Nevada men’s basketball was unable to defeat in-state rival UNLV
The men traveled down south to in-state rivals UNLV for their first face off of conference play. Nevada lost 69–58 which is their third straight conference loss this season. They have not had a three time losing streak in conference play since the 2014–2015 season.
Nevada came into this game after two tough losses. First against Colorado State 77–66 and more recently against Utah State 78–49. UNLV just beat Colorado State on Jan. 28.
Starters Warren Washington was out along with Grant Sherfield. Washington was out with a finger injury and Sherfield was out due to a foot injury.
Having two Nevada starters out gave Kenan Blackshear and Desmond Cambridge Jr. a chance to rack up points. It also allowed more substitution options of getting freshman Jalen Weaver and Alem Huseinovic more time on the court.
Nevada started the game off scoring the first two points off of free throws by Blackshear. UNLV’s Royce Hamm Jr. and Jordan McCabe tied the game at 4–4. Two turnovers led UNLV to gain a lead and they kept it until the end of the period. Kenan Blackshear had a strong three point shot at the very end of the half to give Nevada hope for going into the second half.
Jordan McCabe, Donovan Williams and Bryce Hamilton all put 11 points each on the board for UNLV compared to Blackshear’s seven and Cambridge Jr.’s eight points. The first half ended 42–26 with Nevada down.
The second half started well for Nevada. Will Baker gained eight of the 11 points in the first five minutes for the Wolf Pack. There was a two minute time where no points were scored by either team. Cambridge Jr.’s jumper broke the scoreless time at 9:50 and was able to have Nevada only be down by five points.
Nevada was unable to get closer to UNLV, losing 58–69.
Blackshear took the lead on the court with Sherfield being out. He led in points at 17 and Cambridge Jr. was next with 14. Both Hamilton and Williams on UNLV had 17 points and McCabe followed with 16.
The men improved on their free throws and went 17–18 compared to UNLV’s 11–16.
Nevada is now 3–5 in conference play and 9–10 overall. Their next match up will be at Fresno State on Feb. 4.
Kelsey Middleton can be reached at kelseymiddleton@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @kelsmiddleunr
Originally published at http://nevadasagebrush.com.
