Bitten: Nevada ends Utah State’s 33-game WAC home winning streak
The team Western Athletic Conference coaches voted would win the league championship flexed its muscles in front of a sell-out crowd at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Saturday.
Senior guard Brockeith Pane broke out of a recent scoring slump with 21 points, but could not stop Nevada sophomore guard Deonte Burton who scored 25 in the 78-71 victory.
“He hit some tough shots,” Pane said of Burton. “You can tell he worked on his game a lot this summer. I tried to put him in tough situations. You’ve got to tip your hat off to that.”
USU had several missed opportunities to take the lead during the second half. Pane hit a 3-pointer midway through the second half to tie the game at 56, but both teams traded missed shots and turnovers on the next two possessions.
“I was proud of our guys; they played really, really hard,” USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “We had lots of chances. It would have been really interesting if we could have got ahead. It was 56-56, and there were lots of chances to go ahead and we just couldn’t capitalize.”
USU was out-rebounded 34-24 and gave up 13 offensive rebounds.
“Nevada is really good. Their athleticism really bothered us, especially on the boards,” Morrill said. “I think that was the stat the proved to be the difference. We knew that this was an issue for this team.”
Senior forward Dario Hunt led Nevada with seven offensive rebounds and 12 overall, while scoring 14 points on the night.
“They came ready to play today,” Pane said. “We had a couple chances to win the game when it was tied 56-all. We just couldn’t capitalize on it. Those guys played good.”
Reed struggled to find any rhythm on the night due to foul trouble and struggled with his assignment to guard senior forward Olek Czyz.
“He got in foul trouble and was a non-factor,” Morrill said of Reed’s play.
The Wolf Pack pushed their lead 61-56 after the two teams sputtered on offense and a free throw from Morgan Grim trimmed the lead back to four points with just under seven minutes remaining.
Reed checked back into the contest with four fouls after Grim’s made free throw, and Czyz took advantage of the situation to score six straight points, going right at Reed at every opportunity.
“Those guys just outplayed us today,” Pane said.
Sophomore guard Preston Medlin, who finished the night with 20 points, cut the lead 70-68 on a layup with 1:10 remaining in the game. USU burned its final timeout after the layup, but Burton put the game away for good with a clutch 3-pointer and a free throw on the ensuing possession.
The loss snaps Utah State’s 33-game at-home conference winning streak.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu