LOGAN – Utah State will have its second chance to get its first Quad 1 win of the season in its one-game road trip to face the Nevada Wolf Pack Friday night. The Aggies’ opponent just lost for the first time in conference play and is currently second in the Mountain West standings. USU struggled mightily in its last Quad 1 road match, to put it lightly, losing by 23 points to Boise State on the road. This will be a chance to (mostly) wash that stain away.
How to watch
- Tip-off: 9 p.m. MT
- Location: Lawlor Events Center | Reno, NV
- TV Broadcast: FS1
- Aggie GameDay Coverage on KVNU (102.1 FM/610 AM & KVNU mobile app): 8 p.m. MT
- KVNU Aggie Call (102.1 FM/610 AM, KVNU mobile app): Immediately after game ends
Injuries
Utah State
G – Rylan Jones (Undisclosed) – OUT
Nevada
F/C – K.J. Hymes (Back) – OUT
C – Michael Folarin (Knee) – OUT
G – Hunter McIntosh (Knee) – OUT
Projected Starters
Utah State (14-3, 3-1)
- G – Steven Ashworth (6-1, Jr.) – 15.6 points | 3.2 rebounds | 4.2 assists
- G – Max Shulga (6-4, Jr.) – 12.2 points | 5.1 rebounds | 4.4 assists
- G/F – Sean Bairstow (6-8, Sr.) – 10.9 points | 4.3 rebounds | 2.3 assists
- F – Taylor Funk (6-9, Gr.) – 14.1 points | 5.7 rebounds | 1.9 assists
- C – Trevin Dorius (7-0, Sr.) – 4.8 points | 3.6 rebounds | 0.3 assists
- 6th Man – Dan Akin (6-9, Gr.) – 12.1 points | 7.4 rebounds | 0.5 assists
Nevada (14-4, 4-1)
- G – Jarod Lucas (6-3, Sr.) – 16.7 points | 2.3 rebounds | 1.3 assists
- G – Kenan Blackshear (6-6, Sr.) – 14.0 points | 4.8 rebounds | 4.8 assists
- F – Darrion Williams (6-6, Fr.) – 7.1 points | 7.2 rebounds | 2.6 assists
- F – Tre Coleman (6-7, Jr.) – 6.1 points | 3.3 rebounds | 2.4 assists
- C – Will Baker (6-11, Jr.) – 12.3 points | 4.8 rebounds | 0.8 assists
Team Statistical Ranks
Stats and ratings are from Basketball Reference (except the NET ranking). All ranks are out of 363 Division I teams.
Utah State
- Pace – 71.1 (87th)
- Offensive Rating – 114.3 (17th)
- Defensive Rating – 97.9 (149th)
- Field Goal % – 49.0 (18th)
- 3-point % – 42.9 (1st)
- Rebounding % – 53.6 (59th)
- NET Rank – 24th
Nevada
- Pace – 67.1 (272nd)
- Offensive Rating – 107.7 (99th)
- Defensive Rating – 95.3 (84th)
- Field Goal % – 43.7 (232nd)
- 3-point % – 33.9 (186th)
- Rebounding % – 50.5 (201st)
- NET Rank – 34th
Another day, another tough conference matchup for the Aggies. Nevada is playing a much-improved level of basketball from last year’s squad that went 13-18, which is most evident in the fact that halfway through the season the team has more than it did the entire year prior.
Despite losing two-time All-Mountain West guard Grant Sherfield the Wolf Pack have had no issues finding available talent. Oregon State transfer Jarod Lucas is putting up a career-best 16.7 points per game. Despite being physically similar to Sherfield, Odom said Lucas compares more to a different player the Aggies have seen recently: Seattle guard Cameron Tyson. Odom also said Lucas “has a little bit of Cambridge” in him, referencing Nevada’s second-leading scorer from last year, Desmond Cambridge.
“He wants to score. He’s wired to score,” Odom said of Lucas. “He’s really good at it. He’s done that at Oregon State. He’s doing it now again at Nevada. He’s just a really good player and we have to be attached to him and we’ve gotta have help to help to him without exposing ourselves to easy baskets behind.”
Last year Utah State walked into Lawlor Events Center and absolutely destroyed Nevada 78-49. The 29-point loss was the worst of the season for the Wolf Pack, including a game they lost on the road to the eventual national champion Kansas Jayhawks. It was a nice feather in Utah State’s cap but Odom noted it’s not very indicative of what will happen this year and if anything is motivation for Nevada.
“As we learned against Weber (State), last year is last year and this year is this year. You’ve got to play the game,” Odom said, later adding, “It’s certainly a great thing that we won (at Nevada) last year but it doesn’t guarantee us anything this year. And they remember that too. They remember losing to us as well at home.”
A major difference in this year’s Nevada team to last year’s is defensive capability. The 2021-22 Wolf pack ranked 258th in defensive rating but this season they rank 84th. It’s not an elite rank, but having a top 100 defense to go with a top 100 offense has allowed Nevada to be a team with legitimate at-large NCAA Tournament bid aspirations.
So far in conference play Nevada has faced some of the conference’s best. The Wolf Pack beat Boise State at home in their conference opener and also downed San Jose State (who are 12-6 on the year) on the road. The one loss in conference play came on Tuesday, a 74-65 loss at San Diego State.
