The Fresno State men’s basketball team fell to the Nevada Wolf Pack 80-65 on Wednesday at the Save Mart Center.
The ‘Dogs are now 0-1 in the Mountain West Conference and 12-3 overall.
The Wolf Pack gave Fresno State its biggest home loss since falling to New Mexico in the 2016 Mountain West home opener, 77-62.
Junior forward Caleb Martin scored 18 points on the ‘Dogs and rebounded 10 as he led the Wolf Pack to a victory.
“They have guys who can make shots. They have good players on their side in terms of the guys that they put out on the floor. The Martin brothers are really good players, they cause a lot of mismatch plays around the perimeter. Then you have a high level shooter like [guard Kendall] Stephens get a few looks and you can’t let him in,” head coach Rodney Terry said.
Five of Nevada’s players scored in the double-digits, including forward Cody Martin. Stephens scored 19 points while going 5-7 in 3-pointers.
The ‘Dogs were unable to defend their net as Nevada shot 58.8% beyond the 3-point arc.
Nevada owned the lead for the entire game and outscored them 19-9 in points off turnovers.
“We didn’t have great ball movement tonight. The ball stuck and you can’t have the ball stick against a switching defense and a team that has length. The ball has got to move. There has to be player movement and a good pace. We didn’t have that tonight from an offensive standpoint,” Terry said.
Fresno State guard Deshon Taylor and forward Bryson Williams were the only ‘Dogs to score in the double-digits.
Taylor led the ‘Dogs with 16 points and 3 rebounds. The junior has led the team eleven times in points this season.
Senior Jahmel Taylor scored 8 points and collected 4 assists and 7 rebounds to tie his season-high in rebounds. The guard also recorded a new season-high with one block.
The ‘Dogs did not record a steal against Nevada, but the Wolf Pack recorded eight.
Guard Jaron Hopkins returned for the Conference opener. The senior scored 5 points while collecting 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 turnovers in the contest.
“We knew he was going to come in and be a little rusty – he hadn’t played in three weeks. The biggest thing I tried to emphasize to him was to keep the game simple. Come in and make simple plays, play really hard on defense, get lost on that end of the floor and let everything else just come to him. Any time you bring a new player back in to the fold, it is going to take some time to get back on the same page,” Terry said.
The ‘Dogs will face Air Force on Dec. 30 at the Save Mart Center.
“It is one game. Whether you win or you lose, you obviously only have it for one night. We have to regroup and get ready to play one of the more difficult teams to guard in our league. We have to come back and get back to work. We have to play harder on defense and be better defensively. It is what we have to do,” Terry said.
Free admission will be offered to fans who have a ticket from the Dec.16 game against Oregon.