San Francisco delivered a dominating performance in a 85-60 blowout victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack Wednesday.
It was the Pack’s largest loss since losing 75-42 to BYU on Dec. 10 of last year. It was San Francisco’s largest win since it downed Loyola Marymount 82-53 in the West Coast Conference Tournament in March.
It was the Dons’ highest scoring mark on the year corresponded with Nevada’s lowest.
Wednesday marks Nevada’s first loss of the season, dropping to 3-1. San Francisco improves to 3-2 on the year.
The Wolf Pack trailed by as many as 33 with under five minutes to go, looking discombobulated on both sides of the court the entire evening. Nevada shot a dismal 31.6 percent from the floor and 23.5 percent from beyond the arc — both season-lows. The Pack did hit season-best 20-of-25 from the charity stripe.
USF netted 46.0 percent of its shots with a season-high 15 3-pointers. It is now averaging 13.7 makes from beyond the arc in its three wins. The Dons forced 16 turnovers, translating into 15 points off turnovers.
Khalil Shabazz led San Francisco with 22 points on 4-of-9 shooting from deep. It was his second game above 20-plus points. Dzmitry Ryuny had 12 points in his first start of the season, hitting five of his 11 field goal attempts. Jamaree Bouyea, its leading scorer heading into tonight, totaled 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the floor with a team-best three steals. Josh Kunen totaled 11 on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Zane Meeks led the Pack in scoring for the second consecutive contest. The 6-foot-9 forward totaled 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 22 minutes off the bench. Meeks went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc; the rest of Nevada shot 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from outside.
Grant Sherfield 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting, hitting Nevada’s only other 3-point shot. Warren Washington totaled a season-high 12 points with five rebounds. Nevada tallied a season-low ten assists.
Both teams got off to a slow start, starting a combined 2-for-14 start. Washington’s layup gave the Wolf Pack an early 5-3 lead with 13:27 remaining. Each of USF’s first four baskets came from 3-point range.
A 3-pointer from Meeks — Nevada’s first make from deep (on its ninth attempt) — came with 5:11 remaining in the first half, cutting the Don lead to 26-23.
A one-handed lob finish from Kane, followed by a 3-pointer from Ryuny capped off a 13-3 run, prompting a Nevada timeout. They led 37-26 advantage with 3:00 to go in the first half.
Nevada entered halftime down 40-32. Eight of the Dons’ 11 baskets came from 3-point range, while Nevada was 2-for-11 from outside.
A lightning quick 9-0 USF run forced a Wolf Pack timeout after extending its advantage to 49-32 to open the second half.
San Francisco’s Taavi Jurkatamm’s make from deep created a 20-point lead, 54-34.
A wide open two-handed jam from Bouyea followed by Shabazz’s fastbreak 3-pointer from above the break extended the advantage to 69-41. Bouyea’s acrobatic jumper with the shot clock winding down widened USF’s lead to 76-44 with 4:48 remaining.
The Wolf Pack scored 16 points in the final five minutes, but it was too little too late. They will have to quickly correct their mistakes before the two programs meet again this weekend.
Up next:
The home-road series between the two schools conclude on Sunday, Dec. 5 in War Memorial Gym in San Francisco, Calif. It will be San Francisco’s first home game of the season.
Passing is on point!
— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) December 3, 2020
Nevada and San Francisco are tied 9-9!#BattleBorn pic.twitter.com/VAEqwA7gc4
Cambridge cuts into the lead! #BattleBorn pic.twitter.com/4cbnWAdpet
— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) December 3, 2020
Zane is AUTOMATIC!
— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) December 3, 2020
The 3-pointer cuts San Francisco's lead down to only 3!#BattleBorn pic.twitter.com/m0AsbMjSwk
You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him!#BattleBorn pic.twitter.com/2f2LAklgGG
— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) December 3, 2020
Final.#BattleBorn pic.twitter.com/JF32ms1SU4
— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) December 3, 2020