The Nevada Men’s Basketball team (1-0, 0-0) kicked off its season with a commanding 77-50 win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (0-1, 0-0).
In a postgame press conference, Nevada men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford said, “We don’t have an identity yet. It’s early, but we’re creating some really good habits defensively that I like with this team.”
Guard Chuck Bailey wasted no time putting Nevada on the board, knocking down a free throw in the opening minute for the Pack’s first point of the season.
Moments later, Bailey turned a wild sequence into a highlight. After colliding with two Louisiana Tech defenders on a drive, he managed to flip the ball behind him to Corey Camper Jr., who converted the putback for three points.
The Wolf Pack stayed hot early, jumping out to a 13-3 lead fueled by back-to-back threes from Bailey and Camper.
Nevada’s defense set the tone through the first half, holding Louisiana Tech to just 28% shooting from the field and 0-for-13 from three-point range. The Pack kept the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly seven minutes until Bulldog forward Sir Isaac Herron finally broke through with a mid-range jumper.
Nevada quickly answered with a jumper of its own, pushing the lead to 32-14 heading into the break.
Louisiana Tech opened the second half with a free throw from Avery Thomas II, but Nevada responded immediately. Less than forty seconds later, center Joel Armotrading dunked the ball to push the margin back to 16.
Despite a few offensive sparks from the Bulldogs, Nevada never lost control. Louisiana Tech finished 18-for-50 from the field as the Pack cruised to a 27-point victory.
Rebounding proved to be Nevada’s biggest edge, as the Pack dominated the glass by nearly 20 boards.
“We missed like 30 shots, but we rebounded at 17 misses,” Alford said. “We haven’t had a team like that where we could average 14, 15 offensive rebounds…This is a team that is starting to show themselves that not just our bigs, but our guards are very good at rebounding as well.”
Bailey earned a Nevada Career high, scoring 24 points in the game, along with four rebounds and two assists, a key factor that helped guide the Wolf Pack to their opening win.
“I’ve been working all off-season, you know, just getting better at…just taking every day and getting better 1% every day,” Bailey said.
The Wolf Pack’s next test will be at home against the Pacific Tigers on Saturday, November 8th, at 7 p.m.
