Three C’s have haunted this young Nevada basketball team so far this season; consistency, composure and closing. For the second time in as many games the Wolf Pack let a late game lead slip away, as Nevada fell to the Colonials of George Washington, 58-56, in our nation’s capital.

The Pack, filled with plenty of underclassmen, once again showed their inexperience by letting a seven point lead with 7:11 slip away.  After freshman Devonte Elliott hit a free throw to give Nevada a 51-44 lead, Nevada wouldn’t score another point until junior Dario Hunt’s free throw with 40 seconds remaining in the game. During that stretch, the 7 point Pack lead evaporated, and they found themselves down by 4. It was just one of many scoring droughts in the game.

Nevada had three significant periods of scoreless action, including two at the end of each half.  Midway through the 1st half for just under 5 minutes, the final 4 1/2 minutes of the 1st half and for 6 1/2 minutes at the end of the game,  after the Pack’s lone veteran, Dario Hunt, was forced to sit after picking up his 4th foul, Nevada just couldn’t find put the ball through the net.

Neither team really shot the ball well either, with the Colonials knocking down just 35 percent and the Pack hitting just 36 percent of their shots.  However, George Washington scored more consistently and played outstanding defense to limit Nevada’s youthful program when it counted most.

George Washington used a tenacious full court press at various times in the game to fluster Nevada’s freshman point guard Deontè Burton. Burton ended the game with 7 assists and 3 turnovers. but all 3 of his turnovers came in the 2nd half. Nevada head coach David Carter subbed in junior guard Derrell Connor at several points in the game to break the press, however, Connor had trouble getting the offense into much of a flow.

The game was a back and forth affair from the start, unfortunately without a lot of an offensive rhythm. It was the type of effort you might expect from a team traveling back east prior to the holidays.

The Pack built an early six point lead, 17-11 with 13:39 left in the 1st half after Connor hit a layup. That’s when Nevada entered the first of its three critical scoring droughts, scoring just 2 points over the next 6 minutes.  Hunt, plus senior Illiwa Baldwin and sophomore Malik Story, keyed a brief Nevada run that found the Pack on top 29-26 with 4:29 left in the half, but they wouldn’t find the basketball for the rest of the half. That allowed the Colonials to come back and tie the game 29-29 at intermission.

The second half opened much the same as the first with both teams trading baskets early. Hunt, who finished with 16 points, his 4th straight game in double figures, broke the stalemate and sparked a 13-4 Nevada run that gave the Pack its largest lead of the game at nine with 10:47 left in the game. However, just 2 minutes later, Hunt picked up his 4th foul of the game and was forced to sit with Nevada up by six with just over 8 minutes left in the game.

The Pack would only score 1 point over the next 6 minutes and the Colonials would climb back into it, taking a two point lead with 1:36 left to play on Aaron Ware’s layup.

The stretch of the game was eerily similar to Nevada’s last contest, a 76-75 loss to Pepperdine, with the Waves trailing for much of the 2nd half only to come back in the final two minutes and win the game.

That’s the common theme early on for this ultra-talented, yet very young Nevada basketball team.  The Wolf Pack have played teams tight in the first half and faltered in the second, except in their lone regular season home game against Montana. The Pack were down 4 at the half against Seattle- Pacific, down 2 against Montana, up 1 against Pacific, tied with Pepperdine and tied with George Washington. Yet, in the second half, the team has not found a way to consistently keep its composure when pushed.  All signs of a young team, struggling to find their roles and looking for leaders to emerge.

The bright spots are the depth of Coach Carter’s club, plus the dizzying amount of athleticism at times on the floor.  Each game, a different player emerges to give fans a taste of what this team is capable of. Against Pepperdine, it was freshman Jordan Burris coming off the bench for 15 points in 22 minutes. Against the Colonials, it was Elliott pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds.

While the team is certainly having some sense of “growing pains” that were often talked about before the season started, they are not short on talent, just too long on youth at this moment.

ESPN Box Score