[NEVADA ATHLETICS RELEASE]
The University of Nevada Men’s Basketball team held UT Arlington to the fewest field goals made in a single game in the history of their program in what was a brilliant display of basketball on the defensive end of the court, as the Wolf Pack earned a 62-43 victory and remained undefeated.Â
Nevada was sensational on defense all night, limiting UT Arlington to a measly 17.9 percent from the field for the game, as the Mavericks only managed to make 10 field goals on 56 attempts.Â
K.J. Hymes dominated the paint on both sides of the court, recording five blocks in the game to match his career-high in addition to scoring nine points on 3-4 shooting.Â
The Pack forced UT Arlington into 14 turnovers and limited them to just five fast break points on the night.Â
UT Arlington entered the contest averaging nearly 90 points per contest. The 43 points scored was their lowest offensive outing in their past 29 games. It also marked the least amount of points that Nevada has allowed against a Division I opponent since 2003.
Offensively, Jarod Lucas led the way for the Pack, scoring a game-high 18 points on the night, including 11 in the second half alone.Â
Nevada had three players reach double-figures in scoring, as Darrion Williams scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting, and Will Baker chipped in 10 of his own on an efficient 3-5 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line.
Kenan Blackshear and Tre Coleman were phenomenal on defense, locking down the Maverick backcourt and limiting UT Arlington’s leading-scorer Taj Anderson to two points on 1-9 shooting.
Coleman got things going early for the Pack, pulling down a tough offensive rebound on Nevada’s first possession of the game and finishing strong at the rim to give the Pack an early 2-0 lead.Â
Following two free-throws by Baker and a midrange jumper by Williams, Nevada found themselves with a 6-0 advantage five minutes into the game.
Nevada continued to maintain control of the tempo, and forced UT Arlington into a handful of bad shots over the next 10 minutes of gametime, resulting in a 15-8 run, extending the Pack’s lead to 21-8 with five minutes remaining in the first half.
UT Arlington finally found some offensive rhythm at the end of the period; but, Nevada still managed to enter the break up 26-18.
Nevada limited the Mavericks to 6-33 shooting in the first half (18.2%) and a paltry 1-13 from three (7.7%).
Similar to the first half, Coleman once again got things going for Nevada in the second half, scoring a tough layup in the paint to extend the Pack’s lead back to double digits.Â
Nevada maintained at least an eight-point lead over the course of the next 11 minutes before pulling away in the final eight minutes of action.
Up by 14 with just under five-and-a-half minutes to go, Lucas drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give Nevada their largest lead of the contest, as they held a 54-39 advantage.Â
The Pack continued their dominance over the final five minutes, and the team went on to earn the 62-43 victory in their first road game of the season.
Nevada will head to Grand Cayman for the Cayman Islands Classic, where they will play three games in three days, beginning with a contest against Tulane on Monday at 2 p.m.Â
