Reno, NV – Playing at home for just the second time in a month, the Wolf Pack (2-7) returned to friendly Lawlor Events Center to face San Francisco State (5-2) on Saturday night.  Although they got a pretty good fight out of the visiting Gators, Nevada held on for a 78-64 victory at the Lawlor Center on Saturday night to lift their spirits.  The win ended a monster 7-game losing skid.

It was a career night for Dario Hunt as the junior forward tallied a new career-high while also setting the single-season high in points for the team with a strong 25 point, 12 rebound double-double.  The Colorado native’s impressive performance got the Pack back on track.

“My teammates did a great job finding me in the second half and I got some balls to bounce my way, and I did a much better job finishing in this game,” Hunt, the only returning starting from last season, said after his big game.

His coach was just happy to get the ‘W.

“It feels good to be back in the win column and hopefully we can stay on that side of the column,” said Nevada Coach David Carter following the win.

Nevada came out of the gate aggressive, winning the tip and attacking the basket early on.  The Pack opened the scoring when Malik Story hit a jumper for a 2-0 lead as they maintained control of the game throughout the first half.

The Pack played great defense in the first half as well, with Hunt swatting three first-half blocks alone.  That moved him into second all-time on the school block list.  However, Nevada couldn’t get find a rhythm offensively, subsequently turning the ball over 11 times before intermission.  The team was simply sloppy early on.

Hunt had a career game, including 25 points and 12 rebounds, to get Nevada back in the win column (Photo by Mark Rauh of SilverandBlueSports.com)

A fast break fumble by Story following a steal epitomized the first half play as it was one of three first half turnovers for Story.

One of the bright spots early this season has been the impressive shooting and all-around game of freshman Jordan Burris, and he continued to show Pack fans why he is in the starting lineup.  He forced a steal, took it to the hole and finished with a strong finger roll as Nevada built an early 6-2 lead early.  The Gators would not go quietly as they continued to work a solid inside and out game behind forward Ralph Nevarez , who had 8 points, and guard Nefi Perdomo, who 7 points, at the break.

After a Jerry Evans basket and a Jordan Finn three pointer, Nevada had a 17-11 lead.  That lead was extended when Hunt stayed aggressive following a miss and came up with a big steal and thunderous dunk to push the Nevada lead to 21-14. But the Pack went cold after freshman guard Deontè Burton hit three free throws after being fouled shooting the deep ball to get a 30-23 lead, going nearly three minutes without scoring right before the break. That allowed the Gators, who took a brief lead at 31-30, to climb back into the game.  But Malik Story converted a jumper and a pair of free throws to regain the lead before the intermission, and Nevada held a slim 35-34 advantage.

Burton talked about the mindset of the team going into the second half.

“We just came out super aggressive in the second half,” Burton, an extremely talented and strong guard said after the game.

It showed when Nevada, up just 41-40 a few minutes into the second half, put their foot to the pedal and raced right past the Gators.  The Pack went on a 13-0 run to make it a 54-40 game.  During this run every member of the Pack seemed to contribute.

Burton and Evans hit three pointers and Hunt threw down the thunder as Nevada made the push that Lawlor faithful have been looking for all season.  Freshman Devonte Elliott played strong on both ends, chipping in with seven points and four boards off the bench to spark the team in the second half.

The Gators did a good job of taking that punch and staying in the fight, as they clawed their way back and trailed by only seven after a pair of free throws by Matt Fochtman. However, Nevada showed the resiliency that had been lacking in previous match-ups, responding this time by building an even bigger lead.

Up 70-60, Nevada went on a 7-0 run to ice the game, pulling away with walk-on’s like Adam Carp and Keith Fuetsch finally getting a chance to chip in some minutes off the bench and helped Nevada win 78-64.

Up next for the Pack is a home game against the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-4) at the Lawlor Center at 6:05 p.m. on Friday night.  The game marks the return of Reno High School product Olek Czyz who will look to energize a Pack team that is desperate need of a boost right now.