LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The University of Nevada Men’s Basketball team dropped their second contest of the season Saturday night against LMU, falling by a score of 64-52.
The Pack had a solid defensive outing but struggled to score on the offensive end of the floor, particularly in the second half.
Nevada limited LMU to 6-20 shooting from behind the arc (30.0%), including just 1-6 in the second half.
Jarod Lucas led the Pack offensively, pouring in a team-high 18 points on 6-12 shooting from the field, including an exceptional mark of 4-9 from behind the arc.
Nick Davidson reached double figures in scoring in the second consecutive game for the first time in his career, putting up 11 points on 2-3 shooting from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line.
Freshman forward Darrion Williams once again led the Pack in rebounding, pulling down seven in the contest. Tre Coleman also had a solid night on the glass, as the junior grabbed a season-high six rebounds throughout the game.
As a team, Nevada shot a stellar 86.7 percent from the free-throw line, knocking down 13 of 15 free throws in the contest.
After falling behind 6-2 to begin the game, back-to-back 3-pointers from Williams and Davidson gave the Pack their first lead of the contest at the 15:44 mark in the first half.
LMU managed to tie the game at eight points apiece, but the Pack regained the lead after two Davidson free throws followed by a big slam dunk from Will Baker gave Nevada a 12-8 advantage.
The Lions used a quick 8-4 run over the next three and a half minutes to tie the game at 16 apiece; but, Lucas drained his second 3-pointer of the half, recapturing the lead for the Pack.
The two squads went back and forth over the final seven minutes of the half, as Lucas began to heat up from the field. The senior guard scored seven points over the final three minutes of the period, knocking down 3-4 shots to close out the half for Nevada, as the two teams entered the break even at 33 apiece.
Nevada shot 44.8 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three in the first half, while recording seven assists on 13 made shots.
LMU raced out to a four-point lead to begin the second period, however, Davidson and Coleman knocked down four consecutive free throws to even the score once again.
The Lions responded by ripping off an 11-2 run over the next three and a half minutes of game time to build their largest lead of the contest, as they held a 48-39 advantage.
The Pack were never able to trim the deficit to less than eight throughout the remainder of the game, as they went cold on the offensive end of the floor and were unable to take advantage of a solid 20 minutes on the defensive end of the court.
Notable Stats:
- Nevada was +4 in turnover margin throughout the game.
- The Pack’s bench outscored LMU’s bench, 18-11.
- Nick Davidson matched a career-high with two blocks in the contest.
- There were seven ties and eight lead changes in the game.
- Jarod Lucas has now scored in double figures in eight of nine contests this season.
- Darrion Williams had a team-high four assists in the game.
- Nevada had 12 fastbreak points to LMU’s eight.
Up Next
The Pack will return to the court this Tuesday, as they are set to take on Pepperdine on the road at 8 p.m.
