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Nevada Picks Up A Major Resume-Building Victory Saturday Night
Caleb Martin led all scorers with 26 points
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Nevada stays atop the Mountain West standings with Saturday’s win
Caleb Martin had 26 points and Jordan Caroline added 20 points as Nevada beat Boise State 74-68 Saturday night at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
Chandler Hutchison (25 points) led the Broncos in scoring. Christian Sengfelder (12 points) and Alex Hobbs (12 points) also finished in double figures for Boise State.
With the win, Nevada stays in first place in the Mountain West standings. The winner of Saturday’s game was set to finish the weekend in first place in the league standings regardless of the other matchups across the MW.
Tied at 65 with 2:50 left, Nevada closed with a 9-3 run in the final 170 seconds. Only one field goal, a Elijah Foster layup, was made by Nevada over that span. Nevada converted seven free throws in the final three minutes.
The first half was closely contested but Nevada ended the first 20 minutes with its largest lead of the game to that point, a 35-29 advantage over Boise State.
The start of the second period was a different story. Nevada struggled with turnovers in the early going, allowing Boise State to go on a quick 12-0 run to take a 41-36 lead with 16:48 left in regulation. All four of the made field goal attempts in that span were either layups or dunks.
From that point on, the only time the lead exceeded five points was the final score.
Boise State entered the evening ranked 43rd nationally in three-point percentage and 6th in opponent three-point percentage, according to KenPom. Nevada dominated the perimeter, though, forcing Boise State to miss 18 of its 21 attempts from deep and knocking down nine of its own. Boise State largely relied on attacking the paint (42 points in the painted area), which was insufficient down the stretch.
Nevada extended its Mountain West winning streak to 16 games with the victory Saturday night. Nevada’s last loss in conference play was against San Diego State in Viejas Arena last February. The Wolf Pack is favored by KenPom to win each of its remaining eleven conference games.
Nevada and Boise State remain 1-2 in the Mountain West conference standings. New Mexico (10-11, 5-3) checks in at third while Fresno State (10-7, 4-3) stays in fourth after its game on Saturday was postponed against Air Force.
Next up for Boise State is a home matchup with San Jose State (3-15, 0-7) on Wednesday night. Nevada will head to Laramie to take on Wyoming (12-7, 3-3) on Wednesday as well.