The Nevada men’s basketball team secured a 63-53 home win over the Washington Huskies on Sat., Nov. 9. A strong defensive effort made the difference, holding Washington to 34 percent shooting from the field and keeping them scoreless in the final three minutes outside garbage time.
Nevada’s stars set the pace early, with forward Nick Davidson driving through defenders for a layup to open the scoring. Nevada guard Kobe Sanders added a pull-up jumper, but Washington guard Tyree Ihenaco soon responded with a tough layup. Davidson countered with a mid-range jumper over defenders, followed by a put-back layup from Nevada forward K.J. Hymes.
Sanders then hit a three-pointer after the Huskies missed their fifth shot from beyond the arc. After a steal from Sanders, a quick pass to Nevada forward Tre Coleman extended the Pack’s lead to 14-4 with 13:48 remaining in the first half.
An Ihenaco layup was answered by a three-pointer from Nevada guard Tyler Rolison, followed
by a jumper from Coleman over a pair of defenders to extend the lead to 19-8.
Ihenaco continued to cause problems for the Pack, sinking a wide-open three. After Sanders’ turnover, Ihenaco added a quick layup for two more points. Nevada forward Justin McBride responded with a layup of his own, but the Washington guard kept up the pressure, driving through defenders for another layup to cut the lead to 21-15.
The teams traded baskets until Washington guard Tyler Harris scored a layup off another turnover by Sanders. The Huskies capitalized on the Pack’s poor shot selection, as Harris hit a pull-up jumper, followed by a floater from Washington guard Mekhi Mason, bringing the score to 28-27 with Nevada clinging to a one-point lead with 2:12 left in the first-half.
A late free throw from Hymes closed out the first half with Nevada holding a 31-29 lead, despite letting a double-digit advantage slip away. The team shot a combined 13-32 (41%) from the field, with Davidson and Sanders leading the Pack with nine points each.
Nevada’s sluggish end to the first half carried into the second, as the team committed three turnovers in the first three minutes. This allowed the Huskies to go on a quick 5-0 run, capped off by a wide-open three from Harris, giving Washington a 34-31 lead with 17:07 left in the game.
Both teams exchanged points, with Washington guard Jase Butler sinking a three-pointer to give the Huskies a 42-38 lead. Sanders ended Nevada’s scoring drought by knocking down two free throws. After a missed layup, Davidson grabbed a defensive rebound and found Rolison for a jumper to tie the game.
A bad pass from Washington forward Great Osobor was picked off by Nevada forward Brandon Love, who set up Rolison for a fast-break layup. Sanders then added three more free throws, and Love jumped a pass from Mason, finishing with a dunk on the other end to cap an 8-0
Nevada run, giving them a 50-44 lead with six minutes left.
Washington forward Wilhelm Breidenbach sank a three-pointer to bring the Huskies within one possession. Davidson answered with a strong layup, extending Nevada’s lead while battling at the rim and snagging three crucial defensive boards over this stretch, limiting Washington’s possessions. Rolison then added another layup, and Sanders tacked on two free throws to make it 57-50 with 2:53 left in the game.
With little time remaining, the Huskies resorted to fouling, but Nevada consistently hit its free throws, making the margin too large to overcome. The Pack held on for a 63-53 win.
Led by Sanders’ 20 points and Davidson’s 14 points and nine rebounds, Nevada moved to 2-0 on the season. Nevada’s defense stood tall in the second half, holding Washington to just 8-26 (34%) from the field. Davidson matched up against Osobor for most of the game and helped contain the star forward, limiting him to just three points and 0-7 from the field.
Nevada head coach Steve Alford noted the team’s defensive effort against Washington’s star.
“Some of the stuff that happened in the first half is they’re trying too hard offensively, and you got to let offense come to you,” Alford said. “Defensively, you need to be aggressive and physical. I can’t say enough about Nick, this is two years in a row, what happened at Logan last year and what happened here. Osobor gets our respect, and two of his toughest games statistically have been against Nick. There aren’t too many games where he hadn’t had a field goal.”
The Wolf Pack’s next challenge will come at home as they take on the Weber State Wildcats on Wed., Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
James Wolfgang Perez can be reached via email at dominicgutierrez@unr.edu or via X @JamesWPerezUNR
