Kenan Blackshear scored a game-high 31 points and Nevada never trailed en route to an 83-76 nonconference win over Washington in Seattle on Sunday night.
Blackshear hit 12 of 22 shots from the field while adding six rebounds and five assists for the Wolf Pack (2-0). Jarod Lucas and Nick Davidson each added 13 points for Nevada, which committed only six turnovers and kept the Huskies at bay by making 16 of 19 free throws in the second half.
Keion Brooks Jr. scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Washington (2-1), while Sahvir Wheeler added 14 points and five assists before fouling out with 5:23 left in the game on a technical foul. Nate Calmese came off the bench to tally 11 points.
The Huskies shot 48.4 percent from the field and outscored the Wolf Pack 16-2 in fastbreak points. But they were also miserable at the foul line, connecting on only 9 of 21 free throws. Nevada led for all but 20 seconds of the game.
Washington never got closer than seven points in the second half and the first time it did, the Wolf Pack promptly ripped off an 8-1 spurt to build a 69-55 cushion on Blackshear’s driving layup with 6:35 left.
Nevada set an immediate tone by scoring on its first five possessions, with Blackshear connecting on a pair of buckets while dishing out an assist. Blackshear showed up with baskets seemingly every time Washington appeared ready to make a run.
There was a layup at the 10:38 mark of the first after the Huskies drew within four and then a personal 7-0 run in a 76-second span. Blackshear capped the stretch with a layup with 6:55 remaining that gave the Wolf Pack a 30-19 advantage.
Nevada upped the margin as high as 16 points with 1:39 left in the half when Davidson converted a three-point play, but it settled for a 41-30 lead at the break as Washington got a 3-pointer from Paul Mulcahy and a layup from Brooks.
The Huskies could have been closer but hurt themselves with some bad foul shooting, hitting only 5 of 15 shots from the stripe before halftime.
–Field Level Media
