Lawlor Events Center was bumping tonight, and for very good reason. Nevada hosted a new MW foe in GCU with a sold-out student section and plenty of fans along the stands.
It took an extra period to finish it off, but a late comeback fueled by some clutch free throws gave Nevada a 66-60 OT win.
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Scoring Summary
1st Half
GCU 24 – Nevada 26
2nd Half
GCU 29 – Nevada 27
OT
GCU 7 – Nevada 13
Final: GCU 60, Nevada 66
Offense
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Corey Camper Jr. opened up the scoring for Nevada. A fadeaway jumper gave Nevada an early 2-0 lead, but that would be it for the time being. A scoring drought of nearly five minutes stunned the Pack’s offense early on until Peyton White hit a three to cut the deficit down to five.
Momentum began to switch gears thanks to Chuck Bailey throwing up a three, followed by a fast break score in the paint to get the Wolf Pack into double-digit scoring. Nevada continued that trend with an 8-0 run that cut the deficit down to 15-13 GCU with just under eight minutes left.
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Nevada finally caught up just over the three-minute mark when Tyler Rolison hit a jumper to tie it at 22. Moments later, Nevada took its first lead since the beginning on a Vaughn Weems layup and turned in a 9-0 run to go up 24-22.
Just like the first half, Camper started the second half with a layup to push Nevada’s lead to four. Yet again, however, Nevada’s offense stalled and didn’t score for over four minutes after Camper’s initial two points. The Wolf Pack caught a break on a goaltending call to tie it at 30 even and end that drought.
Bailey fired things up with a corner three, which was just the third three-pointer to go in for Nevada at the moment. Nevada would go on to finish 7-17 from beyond the arc on the night.
“We had some guys have some off nights and have really challenged our bench,” Steve Alford said about Nevada’s 41-2 bench performance. “That’s what this team has done all year, they’ve responded to challenges, and different people step up.”
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Tayshawn Comer’s name was called for the first time on two free throw attempts, making both for his first points of the game. Nevada finished the first half just 2-6 from the free-throw line and went 17-26 from the line in total. Comer made his first field goal of the game with a corner three to cut it down to a six-point deficit.
With under a minute to go, White drained a three that made it 53-50. A turnover by GCU gave Nevada the ball back with 26 seconds left. White had the ball again and just threw it up in the air while defended, but no foul was called.
With less than a second left, Nevada inbounded the ball and gave it to Rolison, who threw it up on a prayer. After review, the call of a foul was confirmed, and TR3 lined up and hit all three free throws, sending this game into overtime tied at 53.
“To make three free throws there, that’s the absolute hardest time to make three free throws,” Alford said.
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The first points for Nevada in OT came from another three-pointer by Bailey for a 56-55 lead. GCU responded, but so did Bailey, hitting another three for a 59-57 lead with under three minutes left.
“Our guys found a way,” Alford said. “Grinded it out. I couldn’t be happier, we kept writing believe on the board.”
Defense
After falling 0-2, GCU turned in a quick 6-0 run at the first media timeout, scoring all six points in the paint. The Antelopes continued to lay down shots (some early questionable foul calls helped momentum) and the first three-pointer for GCU fell shortly after Nevada’s.
The scoring bug hit GCU for over five minutes, but it took advantage of more foul shooting to keep the lead. Over the last six minutes, CCU turned the ball over six times and eight times in the first half. Nevada turned those into nine points and kept the Antelopes offense at bay.
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GCU shot a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line in the first half, but only shot 33 percent from the field and 20 percent from deep.
“It was a fun battle,” Rolison said about facing GCU for the first time as conference opponents. “They’re a physical team and overall a great team, so I think it’s going to be a great battle from years on.”
The Antelopes kept up early, including a highlight reel dunk by Jaden Henley to keep it a two-point game. The first media timeout of the second half had GCU up 30-28 thanks to a quick 6-0 run by the Antelopes.
The next media timeout had the lead in favor of the Antelopes after a corner three gave GCU a 41-39 lead with 7:48 left. That was GCU’s first three of the second half, ending the night shooting 4-23 from that department.
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The interior attack for GCU opened up the floodgates, turning in a 14-2 run over three and a half minutes to go up nine with a 50-41 lead with 5:24 left. GCU scored 30 points in the paint compared to Nevada’s 18.
GCU missed two free throws in those final seconds that would’ve sealed the game for the Antelopes, but instead, Nevada capitalized and sent it to overtime. GCU had two more opportunities in overtime to score, missing both shots and allowing Nevada to run away with the lead slowly.
What’s Next
It’ll be a two-game week for Nevada, with the next matchup on Friday, Jan. 30, against in-state rival UNLV.
Tip-off against the Rebels is set for 7 p.m. PST.
