HONOLULU, HI. - Jarod Lucas scored a game-high 25 points to lead five players in double figures, and the Nevada Men's Basketball team shot 52 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from behind the arc in what was a masterful performance on their way to a dominant 88-75 victory over TCU. As a result, the Pack advanced to the Championship game of the 2023 Diamond Head Classic on Sunday, December 24.

Nevada improved to 11-1 on the season with the victory, and the Pack has now reeled off four consecutive victories entering Sunday's championship game. 

TCU entered the contest as the sixth highest-scoring team in the country, and Nevada limited the Horned Frogs to their second fewest points in a game this season on just 21.4 percent shooting from behind the arc.

The Horned Frogs also ranked within the top-10 in the country in forcing turnovers and in points off a turnover; however, Nevada finished the contest with just eight turnovers, the fewest that TCU has forced in a game this season, as the Pack once again did an exceptional job of taking care of the ball. Nevada forced TCU into 11 turnovers, and the Pack scored 21 points off the Horned Frogs turnovers, while TCU scored just eight points off turnovers throughout the game. 

All five Wolf Pack starters reached double figures in scoring for the third time in the past four games, and fifth-year senior guard Jarod Lucas led the way, scoring a game-high 25 points on 5-9 shooting from the field, 2-5 from behind the arc, and 13-13 at the free throw line. Lucas also matched a career-high by pulling down six rebounds, three of which came off the offensive glass, and he earned a plus/minus of +15 in 35 minutes of action. Lucas has now reached double figures in scoring in all 12 games for Nevada this season, including scoring 20+ points in four games this year for the Pack. 

Kenan Blackshear had another all-around stellar outing for the Pack, scoring 14 points, dishing out a game-high six assists, and tallying two steals in the contest. 

Nick Davidson matched Blackshear by scoring 14 points of his own, in addition to pulling down five rebounds and tallying one steal. Davidson was a highly efficient 6-9 from the field, and the redshirt-sophomore recorded a plus/minus of +13 in 28 minutes of gametime.

Filling in for K.J. Hymes in the Wolf Pack starting lineup for the second consecutive game after Hymes was forced to sit out once again due to illness, Daniel Foster had a sensational performance for Nevada, scoring 13 points, while hitting 2-2 shots from behind the arc and 7-8 shots at the free throw line. Foster also pulled down seven rebounds and recorded two steals.

Senior forward Tre Coleman was the fifth Pack player to reach double figures in scoring, putting up 10 points on 4-7 shooting from the field. Coleman also recorded one steal and earned a game-high plus/minus of +16 in 32 minutes of playing time. 

The Pack received significant contributions from their bench in the game, particularly from freshman guard Tyler Rolison, who had one of the best performances in arguably the biggest game of his young career. Rolison scored six points on 2-3 shooting from behind the arc, while also dishing out three assists and recording two steals.

Redshirt-junior Tylan Pope also had a solid performance in his second game of the season after missing the first 10 contests due to injury, scoring three points and pulling down three boards in 12 minutes of action. 

The Pack led for 28 minutes and 24 seconds throughout the game, while only trailing for eight minutes and 56 seconds, and Nevada's starters outscored TCU's starters, 76-49. 

First Half

TCU started the game in strong fashion, throwing down an alleyoop dunk on their first offensive possession after winning the tip. The Horned Frogs then got a steal, went down, and made a layup, as they built a 4-0 advantage over the Pack 45 seconds into the game. 

Nevada responded, as Blackshear got a steal and threw a lob to Davidson, who finished an easy layup at the rim in transition to get the Pack on the board at the 18:07 mark. Less than a minute later, Blackshear scored his first bucket of the game, rising over his defender and splashing a mid-range jumper to even the score up at 4-4 with 17:26 left to go in the first half.

TCU reeled off another quick 4-0 to retake a four-point lead over the Pack; but, Lucas began to heat up, knocking down two free throws after drawing a foul on a jump shot. After the Horned Frogs finished a layup, Lucas drilled a pull-up jumper. 

TCU hit a 3-pointer on the other end, taking a 13-8 lead over Nevada at the 14:35 mark. 

Three consecutive points from Coleman, followed by a lone free throw from Blackshear, trimmed TCU's lead to just one-point; however, the Horned Frogs got a bucket to push their lead back up to three points, as they held a 15-12 advantage over the Pack with 12:48 remaining in the first period. 

Just over a minute later, Blackshear found Rolison open in the corner, and Rolison splashed a 3-pointer to tie the game up at 15 points apiece. 

TCU made two free throws to retake the lead; but, Rolison found Hunter McIntosh open in the corner, and he drained a 3-pointer, giving Nevada their first lead of the game, as they held an 18-17 advantage with 10:37 to go.

