The Nevada men’s basketball team improved to 16-12 and 8-9 in conference play after an 84-61 home win against the Wyoming Cowboys, who dropped to 12-17 and 5-13, splitting the season series on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
Nevada opened the game with guard Xavier DuSell sinking an early jumper, but both teams struggled from beyond the arc, missing their first seven three-point attempts. DuSell snapped the cold streak, drilling a corner three to put the Pack up 7-2 four minutes in.
Guard Tyler Rolison followed with a pull-up triple, but Wyoming responded with a jumper from guard Obi Agbim. Nevada forward Nick Davidson found his rhythm, finishing a hook shot off a feed from guard Kobe Sanders. Then, guard Tyler Rolison set up forward Justin McBride for a layup, keeping Nevada ahead 14-9.
Davidson battled through double and triple teams, earning consecutive trips to the line and sinking all four free throws. Agbim answered with a three, and guard Kobe Newton buried another to cut Wyoming’s deficit to 20-17.
A Cowboy three-pointer off a Davidson turnover brought Wyoming within one, but both offenses stalled. Nevada missed four straight shots and went without a field goal for 6:38, while Wyoming went 0-10 in the same stretch. Despite the slump, the Pack capitalized at the line, hitting all eight of their free throws and finishing the night 13-15, well above their season average of 68 percent.
Davidson finally broke the drought, draining a three to cap an 11-0 Nevada run that featured just one made field goal. Wyoming responded with back-to-back buckets, but McBride knocked down a mid-range jumper, Sanders buried a three, and Newton answered with one of his own for the Cowboys. Sanders then nailed a jumper at the buzzer to send Nevada into halftime up 39-28.
The Wolf Pack controlled the first half by dominating the free-throw line, shooting 86.6 (13-15.) Davidson and Sanders led the way with 11 points each.
Forward Brandon Love opened the second half with a one-handed floater, and both teams traded free throws in a whistle-heavy start featuring nine fouls in the first 4:38. DuSell snapped another Nevada scoring drought with a deep three, Sanders followed with another triple, then floated in a short jumper, pushing the Pack’s lead to 53-44 with 11:20 left.
Rolison and McBride attacked the rim off consecutive Wyoming turnovers, guard Chuck Bailey finished a fast-break layup, and Sanders stripped a Cowboy before racing coast-to-coast for a floater. Rolison added another to punctuate a 13-0 run, stretching the lead to 66-48 with 6:57 remaining.
Rolison and Sanders continued to score at will down the stretch as Nevada cruised to its eighth conference win of the season. Sanders led all scorers with 27 points as Nevada secured a dominant victory.
The Pack shot 62.5 percent from the field (15-24) in the second half and finished the game at 53 percent (26-49.) The team also recorded an 84 percent free-throw percentage (26-31), nearly 15 percent higher than its season average of 68.6 percent.
“I thought our guys showed a lot of growth tonight,” Nevada men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford said after the game. “I thought we were physical. I thought we were attentive to what we want to do both offensively and defensively.”
The Wolf Pack’s next challenge will come on the road as they travel to Las Vegas, looking to complete the season sweep against their in-state rival, the UNLV Rebels on Friday, February 28 at 8 p.m.
James Wolfgang Perez can be reached via email at dominicgutierrez@unr.edu or via X @JamesWPerezUNR
