Season-low: San Diego State throttles Nevada, 69-50; Pack drops to 3-6 in conference

A dismal shooting performance and lackluster defense led to Nevada’s worst defeat of the season.

San Diego State raced past Nevada, 69-50, on Saturday in front off 9,058 fans, many of whom left midway through the second half of the game.

The 50 points narrowly missed being the lowest points scored by a Wolf Pack team at Lawlor, 46.

Justin McBride led the Wolf Pack with 13 points, Kobe Sanders had 12 and Xavier DuSell added 11 points. Sanders had a team-high eight rebounds.

The Pack made just 15-of-51 field goals (29 percent). The 29 percent is the worst shooting performance by a Nevada basketball team since March 2015. The Pack hit 5-of-26 from the 3-point line. Nevada dropped to 3-6 in the Mountain West, 11-9 overall.

Nevada coach Steve Alford said the Pack needs to play faster and looser.

“We’ve got to be tougher mentally,” Alford said. “When you’re going to blow to blow like that, and all of a sudden they go on a 13-0 run. We’ve got to be tougher enough, to where they score twice in a row they don’t score three times in a row. We don’t have that cohesiveness and that toughness that we’ve got to have.”

He said the Pack needs to learn to play through bad shots and stop worrying about how they are doing offensively.

Magoon Gwath led San Diego State with 15 points and Taj DeGourville had 14 as the Aztecs improved to 5-4 in the Mountain West, 13-5 overall. Gwath also had 13 rebounds.

The Wolf Pack’s previous season-low in points scored this season was 57 in a 68-57 loss to Washington State on Dec. 2.

Key Stats

The 15-of-51 shooting tells the tale, as does points in the paint as the Aztecs had 36 there, to 12 for the Wolf Pack.

Nevada was OK from the free line, hitting 15-of-22 from the stripe, to 6-of-8 for the Aztecs.

San Diego State made 27-of-56 field goals (48 percent) and 9-of-25 from 3-point range.

Each team had 10 turnovers.

First half

San Diego State led 28-21 at the half. The Wolf Pack hit 7-of-23 from the field and was 2-of- 11 from 3-point range. The Aztecs hit 11-of-27 field goals and were 4-13 from the 3-point line.

Veterans

Alford admitted that getting the transfer players to gel with the returners has been tough once the Pack hit conference play.

“It is much more difficult blending those guys than them experiencing it,” he said. “They’re really not as mature as what their age would seem.”

He said the returning players should know what is expected of them and the toughness he wants to see.

Up Next

Nevada next plays at Boise State with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The Broncos are 5-4 in the MW, 13-7 overall after losing to Colorado State, 75-72, on Wednesday (Jan. 22).

Alford said there could be some lineup changes and that everything is on the table.

Around the Mountain West

Also on Saturday, New Mexico beat UNLV, 75-73, Colorado State beat Fresno State, 69-64; Utah State beat Force, 87-58; and San Jose State beat Wyoming, 67-58.

Nevada’s Remaining Schedule

• Jan. 29, Nevada at Boise State, 7 p.m. (TV: CBSSN, Radio: 95.5 FM)
• Feb. 1, UNLV at Nevada, 7 p.m. (TV: CBSSN, Radio: 95.5 FM)
• Feb. 4, Nevada at Air Force, 6 p.m. (TV: KNSN, Radio: 95.5 FM)
• Feb. 10, Fresno State at Nevada, 8 p.m. (TV: FS1, Radio: 95.5 FM)
• Feb. 14, Nevada at San José State, 7 p.m.
• Feb. 18, Nevada at Colorado State, 6 p.m.
• Feb. 22, Boise State at Nevada, 3 p.m.
• Feb. 25, Wyoming at Nevada, 7 p.m.
• Feb. 28, Nevada at UNLV, 8 p.m.
• March 4, New Mexico at Nevada, 6 p.m.
• March 8, Nevada at San Diego State, 7:30 p.m.