MALIBU, Calif. - Kenan Blackshear scored a career-high 22 points, Jarod Lucas poured in 18 of his own, and Tyler Powell set new career highs in both points (10) and rebounds (6), as the University of Nevada Men's Basketball team earned a hard-fought 85-77 comeback victory over Pepperdine to move to 8-2 on the season. 

The win marked Pepperdine's first loss at home this season, as Nevada improved to 2-1 in true road contests this year. 

The Pack shot 47.5 percent from the field for the game, including a mark of 33.3 percent from behind the arc, while limiting Pepperdine to just 38.5 percent shooting from the field throughout the contest. All eight players that saw the court for Nevada scored at least two points, and the Pack had seven different players score at least seven points. 

Blackshear led all scorers in the game, dropping 22 points on 7-15 shooting from the field, including 2-4 from behind the arc, marking a new season-high in 3-pointers made. Blackshear also dished out a game-high four assists and knocked down 6-7 shots from the free throw line in 34 minutes of action. 

Lucas had another efficient outing for the Pack, scoring 18 points on just 10 shots. The senior knocked down all six of his free throw attempts and finished with a plus/minus of +10 in just over 37 minutes of action. 

Powell had the best performance of his young career, setting new career highs in both points and rebounds. Powell was perfect from the field throughout the game, as he made all four of his shot attempts, including going 2-2 from behind the arc. Powell finished the game with a sensational plus/minus of +10 in just 12 minutes of playing time. 

Redshirt-freshman Nick Davidson had another exceptional performance or the Pack, scoring nine points on 4-8 shooting, in addition to pulling down a career-high eight rebounds in the contest. Davidson also had a game-high plus/minus of +11 in 26 minutes of action off the bench. 

Will Baker and Tre Coleman also had solid outings for the Pack, combining to score 17 points on 5-11 shooting from the field and 7-9 from the free throw line. Coleman pulled down five rebounds in the game and Baker managed to grab four. 

Freshman guard Trey Pettigrew had one of his best outings of the season off the bench for Nevada, scoring seven points on 3-5 shooting from the field and grabbing five rebounds in 15 minutes of gametime. 

Nevada fell behind early, as Pepperdine knocked down two of their first 3-point attempts to start the contest, beginning the game on an 8-1 run in the first two minutes of play.  

The Waves maintained at least a five-point advantage over the next three and a half minutes, however, back-to-back buckets from Davidson and Blackshear trimmed the deficit to just one with 13:56 remaining in the first half. 

Pepperdine responded with a 9-2 run over the next two minutes of gametime to build their largest lead of the contest at 20-12; but, the Pack ripped off a 9-0 run of their own fueled by Pettigrew and Powell, taking their first lead of the game at the 9:18 mark in the first period.

The Waves then drilled back-to-back 3-pointers and knocked down a pair of free throws to retake the lead, as they held a 28-21 advantage over the Pack with just under seven minutes to go until halftime. 

Nevada continued to battle back over the final seven minutes of the period, managing to cut the deficit to just two entering the break, as the Pack trailed 37-39 at halftime. 

Pepperdine knocked down their eighth 3-pointer of the night to begin the second half, but Blackshear immediately drilled his second 3-pointer of the game on the next possession to keep the Pack within two. 

The back-and-forth play continued over the next three minutes, as the Waves found themselves with a one-point advantage at the first media timeout of the second half. 

After Pepperdine made two free throws coming out of the timeout, Nevada managed to tie the game on a Lucas 3-pointer with 14:14 to go, however, the Waves proceeded to reel off an 8-0 run over a one-minute span to take a 58-50 advantage with just over 13 minutes left in the contest. 

Just as they have done throughout the entire season, Nevada showed exceptional poise and grit, responding with a 14-5 run over the next five minutes of play to take their first lead in the game since the 9:18 mark in the first half. Powell once again fueled the run for the Pack with his sensational play, as the sophomore scored eight of the 14 Nevada points over the five-minute span, first finishing a ridiculous layup before knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to provide a huge spark for the Pack.

Pepperdine regained the lead with 7:53 to go; but, that marked the final time that the Waves would hold a lead in the game, as the Pack immediately used an 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead with 6:18 to go. 

Pepperdine continued to attempt to get back into the game, but the Pack produced huge stops on defense and made massive shots on the offensive end of the floor time and time again to maintain control of the game.

Pepperdine managed to cut the Nevada lead to just three with 2:23 to go, but Lucas drilled a difficult step-back jumper one minute later to extend the Pack's lead to five, and Nevada knocked down 5-6 free throws down the stretch, earning the impressive 85-77 road victory over. 

Notable Stats:

• Nevada limited Pepperdine to an abysmal 29.7 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

• The Pack finished the game +3 in turnover margin.

• Nevada outscored Pepperdine in the paint, 36-20.

• The Pack's bench outscored Pepperdine's bench, 26-19.

• Nevada held Pepperdine's fast-paced offense to just five fast break points throughout the game. 

• Nevada outrebounded Pepperdine, 39-37.

• The Pack shot a sensational 83.3 percent from the free throw line (20-24).

• Darrion Williams had a game-high three steals.

• Jarod Lucas has scored in double figures in nine out of ten contests for Nevada this season.

• Over Nevada's last three games, Nick Davidson is averaging 11 points on 58.8 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent shooting from three, and 100 percent from the free throw line, in addition to pulling down 5.7 rebounds and recording 1.0 blocks per game.

• Kenan Blackshear has tallied at least three assists in all 10 games this season.

• Nevada is shooting 78.2 percent from the free throw line this year.

Up Next

Nevada will travel to Eugene, Oregon to take on the University of Oregon this Saturday at 4 p.m.

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