Nevada blows a 17-point lead to Dayton, goes one-and-done in the Tournament

It was a 56-39 lead for Nevada over Dayton with 7:14 left. If you stopped watching at that point, you probably thought Nevada would come out with the win and face No. 2 Arizona on Saturday.

The Flyers will instead have a date with Arizona as they beat Nevada 63-60. The Wolf Pack only scored four points in those last seven minutes as Dayton finished the game on a 24-4 run.

Nevada was 24-0 after leading in the first half before this game. The Wolf Pack simply let their foot off the gas after controlling most of the game. They’ll end the season 26-8 and it’s the second consecutive year Nevada has gone one-and-done in the Tournament.

Scoring Summary

1st Half

Nevada 34 - Dayton 25

2nd Half

Nevada 26 - Dayton 38

Final: Nevada 60, Dayton 63

Offense

Nevada ended the first half well, going on a 16-0 run to boost a nine-point lead in halftime. The team shot nearly 50 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from the three in the first half.

It took some time for Jarod Lucas to heat up, but he led the team in scoring by the end of it. Lucas scored 17 points, four rebounds, and shot 3-9 from three. Surprisingly, Lucas wasn’t sent to the free-throw line, something that we know Dayton does well in.

Both Kenan Blackshear and Nick Davidson scored 15 points as they were the only other players to score double digits for Nevada.

I mentioned in my preview how well Dayton does at limiting fouls. Obviously Lucas never touched the free throw line, and that was the case for most of Nevada. The team only went 3-6 from the line, coming from three different players (Blackshear, Davidson, and K.J. Hymes.)

The offense just wasn’t the same in the second half. Nevada only shot 37.9 percent from the field and only made three out of 13 three-point shots. Nevada also turned the ball over 12 times and was out of character in those last seven minutes.

Defense

Hard to find some highlights after that 24-4 run, but Nevada’s defense had some solid moments.

One of the biggest ones was guarding the three-point shooting by Dayton. Ranking third in the nation in that department, Nevada held the Flyers to 25 percent shooting from deep in the first half, only allowing three out of 12 shots to be made.

Nevada also did well at containing All-American post-player DaRon Holmes II in the first half. Holmes finished the game with 18 points, most of them from his 8-9 free throw shooting. Holmes was stuck at the 10-point mark going into the second half, and he was the one to start Dayton’s 24-4 run.

Koby Brea hurt Nevada from beyond the arc, shooting 5-8 from three and scoring 15 points. Dayton woke up its deep shots, shooting 5-7 as a team in the second half to spark the comeback.

Nevada also forced Dayton to give up 12 turnovers and scored 16 points off of those takeaways. The Flyers only scored 13 points off turnovers, but they beat Nevada in paint points (26-22) and bench points (11-4.)

What’s Next

56-39 and 24-4 will haunt Nevada fans for a while. With the Wolf Pack officially eliminated, looking ahead to next season will look a lot different.

Lucas, Blackshear, Daniel Foster, and Hunter McIntosh will all be gone. Some players could transfer out and there will definitely be players transferring in. Either way, Steve Alford will have a lot of holes to fill and the team will have a new identity next season.

It’s far too early to say how next year’s team will go, but this year’s team was one where you say “This was probably their best chance.” Nevada had the defense, the shooting, and the veteran leadership, but that’s just how March basketball is sometimes.

Thank you to everyone who has been with me following Nevada hoops this year, and plenty of content looking back and looking ahead will be up soon.