Nevada Basketball falls 92-91 to Colorado State on buzzer beater

Isaiah Stevens’ game-winning jumper as time expired gave Colorado State a 92-91 victory over Nevada in a thriller at Moby Arena.

Trailing 91-90 with 4.4 seconds remaining, Stevens marched the length of the court, hitting a stepback jumper to clinch the victory. He finished the evening with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting with a team-high four assists.

Stevens’ game-winner spoiled a career night from Jalen Harris, who hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left to put the Pack ahead 91-90.

Harris tied a career-high with 31 points — his third 30-plus point game this season — on 12-of-24 shooting and 3-of-7 from deep. Harris dished out a team-high seven assists in the losing effort.

Harris has 18 consecutive games with double-figure scoring, tallying 20.9 points per game in that span. The 6-foot-5 junior guard is averaging a conference-best 23.4 points on 49.4 percent shooting in 11 conference games.

Up by as many as 10 points with nearly eight minutes remaining, the Pack were unable to come away with a victory. Colorado State closed the final five minutes with a 17-10 run.

Wednesday’s loss drops Nevada’s record to 13-9 and 6-4 in conference. Colorado State has won six out of its last seven games, tallying 82.1 points per game in that span.

Nevada shot 52.2 percent and 48.3 percent from the 3-point line.

The Wolf Pack had four double-digit scorers. Nisre Zouzoua tallied double-digit scoring for the third consecutive game, adding 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 5-of-5 shooting from deep. Lindsey Drew tallied 14 points with a team-high eight rebounds. K.J. Hymes tallied a career-high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting with two blocks.

The Rams shot 53.6 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from deep.

Adam Thistlewood led Colorado State with a career-high 24 points on 7of-10 shooting and 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

Nico Carvacho tallied his ninth double-double on the season with 16 points and 15 rebounds. His 44 career double-doubles ties Jordan Caroline’s for the most in Mountain West conference history. David Roddy was second on the team in scoring with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting.

Roddy’s layup put the Rams ahead 8-4 early. Three consecutive 3-pointers awarded Nevada its first lead of the game at 22-20 with 11:12 remaining.

Zouzoua’s 3-pointer gave the Wolf Pack a 30-25 lead. Colorado State went on a 9-0 run, capped-off by a layup from Carvacho to put CSU ahead 34-30 with 5:06 to go in the first half.

Both teams traded leads for the remainder of the half. Nevada waltzed into halftime with a 42-40 lead. The Wolf Pack shot 51.5 percent in the half with eight 3-pointers on 17 attempts. Colorado State shot 46.7 percent and 45.5 percent from deep.

Harris’ 3-pointer gave Nevada a 52-46 lead. Colorado State cut the lead to 58-57 after a three-point play from Thistlewood.

Nine consecutive points from Harris put Nevada ahead 72-65 with 9:20 remaining. Back-to-back baskets from Thistlewood and Carvacho cut Nevada’s lead to 79-75 with 5:01 remaining.

Colorado State continued to rally. A block by Roddy, followed by a corner 3-pointer from Thistlewood brought Nevada’s to within one point with 1:49 remaining.

The two teams traded baskets until the final buzzer. Stevens’ game-winner erupted the 3,137 fans in attendance as they stormed the court.

The Wolf Pack closes their two-game road trip with the Boise State Broncos (14-8, 6-4) Saturday at 7 p.m. PST. Nevada beat Boise State 83-66 in its first meeting at Lawlor Events Center.