The Nevada men’s basketball team plays Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. Nevada Sports Net’s Chris Murray breaks down the game with his three keys to victory and prediction. This feature is presented in partnership with Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney.
Louisiana Tech (0-0) at Nevada (0-0)
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Lawlor Events Center (11,536 capacity)
TV/Radio: None/95.5 FM
Online: MW Network
Betting line: Nevada by 10; total of 137.5
Three keys for Nevada to win
1. Turnovers, pace, score: The Wolf Pack wants to create more takeaways and score in the open court this season, and that was the case in Nevada’s exhibition wins over Utah and Eastern Washington where the Wolf Pack forced 41 turnovers. Nevada has not been a high takeaway team in Steve Alford’s first six seasons but will need to be in year No. 7 given some questions about the Wolf Pack’s shooting. The Bulldogs have a brand-new backcourt after losing guards Sean Newman Jr. (San Diego State), Amaree Abram (Tennessee) and Al Green (UNLV) to transfer. With that turnover at the lead guard spots, Nevada will try and hassle that backcourt into mistake with a fair goal in takeaways in this one being 15.
2. Sharing is caring: It’s unknown who will emerge as the Wolf Pack’s top scorers with the team emphasizing its depth and versatility over last year’s strategy of having two lead dogs (Kobe Sanders and Nick Davidson). We’ll see if that formula of depth over stars leads to better results. If it’s going to work, Nevada must have impeccable ball movement because its isolation scoring and shooting are not at the same level as last year’s roster. The Wolf Pack had 13 assists on 29 made field goals in its preseason game at Utah before tallying a stronger 16 assists on 23 made baskets in its second preseason game against Eastern Washington. This might not be a high-assist team if Nevada doesn’t make a lot of threes. But it needs to have elite ball movement, at least early in the season as it finds its offensive identity.
3. Don’t let Cooper cape up: Tech’s top returning player is Kaden Cooper, a former top-75 national recruit who began his career at Oklahoma before transferring last season to the Bulldogs where he averaged 9.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting 47.6 percent from the field but only 29.5 percent from three. Cooper was a preseason All-Conference USA pick and is the Bulldogs’ most talented scorer. A 6-foot-5 guard, Cooper will be asked to handle more playmaking responsibilities this season. It will be interesting to see who draws the primary defensive responsibility on Cooper (Corey Camper Jr. and Chuck Bailey III seem likely). If the Bulldogs are going to spring the upset, Cooper will be a big reason.
Prediction
Nevada 70, Louisiana Tech 63: The Bulldogs lost a lot of talent in the offseason with their top-four scorers gone and only 21.5 percent of their points returning. Coming off a 20-win season, Louisiana Tech has 10 newcomers (the same number as Nevada), including eight transfers. The Bulldogs added six junior-college recruits, so there’s going to be an adjustment to the Division I level. Tech was picked fifth out of 12 Conference USA schools in the preseason poll but would be a lower-ranked Mountain West team (a Wyoming-level squad). Nevada should win this game as it looks to build some early-season momentum with a new-look roster of its own. Season record: 0-0
Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @ByChrisMurray.
