Just four minutes into the game against Portland, Nevada found themselves in trouble on the road for the second straight game.  It was 14-2 Pilots, and the top three-point shooting team in the country had already buried four trey’s and picked up a wide open dunk. Nevada, which fell behind by 21 points at Washington in the first half in their previous game, struggled once again on the road and fell to 0-7 away from Lawlor.

Portland, who entered the game as the No. 2 three-point shooting team in the country, came out red-hot from behind the arc as expected.  It was the work of Nemanja Mitrovic, a junior from Toronto who went 5 for 5 from three in an 88-79 win over Boise State in the Pilots most recent win, drilling his four of his first five three point attempts against Nevada. Mitrovic, who entered the game hitting an unbelievable 53.6 percent from three, scored 14 first-half points.

Portland stayed perfect at home this season, and won for the 7th time in 8 games.  Dario Hunt led the way for Nevada with 21 points and an impressive 14 rebounds, and is now averaging a double-double for the season.

Nevada did show some serious heart after their dismal start, making a 13-5 run to erase most of the Portland lead.  It was a 19-15 game once junior Pack center Dario Hunt, who entered the game second on the team in scoring, added his 8th and 9th points to fuel the Nevada run.

Portland senior center Luke Sikma, the son of former Seattle Supersonics all-star big man Jack Sikma, made back to back big plays to push the Pilots lead back to six, 21-15, when he knocked home a short turnaround and then drew a charge on the other end of the floor.

The Wolf Pack kept it close thanks to junior Olek Czyz, who scored 6 first-half points, to cut Portland’s lead to just five at 25-20.  But the Pilots outscored Nevada in the final two minutes 4-1 to take a 29-21 lead at the break.

Nevada was just 8-for-26 in the first half from the field, including 0-for-6 from three.  Portland was 11-for-24 from the field, and connected on 5-of-11 trifecta’s.

In the second half, Nevada freshman Jerry Evans hit a pair of free throws to trim the lead to 5 points. But senior Jared Stohl, shooting 47 percent from three on the season prior to the game, dropped home another three pointer to push the Pilots lead back to eight at 39-31. It was a ten point lead moments later when Mitrovic knocked home a jumper when Nevada freshman Jordan Finn fell down on defense and subsequently left the sharpshooter wide open.

Nevada and Portland traded free throws over the next few minutes, with Sikma’s two shots answering Hunt’s two shots.  With 13:45 left in the game, it was Portland 43-33.

Nevada made a 6-0 run thanks to back to back lay-ups from Finn and Burton, but the run was broken by Sikma’s three-point play to make the score 47-39.  Czyz, who had defended Sikma most of the game, picked up his fourth foul of the game. on the play. Moments later, Sikma drew another foul, this time on Hunt, to give Portland a 48-39 lead.

The Pack and the Pilots traded hoops for the next few minutes, but Hunt cut the Pack deficit to eight once again when he a laid in an “And-1″ and converted from the free throw line.  It was his 19th point of the game, as the Colorado native went an uncharacteristic 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.

Portland remained in control of the game, building a 54-42 lead with just over 4 minutes left in the game.  But Nevada would outscore the Pilots 20-10 down the stretch to make this contest tight.  It took Nevada over 36 minutes to hit a three pointer, but sophomore Malik Story, the Pack’s leading scorer who struggled throughout the game finally connected from deep. Deontè Burton hit a slashing lay-up on Nevada’s ensuing possession, and after a free-throw by Portland, Burton, one of handful of Nevada freshmen, hit Hunt on a lob pass to make the Pack’s deficit just 55-51.

It was 59-54 after Stohl and Story traded three-pointers, but 60-57 once Stohl hit one of two from the line and Story drilled another trey. After another two free-throws by Portland in four attempts, Czyz hit a huge three-pointer to chop the lead to two, 62-60.  After a tie-up helped the Pilots retain possession, freshman point guard Tim Douglas popped home a pair of free throws to give Portland a two possession lead again with just :25 seconds left.

“They played with nothing to lose,” Sikma said in his postgame comments.  “We had to come really willing to work, and sometimes its ugly, but we got the job done.”

But the Pack would not go away. Burton made a driving shot to 64-62, and promptly stole the ball from Douglas to give Nevada a shot at the win.  However, Story came up short on his final three point attempt of the game and Portland was able to drop two more free-throws for the final margin.

Burton finished the game with 11 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 steal while turning the ball over just once. The freshman played 37 minutes in the game.