Nevada Loses Second In A Row On The Road At Davidson: 91, 71

Game Recap: Nevada 71, Davidson 91 Turnovers cost the Wolf Pack against a hot shooting Wildcats team. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Hot handed Davidson gives Nevada it’s second loss in a row. An earlier game then most of us were used to …

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Game Recap: Nevada 71, Davidson 91

Turnovers cost the Wolf Pack against a hot shooting Wildcats team.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Hot handed Davidson gives Nevada it’s second loss in a row.

An earlier game then most of us were used to west of Texas, the Wolf Pack traveled to North Carolina to take on the Davidson Wildcats at home. The Wildcats were picked to finish second in the Atlantic-10 this season and were looking for their second straight win on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats couldn’t miss and went a combined 55% from the field and 46% from behind the three point line. Guessing who would lead the Wildcats in scoring was tricky, and they didn’t disappoint.

But in the end it was junior guard Kellan Grady who ended an impressive night with 24 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. But the all conference guard had help, and that help came from sophomore forward Luka Brajkovic who chipped in 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The third member of their triple threat scoring attack on Tuesday was reigning A-10 player of the year Jon Axel Gudmundsson who ended the night with 18 points. Those three combined for more than half of the teams final score, but knocking down shots was only half of the battle, the Wildcats also forced 21 turnovers.

Nevada left John M. Belk arena with their second straight loss and the aforementioned turnovers and poor shooting attributed to that. The Wolf Pack managed to knock down over half of their field goals but went 5-15 from three. Making half of your field goals could hardly be looked at as a bad thing but when you turn the ball over 21 times, you forfeit possible scoring opportunities and Davidson took advantage of those turnovers and scored.

Lindsey Drew had maybe the best shooting performance of Nevada’s scoring guards going 5/9 on the night but that only equated to a team high 14 points. Jazz Johnson and Jalen Harris both added 13 points, but Harris had the better night on the stat sheet going 6/10 from the field and grabbing 9 rebounds in the process. We knew this Nevada team would have some growing pains with an almost completely new roster and new coaching staff this year, and forecasted this a bit in an article posted before the season started below.

But the Wolf Pack made shots, they just gave their opponent the ball back more times then they got it back and killed possible scoring possessions in the process. Scoring isn’t the main issue, and one bright spot in this game was senior guard Nisre Zouzoua who had 13 points and went 6/6 from the free throw line.

He has shown some life off of the bench in a couple of games this season. On a team who has very little scoring capability outside of Drew, Harris and Johnson. Now this game had it’s components to work on, but this was also a tough game many of us covering the conference were anticipating and the Wolf Pack just couldn’t come away the win.

What’s next: The Wolf Pack face the Fordham Rams in the first game of the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Friday at 3:15 PM EST/12:15 PM PST. The Rams are currently undefeated but the Wolf Pack will be their first real test of the season. The Ram’s have some capable scorers and rebounders in their front court, make sure to check out the summary of this game and more about the Rams and other possible opponents in the Paradise Jam in our Future hoops foes article below.  

 

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