving to 3-0 on the season. The team showcased its depth, with 33 points coming from the bench in a well-rounded performance.
The game began sluggishly on offense, with the Pack missing their first three shot attempts. Nevada forward K.J. Hymes got the team on the board with a free throw, but scoring remained a challenge early. Six, of Nevada’s first 12 points came from the free-throw line, as both teams struggled to find their rhythm, shooting under 40% from the field. The score was tied at 12-12 with 12:57 remaining in the first half.
Weber State guard Miguel Tomley sank two three-pointers, giving the Wildcats a two-possession lead. Nevada forward Justin McBride responded with a layup and a free throw to keep the Pack within striking distance. Weber State guard Blaise Threatt added a pair of points before Nevada forward Nick Davidson drilled a corner three, tying the game at 20-20 with 8:00 left in the first half.
That basket shook off the rust for the Pack, as guard Kobe Sanders knocked down a three-pointer, followed by a strong dunk from Hymes. Guard Xavier DuSell added a triple, while Davidson chipped in at the free-throw line with two points. Forward Brandon Love delivered a dunk, and McBride drained a three-pointer.
DuSell capped off the half with a steal and a three, fueling a 20-8 run that sent Nevada into the break with a 40-28 lead.
The Pack built a 12-point lead in a physical contest, finding their rhythm offensively late in the half. McBride led the way with 12 points at the break, surpassing his previous career high of eight set against Sam Houston.
The Pack carried their momentum into the second half, starting with Davidson intercepting a pass from Weber State center Alex Tew and setting up forward Tre Coleman for a fast-break layup. Moments later, Tew turned the ball over again, allowing Sanders to steal it and sink a long three-pointer.
Nevada kept the pressure on as Coleman found DuSell for a catch-and-shoot triple. Weber State guard Blaise Threatt committed another turnover, which Coleman capitalized on by assisting DuSell for another three-pointer. Davidson capped off the 13-2 run with two free throws, pushing Nevada’s lead to 53-30 with 16:36 remaining.
Both teams traded free throws before Sanders set up Davidson for a three-pointer. DuSell followed with a second-chance triple, and McBride added a layup to extend the Pack’s momentum. The back-and-forth scoring continued until Sanders found Davidson again for another three-pointer, pushing Nevada’s lead to 75-45 with 6:40 remaining in the game.
The Pack maintained their commanding lead, running down the clock on their way to a dominant 88-58 victory over Weber State. The win marked the second consecutive year Nevada had defeated Weber State, following a 72-55 victory in their previous matchup on Dec. 13, 2023.
DuSell led the Pack with 17 points, followed by McBride with 16, as Nevada overcame a slow start to shoot an impressive 57 percent (29-51) from the field and 57 percent (12-21) from three-point range. Meanwhile, the defense stifled the Wildcats, holding them to just 28 percent (15-54) from the field and 15 percent (3-20) from beyond the arc, with no Weber State player making more than half of their shot attempts.
Nevada head coach Steve Alford felt the early adversity was a good lesson for the team.
“I thought we had a slow start, which we haven’t had,” Alford said. “So it’s always good, especially here in the non-conference, that you get a lot of different things thrown at you as a team,” Alford said. “It was good to see our bench come to life. We needed a game like this for our bench to get we got everybody 15 plus minutes, and I thought everybody off the bench did a lot of good things, so that was terrific.”
The Wolf Pack’s next challenge will come at home as they take on the Santa Clara Broncos on Sat., Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
