Fresh off a 49-point beatdown of Pacific, the Nevada basketball team took on Portland on Saturday. The matchup marked the second consecutive game in which Nevada took on a WCC opponent and also marked the second game in which they handed the opposition a double-digit loss. Nevada bested Portland by a final score of 108-83. The key takeaway from this one was the offensive output from Nevada, as they shot 61 percent from the field and knocked down 13 three-pointers. Additionally, this game was marred by the officiating, with over 50 fouls called in the game.

Let’s break down how Nevada got to 4-0 and how impressive this win truly was for a team that played an unselfish brand of basketball.

108 points

That was an offensive clinic from Nevada. The 108 points scored was the second-highest output since a Martin twins-led team put up 110 on UMass in 2018. Six players scored double-digit outputs on the evening, and Jarod Lucas found his mojo as he finished the game with 30 points on 9-14 shooting. Lucas proved to be a threat from deep as he canned six three-pointers in the game. After a slow start to the season, it appears Lucas is back and lethal as ever.

Some other impressive performances came from usual suspects Kenan Blackshear, Nick Davidson, and Tre Coleman. But how about Daniel Foster and freshman Jazz Gardner? The two scored 14 and 13, respectively, and played a physical brand of basketball on the defensive end. Gardner recorded a block, and Foster pulled down nine boards in the game. It’s pretty impressive stuff from a guard.

Depth

Okay, we keep bringing up the sheer depth of this team, but a glance at the stat sheet and it is apparent. Six different players logging double-digit scoring is not only great but also bodes well for the rest of the season. Last season, this team went as Lucas, Blackshear, and Baker went. A void was expected to hover over this team with Baker’s and Darrion Williams’ departures. However, a mix of players have filled in, and then some to start the season. Davidson has turned into a true threat from deep and in the post. At the same time, Foster looks to have added some scoring to his pedigree.

Young players in Gardner and Tyler Rolison are giving this team some good minutes. Gardner looks so comfortable playing with his back to the bucket. He scored 13 in the evening.

Nevada has a great blend of youth and core veteran leadership on this team, and the most impressive thing is its ability to play any brand of basketball. For large portions of this game, we saw Alford opt to push Davidson to the five and play some small ball against a smaller Portland lineup. That was a really effective lineup for the Wolf Pack. Davidson was able to more than enough to hang with the Portland bigs, and his effectiveness as a shooter helped to spread the floor. Nevada has shown early on that it can play small or play big. That is a luxury.

50 fouls

The refs’ influence on this one was felt. Over 50 fouls were called in this one, and a couple of those were the result of technical fouls. So things were a bit chippy between these teams and the referee crew. More fouls mean more free-throw opportunities. Nevada uncharacteristically struggled in the first half from the line, as they went 11-18. However, they were much better in the second half, going 12-15 on trips to the line. One miss actually resulted in a KJ Hymes rebound and dunk for a four-point play. That put a charge in the crowd at Lawlor.

The Portland Pilot had a fair share of opportunities from the charity stripe. Portland went just 13-25 from the line in the game. That makes for yet another opponent who struggled from the line versus the Wolf Pack. Yet, you can’t fault the Wolf Pack for these poor outputs. They themselves have been excellent to start the season from the charity stripe, leading to much of the success to start the season.

Up Next

Nevada will take some time off and enjoy the Thanksgiving festivities. The Wolf Pack don’t play a game again till November 29th against the Montana Grizzlies.

It’s worth mentioning that Kenan Blackshear appeared (not an official prognosis) to injure his back late in the second half. He was in quite a bit of pain after blocking a shot. The time off should help, but we will have to wait and see if the injury will keep him out of some upcoming games.