In A Early Season Test For Nevada, The Wolf Pack Outlast The Rhode Island Rams 88-81 in Reno
Nevada uses defense and hitting their free throws as a way to defeat the Rhode Island Rams 88-81.
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Led by Jordan Caroline, The Nevada Wolf Pack Outlast Rhode Island 88-81
Led by big contributions from Jordan Caroline, Caleb and Cody Martin, the Nevada Wolf Pack outlasted the Rhode Island Rams 88-81 on Monday Night in Reno.
This was a game that pitted two schools from mid-major conferences looking to get a big win early in the season to boost their resumes for the NCAA selection committee. In the end, it was the Wolf Pack’s free throw attempts and their defense late in the game that held off the Rams and secured the big non-conference win.
The Wolf Pack won the game by dominating the Rams on the charity stripe as they attempted 44 free throws while the Rams only attempted 18 tonight. The Wolf Pack did make those attempts count by making 36 of those attempts (good for 82 percent) despite the Rams making seven more field goal attempts than the Wolf Pack. The Wolf Pack getting to the line was critical for them when they had some stretches when their shots were not going in, it was key for them to get to the free throw line.
The Wolf Pack did get some big-time performances from Caleb and Cody Martin. The twin brothers who transferred to Nevada from NC State helped the Wolf Pack get the win tonight. Caleb Martin scored 24 points on 5 for 10 shooting while going 2-3 from the three-point line and going 12-13 from the free throw line. Twin bother Cody scored 13 points on 3 for 5 shooting and went 7 for 13 from the free throw line.
But it was Jordan Caroline who led the Wolf Pack in scoring tonight with 28 points to go along with 12 rebounds and went 14 for 17 from the free throw line. All in all, Caroline came up huge for the Wolf Pack tonight in the winning effort.
The Wolf Pack seemed to be in control of the game until midway thru the second half when the Rams started really defending the Wolf Pack and crashed the boards which got Rhode Island back in the game.
Led by EC Matthews (18 points) and Jared Terrell (24 points) the Rams were able to tie the game 66 but a Josh Hall (five points, five rebounds) layup, with an assist from Jordan Caroline with seven minutes left in the game gave the Wolf Pack the 68-66 lead. A lead in which they never gave up as they grinded out the win over the Rams to improve their record to 2-0 for the season and get a big win in the nonconference.
Nevada will have a bit of a quick turnaround as the will hit the road as they will play against the Santa Clara Broncos on Wednesday night.