For the University of Nevada men's basketball team, the first round of the NCAA championship tournament started about as poorly as it could have imagined.
The Wolf Pack went into its South Region battle as the No. 7 seed against No. 10 Texas.
For awhile, it looked like 10 was a lucky number. Too much inside scoring from the Longhorns and too much cold shooting by the Wolf Pack turned an early Nevada lead into a 14-point deficit.
But, finally, the shooting touch began to thaw as the Wolf Pack began to make three-point shots and the consistent pressure inside began to increase the foul total for Texas center Mohamed Bamba. He finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds. But, he fouled out of the game late as Texas clung desperately to its shrinking lead.
Nevada tied the game at 68 with a Jordan Caroline free throw with three seconds left. Texas was then unable to inbound the ball and the Wolf Pack was unable to capitalize as the game went to overtime.
Texas' Matt Coleman opened the scoring in overtime with three of his 25 game points.
But for Nevada, it was too much of the Martin brothers as Caleb and Cody combined for three three-pointers and a layup to lead the charge. Kendall Stevens made two free throws to seal the win 87-83.
With No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 4 Arizona already out of the way with losses to University of Maryland Baltimore County and Buffalo respectively, the odds of lower seeds reaching the Final Four have increased significantly.
No. 3 Tennessee and No. 5 Kentucky, however, are alive in the South Region as are Kansas State and Loyola-Chicago.
Nevada has advanced to the round of 16 before, but never beyond. It's last NCAA tournament win was in 2007.
Nevada (28-7) will play No. 2 seed Cincinnati (31-4) on Sunday. Game time is scheduled for 3:10 PM Pacific Time.
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today