In one of the wildest seasons for the Mountain West, it ended with Nevada taking a 75-65 win over its in-state rival UNLV. The Wolf Pack ended the regular season in second place in the MW with a 26-6 overall record and a 13-5 conference record.

It was a party at Lawlor outside of Nevada-UNLV. Not only was the arena sold out, but the Wolf Pack honored Jarod Lucas, Kenan Blackshear, Daniel Foster, and Hunter McIntosh on Senior Night. All four have been pivotal in Nevada’s recent surge of postseason play, and I wish all four the best and a huge thank you to all of them for what they’ve contributed to the Pack.

Nevada also honored Wolf Pack legend and three-time NBA Champion JaVale McGee. March 9 is officially JaVale McGee Day in Reno and a sold-out Lawlor showed him some love.

Scoring Summary

1st Half

UNLV 31 – Nevada 39

2nd Half

UNLV 34 – Nevada 36

Final: UNLV 65, Nevada 75

Offense

Nevada reverted to its original style in this one. Exceptional free throw shooting, poor three-point shooting, playing hard in the paint, and picking up fouls.

It was Lucas’ final game in Lawlor, and he showed out leading Nevada with 26 points. He was one of three Nevada players to hit a three, shooting 4-9 from beyond the arc and 8-16 from the field.

Blackshear and Nick Davidson also collected double-digit points, as Blackshear scored 16 and Davidson scored 11. Blackshear also collected three rebounds and nine assists, as Davidson collected 10 rebounds and three assists.

As I said before, Nevada was back to its traditional ways. The Wolf Pack shot 52.2 percent from the field but only 37.5 percent from three, and they only made one three in the entire second half. Nevada’s deep shot was on fire over the past two weeks, and a lot of that came from McIntosh. UNLV did great and keeping him locked down, as McIntosh didn’t score in 12 minutes of play.

The free-throw shooting was great at 91.3 percent. Nevada also picked up 22 points in the paint its bench collected 13.

Defense

Nevada got off to a huge start at the beginning of the game, but there were plenty of momentum shifts going UNLV’s way. The Rebels were able to take the lead by one around the 11-minute mark of the second half, and they didn’t really go away until the very end.

Forward Keylan Boone and guard Dedan Thomas Jr. combined for 47 points, with Boone leading the Rebels with 24 points. Outside of those two, Nevada held the rest of UNLV’s lineup at bay, as the next closest scorer for the Rebels had six points.

UNLV only shot 39 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from three, but its interior attack led to 22 points in the paint, the same as Nevada.

UNLV also killed Nevada in the rebounding department early on, but Nevada was able to win that battle 33-28. The Wolf Pack only picked up eight offensive boards compared to the Rebels 12 however.

The Rebels won the turnover battle 9-11, but both teams picked up 16 points via the turnover. Overall, Nevada’s defense was able to keep up with Thomas Jr. and Boone and silenced the rest of the Rebels lineup.

What’s Next

As the Wolf Pack finish its best season since the 2018 season, they’ll be the No. 2 seed in the MW Tournament next week. Nevada will either play Colorado State or San Jose State on Thursday, March 14 in Las Vegas. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. PST.

Regardless of how the MW Tournament goes for Nevada, it’s going to be an action-packed and stressful week for Wolf Pack fans. Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament is on Sunday, March 17 at 3 p.m. PST. Nevada will be dancing this year, and we’ll figure out the seeding on that Sunday. Nevada’s projected to be a single seed, somewhere around the 6-7 mark.

Knock on wood, because we know how crazy the MW has been this year. The conference tournament will be even crazier, and every basketball fan should be excited about what the MW is bringing this year.