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.

RENO, Nev. (Nevada Athletics) – Nevada women’s basketball returned to its home court for the first time in two weeks, downing Air Force in a thrilling 62-59 win.

Lexie Givens moved up to fourth all-time in rebounds after grabbing six boards. Dymonique Maxie led in scoring with 16 points, followed by Izzy Sullivan with 14 and Audrey Roden with 12. Kendra Hicks grabbed a season high seven rebounds.

The Wolf Pack were playing from behind to start off the game, before tying it up off a layup by Givens. The Falcons jumped back in front and held it until the Pack got their first lead of the game with a layup by Maxie with just over three minutes left in the first. 

The remainder of the opening 10 was a back-and-forth battle as both teams fought to gain the advantage. Into the second, the game was all tied up at 11.

Air Force opened up the second quarter with a good basket. Maxie answered with one of her own, followed by a jumper by Victoria Davis to put Nevada up by one. 

Nevada continued to play aggressively and match each basketball by Air Force. With a minute and a half left before the break, the Pack had come back from being down by four to tie it up at 23. They headed into the break trailing 25-23.

The Pack opened up the second half with fire as they went on a 10-4 run within the first two minutes, Sullivan leading the charge with two made threes. Nevada remained in front through the rest of the quarter, taking a 44-38 advantage into the final 10.

Quarter four saw the largest lead of the game for either team as the Pack went up by 11. Air Force made a push late in the final 10, cutting Nevada’s lead down to two.

Despite the attempts, the Wolf Pack were able to hold off the Falcons to grab the win.

Nevada will remain at home to host Fresno State on Wednesday at 11 AM in the When I Grow Up game.

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President Donald Trump is in Las Vegas today to highlight his “no taxes on tips” campaign promise — a pitch he first made just months ago during a rally in Nevada.

Trump, who arrived in Las Vegas on Friday night after a trip to disaster areas in North Carolina and Los Angeles, will visit Circa in downtown Las Vegas this afternoon to discuss his tax policy as well as the economy. Doors to the event will open 9:30 a.m., with speeches starting around 12:30 p.m.

His plan to ban taxes on tipped income was first announced along the campaign trail in Vegas this summer during one of his many trips to the battleground state and became a major talking point throughout the election. The proposal has been met with support on both sides of the aisle, with Nevada’s federal congressional supporting the proposal and drafting bills of their own.

Nevada’s Sen. Jacky Rosen co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to bar taxes on tips, and Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., co-sponsored similar legislation on the House side. Horsford also pushed legislation that would eliminate the subminimum wage in addition to ending taxes on tips.

Trump’s stop in Vegas comes just months after Nevada voted for Trump, marking the first time the Silver State voted for a Republican president in 20 years.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.