Nevada Picks Up First-Round NIT Win Vs. Murray State 89-75

It was the return of postseason basketball for the Nevada men’s basketball team, setting up a first-round NIT matchup against Murray State. The storylines between these programs have been a topic of discussion since this game was announced, and Nevada came out on top 89-75.

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These two teams almost faced each other in August in the Bahamas. Murray State head coach Ryan Miller previously coached under Steve Alford at New Mexico. Nevada associate head coach Craig Neal’s son, Cullen Neal, was on the other side as an assistant coach at Murray State. It was a unique experience, but Alford & Co. won the family feud.

“It’s not an easy game for coach Neal and myself,” Alford said of playing with family and old friends. “Playing against family and former coaches on my staff is never easy; it’s something I don’t like, but that’s what the table says.”

Summary of scores

1st half

Murray State 39 – Nevada 41

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2nd half

Murray State 36 – Nevada 48

Final: Murray State 75 – Nevada 89

First half

Murray State struck first with a three-pointer for a 3-0 lead, but Tayshawn Comer cut it to one with a mid-range floater. The Racers maintained their strong pace, scoring seven points in the first three minutes. The first shot from beyond the arc for Nevada came from Kaleb Lowery.

Nevada tied it at seven on a quick dunk by Vaughn Weems. Shortly after, Elijah Price delivered a floater to give the Pack the first lead of the night. Murray State kept the pressure on, especially with its three-point shooting, but Peyton White cut it to another one-point game with Nevada’s runner-up three.

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Tyler Rolison also nailed a three to give Nevada a 21-20 lead in the 10th minute. From that point on, it became a game of hot potato with the lead, as the two teams traded the lead 13 times in the first half. Entering another media timeout at 6:40, Nevada held a 27-26 lead.

Corey Camper Jr. scored his first shot from beyond the arc with less than two minutes remaining, giving Nevada a 40-37 lead. The Pack held on, even though the defense allowed a step-back dunk when the buzzer sounded. Murray State made eight threes in the first half and shot over 46 percent from the field.

“It took us a while to settle in defensively,” Alford said. “We thought that would happen because they are very good offensively, and they made eight threes in the first half and only three in the second.”

Nevada shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and 40 percent from three. Camper led with nine points on 4-7 shooting.

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Second half

Nevada opened the scoring in the second half with a step-back bucket from Camper that pushed it into double figures. Murray State responded with a long floater of their own and kept the game going back and forth.

A few more scores in the paint and Nevada forced Murray State to call an early timeout just two minutes into the second half with a 47-41 lead. Nevada shifted gears a bit, making six of seven shots from the field for a seven-point lead.

That helped Murray State miss its first five shots of three in the second half, as the Racers didn’t score from that line until the 12:35 minute mark.

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Camper hit another floater that gave Nevada a double-digit lead at 60-50 under the 14-minute mark. Meanwhile, Murray State went on a drought of more than three minutes before hitting its first three to bring it within 10 points. Murray State fouled out with an and-one but missed the free throw, pushing it to a 64-55 Nevada lead after a media timeout in the 12th minute.

The Racers had another scoring drought that allowed the Wolf Pack to take a 17-point lead and an 8-0 run. Murray State called a timeout to slow Nevada down within 10 minutes with the score 72-55 in favor of Nevada. The Wolf Pack reached the 80-point mark with four and a half minutes remaining, thanks to a Lowery layup.

Nevada forced 15 turnovers on Murray State while the Pack only turned the ball over five times. As a team, Nevada shot 51 percent from the field and 33 percent from three. Weems led Nevada in scoring with 23 points on 9-13 shooting.

“They [Nevada] came out in the second half and hit us in the face,” Miller said. “It’s a credit to our guys and them all year long, they kept fighting until the last buzzer, but today Nevada was better than us.”

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What’s next

Nevada advances to the second round of the NIT and will host another playoff game, this time against Liberty. The Flames won their opener against George Mason 77-71, and Alford said it would be another tough battle in Lawlor.

“Liberty is a really good thing,” Alford said. “Should have been an NCAA tournament team, they dominated the Conference USA, and I saw their game the other night and won on the road pretty convincingly, so we know we have a really good basketball team coming in here on Saturday.

The alert is scheduled for 6 p.m. PST on Saturday, March 21.