[NEVADA ATHLETICS RELEASE]

BOISE, Idaho – Hunter McIntosh exploded for a season-high 26 points on 9-11 shooting from the field, including a perfect 6-6 from behind the arc, Jarod Lucas poured in 19 points of his own, and the Nevada Men’s Basketball team buried 12-24 shots from behind the arc, as they earned a 76-66 road victory over Boise State Tuesday night. 

The win marked Nevada’s sixth consecutive victory, as well as the Pack’s ninth win in their past 10 games. Nevada improved to 25-6 overall this season, including a mark of 12-5 in Mountain West play. The 25 wins marks just the seventh time in program history that the Pack has achieved 25 victories in a season. The win was also Nevada’s eighth true road victory of the season, as they now own an exceptional record of 8-3 in true road contests. 

Nevada is tied for second place in the Mountain West standings following the victory, and the Pack sits just a half a game back from Utah State for first place in the conference standings with one game remaining on the schedule.  

Nevada was tremendous on the offensive end of the court, as they shot 46.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc in the contest. The Pack drained 12 3-pointers, marking the fifth consecutive game that Nevada has hit 10+ 3-pointers.  

Nevada’s bench outscored Boise State’s bench 34-13, and the Pack outscored the Broncos in transition 8-0.  

Defensively, Nevada was highly impressive, limiting the Broncos to just 66 points on 41.7 percent shooting from the field, and an abysmal 26.1 percent from behind the arc.  

Nevada matched a season-high by recording 12 steals in the game, as the Pack forced Boise State into 14 turnovers, while scoring 21 points off those 14 turnovers.  

Individually, McIntosh was sensational. The graduate student had his most impressive game in a Wolf Pack uniform, dropping 26 points on an incredible 9-11 shooting from the field, and a perfect 6-6 from behind the arc, marking the most made 3-point field goals without a miss in program history. McIntosh also recorded a career-high four steals in 24 minutes of action. McIntosh is playing at an elite level lately for the Pack, as he has now scored at least 12 points in each of Nevada’s past four games. 

Lucas poured in 19 points while knocking down two 3-pointers and draining 9-10 shots at the free throw line. The fifth-year senior also pulled down three rebounds, dished out three assists, and recorded two steals throughout the game.  

Kenan Blackshear, making his return to the Wolf Pack lineup after missing the Nevada’s past two games due to injury, scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds, and tallied two steals in 23 minutes of playing time.  

Tylan Pope had a strong performance off the bench for Nevada, scoring five points on 2-2 shooting from the field, including 1-1 from behind the arc, in addition to pulling down three rebounds in eight minutes of action.  

In total, eight different players scored at least two points in the contest for the Pack. 

Nevada maintained a lead for 35 minutes and three seconds throughout the game, while trailing for just two minutes and 12 seconds.  

The Broncos opened up the scoring one minute and 21 seconds into the contest, as they made a turnaround jumper in the paint to take a 2-0 lead over the Pack. 

Nevada responded with their first 3-pointer of the game, as Tre Coleman buried a shot from behind the arc, marking the first of what ended up being a barrage of 3-point field goals from the Pack. 

Shortly after Coleman’s triple, Blackshear drove by his defender and finished a tough left-handed layup through contact, as Nevada built an early 5-2 edge over Boise State.  

The lead grew to five points after Lucas drained a mid-range jumper at the 16:26 mark, with the Pack holding a 7-2 advantage. 

Boise State responded with a 6-0 run to retake the lead with 12:35 left in the first half.  

26 seconds later, Lucas drained his first 3-pointer of the night, recapturing the lead for the Pack, as they held a 10-8 edge over the Broncos.  

Boise State managed to tie up the contest at 10 points apiece on their next possession; however, McIntosh responded by burying a 3-pointer to retake the lead for Nevada. 

Boise State used a quick 5-0 run to take a 15-13 edge over the Pack at the 9:34 mark; but, McIntosh splashed another 3-pointer to push Nevada back ahead once again.  

The Broncos scored on their next possession to take a 17-16 lead over the Pack with 8:38 remaining in the first half; however, that marked the final time that Boise State would lead in the contest.  

Pope came off the bench and immediately drained a 3-pointer off a beautiful pass from Nick Davidson, as Nevada took a 19-17 lead over the Broncos with 8:27 to go until halftime. 

After a defensive stop, McIntosh found Pope open near the rim and Pope finished a strong layup in the paint through contact, pushing the Pack’s advantage up to four points with under eight minutes to go in the period. 

Boise State reeled off a 6-2 run to even up the score at 23-23 at the 5:52 mark.  

McIntosh answered in a massive way for Nevada, as he drained back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Pack a 29-23 lead with 4:21 remaining until halftime.  

The two squads scored six points apiece over the remainder of the half, as Nevada took a 35-29 advantage into the break. 

Nevada shot 48.1 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from behind the arc in the first period, while limiting Boise State to clips of 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 21.4 percent from behind the arc 

McIntosh was a perfect 5-5 from the field, including 4-4 from behind the arc in the first period, as he led all scorers in the game with 14 points after the first 20 minutes of action. 

After picking up a defensive stop to start the half, K.J. Hymes drained a contested left-hand hook shot on Nevada’s first offensive possession, pushing the Pack’s lead up to eight points 39 seconds into the period.  

Boise State knocked down a lone free throw on the other end; but, Lucas found Daniel Foster open in the corner and Foster buried a 3-pointer, as Nevada took a 40-30 lead, their first double-digit advantage of the contest.  

The Broncos battled back, scoring six consecutive points to trim the Pack’s lead down to four points with just over 16 minutes to go.  

Leading 40-36 with a raucous crowd getting heavily involved in the game, Nevada calmly took complete control of the contest. The Pack used a 15-6 run over the next six minutes and 27 seconds to build a commanding 55-42 lead with 9:42 left in the game. McIntosh and Nick Davidson helped fuel the run for the Pack, as Davidson scored six points during the stretch and McIntosh added five throughout the run.  

Just over a minute later, with Nevada leading by 11, Blackshear recorded a steal and threw down a massive two-handed dunk. After a defensive stop, Blackshear then blew by his defender and finished a difficult layup at the rim, extending Nevada’s lead up to 15 points, as they held a 60-45 advantage with just 7:41 to go.  

Boise State chipped away at the lead, using a 6-0 run to get within nine points of the Pack with 4:54 to go; however, McIntosh answered in a monumental way for Nevada once again. The graduate student made two massive plays in back-to-back possessions, first draining a 3-pointer near the end of the shot clock to push Nevada’s lead up to 12 points, before finishing an acrobatic layup while being fouled to give Nevada a 66-52 lead with just 3:28 left in the game. 

Nevada went on to earn the impressive 76-66 victory over the Broncos and avenged a home loss to Boise State back in early January.  

Nevada will return to the court on Saturday, as they are set to host intrastate rival UNLV at 7:30 p.m.