LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Nick Davidson scored a career-high 25 points and had 10 rebounds as Nevada beat No. 22 Utah State 77-63 on Tuesday night to stop the Aggies' 13-game home winning streak.
“Nick Davidson was terrific. And he’s been trending that way. He’s been having a really good year, but he’s playing at a really high level right now,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said.
Kenan Blackshear added 18 points for the Wolf Pack (18-5, 5-4 Mountain West), who topped an AP Top 25 team on the road for the first time since beating UNLV in 1981.
“We're bumping the naysayers,” Blackshear shouted near the Wolf Pack's jubilant locker room. “We are on a mission right now.”
Blackshear battled through foul trouble and Nevada's leading scorer Jarod Lucas struggled from the floor, finishing with nine points on 2-of-8 shooting. Davidson, a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, picked up the slack inside and outside — he had three of the Wolf Pack’s four 3s.
“My confidence has risen, obviously. And my teammates are finding me in open positions. And you know, haven’t been shooting the ball well prior to this, and they trusted me to keep shooting, keep shooting, and it’s finally falling,” Davidson said.
Ian Martinez scored 16 points and Mason Falslev had 14 for the Aggies (19-4, 7-3), who have dropped two straight.
“Every time we could get back into the game, we just couldn't make the shots, at the rim and with open 3s,” said Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle, whose team missed 11 layups and 16 3-pointers.
The Aggies lost at home for the first time this season, a new experience for a team mostly constructed of players and coaches who weren't with Utah State last season.
“I hate losing at home. All those people came out to support us and cheer for us and all of us feel bad. We need to play harder for them,” Falsev said.
Utah State closed within 56-51 before Davidson made a 3 to begin a 13-4 run. Daniel Foster finished the surge with two free throws to put Nevada ahead 69-55 with 3:15 to play. The decisive run was fueled in part by smothering defense.
“Just make them do things that they don’t want to do. And then we just really gave them strong ball pressure,” Blackshear said.
Davidson, whose previous career high of 22 points came in Nevada's prior game, a 90-60 rout of San Jose State, had 11 points in the first half to help the Wolf Pack lead 36-27 at the break. Nevada improved to 17-0 when leading at halftime.
“We haven’t been a high-volume 3-point shooting team all year. It’s about the paint. It’s about being physical, getting to the free-throw line. We made 19 for 25 and on the road, winning the free-throw battle — that’s huge,” Alford said.
Alford won his 675th game and is 11th among active Division I coaches in victories.
BIG PICTURE
Nevada: The Wolf Pack started the season 15-1 and then dropped four of five but have played their best over the past two games. They used rotating double-teams to hold Utah State's Great Osobor to 11 points, eight below his average.
Utah State: The Aggies came in ranked eighth in the nation in shooting at 49.9%, but Nevada forced them into uncomfortable shots in the first half, when Utah State hit just 9 of 29 shots. Martinez and the Aggies got hot early in the second half but struggled when the Wolf Pack slowed the game down in the closing minutes. The Aggies finished shooting 39% and had just six fast-break points.
“We did a really good job of for the most part taking away their transition game. So that’s the front end of the book. And then the other end of the book in is the board play,” Alford said.
UP NEXT
Nevada: Hosts No. 24 San Diego State on Friday night.
Utah State: Hosts Boise State on Saturday night.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball