The major statline going into Saturday night’s game between the Nevada Wolf Pack and San Diego State Aztecs was 0-13. That was the road record against SDSU the Wolf Pack carried into Viejas Arena that night, having lost every single game to the Aztecs on the road since they joined the Mountain West in 2012. Since this was the final time Nevada would play SDSU in hostile territory as a conference opponent, the talk surrounding the game (especially in Nevada circles) was whether or not the program would finally notch a road conference win in Viejas before the Aztecs moved to the Pac-12.
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This was not the case that night, as outside of the first few minutes of each half, Nevada was a shell of itself. Multiple 5+ minute scoring droughts, whispers from the bench at best, inconsistency from its top stars and inability to stop the Aztecs when the wind was behind them ultimately were part of the checklist that spelled disaster for the Pack, which now moves to 0-14 in Viejas.
Scoring Summary
1st Half
Nevada 25 – San Diego State 36
2nd Half
Nevada 32 – San Diego State 35
Final: Nevada 57, San Diego State 71
First Half
Nevada got off to a hot start off the backs of guard Tayshawn Comer and forward Corey Camper Jr., as both made a three each in the first two minutes. The Aztecs kept up with a layup from forward Miles Heide and two free throws from guard Reese Dixon-Waters.
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After the first two three-balls, the Pack got cold hands. San Diego State pulled ahead by five with a 7-0 run featuring threes, free throws and a second-chance jumper. Camper Jr. tried to start a run with another three-pointer and a jumper, but he and the rest of the Wolf Pack got cold with shots and passes, missing the next five shots and turning the ball over twice while SDSU forward Pharaoh Compton (six points) and guard Taj DeGourville (two points) regained the lead for the Aztecs.
The problems kept piling on for the Pack after the 8-0 run from the Aztecs. Outside of a pair of free throws from forward Elijah Price and a jumper from forward Vaughn Weems, Nevada couldn’t sink a shot for almost nine minutes. This was partially due to their own efforts, but also thanks to center Magoon Gwath leading the defensive effort with multiple great contests and three blocked shots in the paint up to the five minute mark of the half.
Despite being bottlenecked for the majority of the half, the Wolf Pack was able to cut into the lead over the next four minutes thanks to free throws from Price (four points) and a jumper and three-ball from Camper Jr., slicing the lead down to seven with just over a minute left. However, just as the energy was shifting in Nevada’s favor, SDSU guard BJ Davis hit his first jumper of the night and guard Miles Byrd got on the board with a dunk to push the lead back to double digits before half time. At the half, Nevada was down 36-25.
In the first 20 minutes, Nevada shot a poor 29 percent (7-24) overall while making four of its 11 three point shots (36 percent). In comparison, SDSU shot 43 percent (12-28) overall and 23 percent (3-13) from deep.
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Camper Jr. led the squad with 13 points, while Price was the only other member with more than five points, making six free throws in the first half. Nevada’s bench was silent in the first half, as no one had a single point despite taking six shots and three free throws. The Aztec bench, meanwhile, scored 17 of its 36 first half points.
Second Half
Similar to the first half, the Wolf Pack came out swinging in the second. In the first two minutes of the half, Nevada went on a 6-0 run, with Price (four free throws) and Weems (one layup) at the helm. During this time, Nevada grabbed three offensive rebounds and a steal, staying in the driver’s seat even when missteps happened. The Pack continued this streak further, with another three ball from Camper Jr. and a second-chance layup from forward Kaleb Lowery, capping off an 11-2 opening run before a media time out.
However, things went downhill for the Pack in a drastic way. After Price dunked a ball to tie the game at 38 a piece, Nevada failed to score a single point over the next four minutes, going 0-4 and turning the ball over three times. Meanwhile, the Aztecs got white hot, scoring 13 points from Davis (two three-pointers), Gwath (one three-pointer), Byrd (a pair of free throws) and forward Tae Simmons (a layup). The Wolf Pack trailed by double-digits once again after tying the game three minutes before.
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The middle of the second half was quiet, as neither team could pull ahead of each other during this time. Price made one free throw and a second chance jumper for the visiting Wolf Pack, but Simmons countered the free throw with a second chance jumper of his own and Dixon-Waters sank a three-pointer for the jumper.
Nevada and SDSU did the same routine as the game transitioned to the final five minutes of the game, with Nevada guard Chuck Bailey III and Davis trading free throws, and Nevada forward Joel Armotrading and Dixon-Waters trading twos.
However, the Aztecs took command of the game from there, growing the lead to as much as 21 points with 3:29 left in the game. Nevada did keep the lead from going higher than that for the rest of the game, and even cut the lead to 14 points off of a garbage time 8-2 run. But the Pack still left Viejas with a 71-57 loss.
Price wound up leading the team in points with 17 (2-7 FG, 13-15 FT) and securing another double-double with 10 rebounds. Camper Jr. was right behind the sophomore with 16, while the next player on the list was Comer with six. The team finished the game shooting 32.7 percent (17-52) overall and 25 percent (6-24) from deep. The Pack outrebounded the Aztecs 35-30, but lost in turnovers (14-10), points off turnovers (23-10), blocks (8-2) and bench points (31-9).
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What’s Next
Nevada will look to shed the loss to SDSU by capping off their two-game road trip with a game against San Jose State. The Wolf Pack dominated their first match up against the Spartans at home with an 87-54 win on January 20.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. PST on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
