Three takeaways: Nevada basketball gets back to roots in rebound win over Weber State

The Nevada men’s basketball team beat Weber State, 72-55, on Wednesday night at Lawlor Events Center to improve to 7-1 on the season. Here are three takeaways from Nevada’s win over the Wildcats.

1. Defense dominates Dillon

Weber State is a limited offensive team — 199th in KenPom offense — and the only way the Wildcats were going to beat Nevada was if their star wing, Dillion Jones, had a big game (like, 25-plus points). Dillion Jones did not have a big game, and that’s the biggest reason Nevada turned Wednesday night’s outing into a rout. Jones was held to 13 points, tied for his lowest output this season. In fact, Jones has hit a little rut. After starting the year scoring 26, 29 and 24 points, he’s yet to surpass 17 in any of his last five games. And Nevada kept him in check as Jones was 4-of-10 from the field, 1-of-4 from three and tied a season high with five turnovers against three assists. Jones is a good player who Nevada made look ordinary.

Credit Tré Coleman, who drew most of the defensive effort on Jones, as well as Kenan Blackshear, who also took some reps on the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Wildcat. Nevada never allowed Jones to get comfortable, a big change from the previous game, a lopsided loss to Drake when Bulldogs star Tucker DeVries, a 6-7 wing, hung 25 points on the Pack, going 8-of-19 from the field and 5-of-10 from three. The space DeVries had all game was closed down by Nevada against Jones as the Wolf Pack showed a more spirited defensive effort. The Wolf Pack held Weber State to 83.1 points per 100 possessions, its second-lowest mark this season (it held Pacific to 57.3 points per 100 possessions). And while Nevada’s offense had one of its better games, it was the defense that set the tone early and helped the Wolf Pack rebound from its first loss of the season (and a rash of first-half turnovers against Weber State).

“Really good bounce-back game for us,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “Not an easy team to play against. Very well coached. I like their talent. They obviously have a super talent like Jones, who I thought we did a really good job on and made things difficult. Our defense was way better. We had energy. We pressured. We did the things we’d done for most of the year.”

2. Sharing is caring

Nevada didn’t do much sharing last week. Of the ball, that is. The Wolf Pack had only 10 assists in its win over UC Davis before posting nine in the loss to Drake. Among many focal points for Nevada entering the game was moving the ball more effectively against Weber State than it did the two weeks prior. Mission accomplished. Nevada had 21 assists (its second most this season) on 28 made baskets, meaning 75 percent of the team’s hoops were assisted on. This is partially because the Wolf Pack hit some threes, going 9-of-22 from beyond the arc. Making deep shots always inflates the assist total. But those threes were mostly open shots because of the improved ball movement.

For the first time this season, Nevada put all five starters in double figures with no player attempting more than 11 shots. Truly, this was a team effort offensively as Blackshear had 15 points, Jarod Lucas 13, Nick Davidson 11 and Coleman and K.J. Hymes 10 each. Hymes dominated early, hitting all four of his shots before turning his ankle and being limited to 15 minutes (he should be fine long term). Davidson dominated late with eight points, three blocks, two assists and a steal in 14 second-half minutes. Nevada’s 57.1 percent shooting from the field was its second-best percentage this season.

“We started moving the basketball and shooting it very well,” Alford said. “Twenty-one assists, 11 turnovers. That’s who we are. Drake was nine (assists) and 19 (turnovers) and tonight is 21 and 11. The guys just did a tremendous job. It’s not easy losing and coming back. It’s not an easy thing to do, and very pleased and very proud of this group. They did a lot of good things. They shared it. They played unselfish. And that was fun to watch.”

3. These are free, right?

We’ve joked this season about Nevada’s “free throw defense.” Well, both teams were on point with their “free throw defense” against Weber State. The teams combined to make just 12-of-28 free throws, a measly 42.9 percent. Nevada made 7-of-17 free throws (41.2 percent) while Weber State made 5-of-11 free throws (45.5 percent). The Wildcats were down 43-34 with 13 minutes, 7 seconds remaining when it got into the early bonus. But Weber State missed the front end of three straight one-and-ones in less than a minute, costing it six points. That was in the middle of a 13-0 run by the Wolf Pack that essentially put the game away.

Nevada made at least 70 percent of its free throws in each of its first seven games before shooting 9-of-18 from the stripe against Drake and 7-of-17 against Weber State. That’s a combined 16-of-35 over the last two games. Reason to worry? I don’t think it’s a big deal. Davidson is a stellar free throw shooter and uncharacteristically missed four. Lucas is a great free throw shooter and missed two. And Hymes, who struggles from the line, also missed four. Those were the 10 misses. Just an off night, it seems. But it’s not often you nearly shoot better from three (40.9 percent) than the free throw line (41.2 percent), which the Wolf Pack almost did against Weber State.

“We’ll address that with the team,” Alford said of the foul shooting.

Overall, Nevada got back to its roots and DNA in the win over Weber State, which is (1) play good defense; (2) limit turnovers; and (3) get to the foul line. The Wolf Pack sprinkled in more made threes than usual to pull away late, but this was a good rebound effort from Nevada before it plays four games in Hawaii, including a road contest against the Rainbow Warriors on Sunday before next week’s Diamond Head Classic, which begins Thursday against Temple. That four-game swing should provide at least two Quad 1 or Quad 2 games and give us a much stronger understanding of just how good this team is.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.