TCU retook the lead seven seconds later, after making two free throws; however, at the 9:14 mark, Blackshear hit another contested midrange jumper, as the two squads continued to go back and forth. 

The Horned Frogs retook the lead once again and expanded it to three points, owning a 23-20 advantage over the Pack with 8:54 left in the first period. 

Rolison continued his immaculate first half by draining his second 3-pointer of the game 25 seconds later to even up the contest yet again at 23-23, and the game remained tied entering the under-eight minute media timeout.

Nevada began to take over the game coming out of the timeout, as Davidson threw down a ferocious two-handed slam to give the Pack a 25-23 lead, before Lucas recorded a steal and found Rolison, who found Davidson open in the lane for a mid-range floater. Rolison then recorded a steal; and, after missing an acrobatic layup in transition, Davidson got the offensive rebound and finished a contested layup at the rim, as the redshirt-sophomore went on an individual 6-0 run and forced TCU to take a timeout with Nevada leading 29-23 at the 6:55 mark. 

TCU made two free throws out of the timeout; however, Foster answered, as Lucas found him open in the corner and Foster drilled a 3-pointer, pushing Nevada's lead up to seven with 6:25 to go until halftime. 

TCU hit a mid-range jumper; but, shortly after, Davidson drew a foul, and the Horned Frogs were assessed a technical foul. Lucas made both free throws, and Davidson made the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, as Nevada took a 35-27 lead. 

After TCU cut the lead to six, Davidson made another difficult driving layup to push the Pack's lead back to eight with 4:26 left in the first period. 

22 seconds later, Blackshear drew a foul and TCU was assessed a second technical foul. Lucas knocked down both technical free throws, giving Nevada their first double-digit lead of the game, with the Pack holding a 41-31 edge late in the first half. 

The Pack outscored TCU 7-5 over the final 4:04 of the half, taking a 48-36 lead into the halftime break. 

The Pack shot 51.7 percent from the field (15-29) and 45.5 percent from behind the arc (5-11) during the first period, while limiting TCU to just 39.3 percent shooting (11-28), including an abysmal mark of 11.1 percent from behind the arc (1-9). 

Second Half

Blackshear scored three consecutive points to commence the second half, building a 15-point lead for Nevada. 

The Horned Frogs hit two free throws to cut the Pack's lead to 13; however, Blackshear found Coleman open behind the arc, and Coleman drained a 3-pointer to put Nevada up 54-38 with 17:49 to go. 

Just over a minute later, Blackshear made an incredible play, poking the ball away from a TCU player and diving onto the floor to reach it, before the Horned Frogs could corral it. Blackshear then threw a dime of a pass ahead to Tre Coleman from the ground, and Coleman euro stepped past a TCU defender and finished an easy layup, extending Nevada's advantage to 18 points and forcing the Horned Frogs to take a timeout. 

TCU cut the Pack's lead down to 16; but, Foster once again had a massive response, drilling his second 3-pointer of the night to give Nevada a 19-point advantage with 15:37 to go, their largest of the night at that point.

Nevada maintained at least a 16-point lead over the next 4:10; however, TCU reeled off a 9-0 run over a 1:47 second stretch of gametime to cut Nevada's lead to nine points with 9:40 left in the game. 

Every time TCU attempted to make a run to get back in the game down the stretch, Nevada had an answer, as the Pack continued to make big play after big play down the stretch. Nevada hit an exceptional 13-14 free throws over the final 9:11, and the Pack went on to earn the massive 13-point victory over the Horned Frogs and advance to the Championship game of the Diamond Head Classic.

Notable Stats:

• After defeating TCU, Nevada is currently the only team in the Mountain West with two Quad 1 victories this season.

• The Pack is 2-0 against Power-Five opponents this year. 

• The eight 3-pointers made by Nevada were the third-most that the Pack has made in a game this season, and their clip of 47.1 percent behind the arc was their second best clip in a game this season.

• After scoring 25 points, Jarod Lucas has now reached double figures in 39 of 44 games for Nevada since the start of the 2022-23 season.

• After dishing out six assists, Kenan Blackshear has dished out five or more assists in seven games this season.

• Daniel Foster's 13 points was the second-most points he has scored in a game in his career.

• Jarod Lucas matched a career-high by pulling down six rebounds. 

• After defeating TCU, Nevada is now 11-2 in MTE's under Head Coach Steve Alford. 

Up Next

Nevada will have a day off before facing Georgia Tech in the Championship game of the Diamond Head Classic on Sunday, Dec. 24 at 6 p.m. (PT) on ESPN.

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