Nevada will try to advance to the quarterfinals of the NIT when the Wolf Pack hosts Liberty in a second-round NIT men’s basketball game on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
Nevada got a huge second-half effort to beat Murray State, 89-75, on Wednesday in a first-round game.
The winner of the Nevada-Liberty game will face the winner of the Auburn-Seattle University game (3:30 p.m. Sunday; TV- ESPN2).
If Auburn wins Sunday, the No. 1 seed Tigers would host a quarterfinal game on either Tuesday or Wednesday. If Auburn loses to Seattle U on Sunday, and No. 2 seed Nevada wins, the Wolf Pack could host the quarterfinal game.
How to watch Nevada vs. Liberty
Liberty (26-7; 17-3 CUSA) at Nevada (23-12; 12-8 MW)
- When: 6 p.m. Saturday
- Where: Lawlor Events Center
- TV/Stream: ESPN-Plus (Play-by-play Derek Jones; Analyst: John Williams)
- Radio: 95.5 KNEV (Play-by-play: John Ramey; Analyst: Nick Fazekas)
- Tickets: nevadawolfpack.evenue.net
- Line: Nevada favored by 7.5
Last time out
Nevada beat Murray State 89-75 on Wednesday to advance.
As a team, the Pack shot 51 percent from the field, 33 percent from three, and 89 percent from the free-throw line. Vaughn Weems led the Pack offense with 23 points, and grabbing five rebounds. Corey Camper Jr. scored 17 points and was one rebound short of a career high with eight.
Elijah Price led the Wolf Pack with 13 rebounds, 12 on the defensive end. He also had three steals, while Kaleb Lowery had two.
Nevada had just five turnovers while forcing 15 from the Racers, and outscored Murray State in points off turnovers (24-5), points in the paint (44-28), second-chance points (12-9) and fast-break points (17-9).
This is the first meeting between the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Liberty Flames.
Liberty finished 17-3 in Conference USA regular season, earning the outright regular season title in the league for a second straight year.
Zach Cleveland earned Conference USA Player of the Year, while head coach Ritchie McKay garnered CUSA Coach of the Year, along with four total All-CUSA performers and an All-Defensive team member.
Alford: Crowd was into it and really loud in win over Murray State
Nevada basketball coach Steve Alford says the crowd was a big factor in Wednesday’s win over Murray State in the NIT
About Liberty
Nevada head coach Steve Alford said Liberty should have received an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The Flames won Conference USA’s regular season by three games.
“We know we have a really, really good basketball team coming in here Saturday,” Alford said. “We’ve got a really tough matchup with Liberty.”
Liberty broke a tie game with 1:18 left to beat George Mason 77-71 on Tuesday in their first-round NIT game.
The game was tied at 67 with 1:18 to play in the game, but the Flames scored 10 of the next 12 points to close out their second-ever NIT victory and second victory over an A-10 foe this season.
Liberty improved to 26-7 overall. It was the Flames’ 11th road win of the year.
For Liberty in Tuesday’s win, Josh Smith, making his first start since Dec. 16, turned in his best performance in a Flames jersey with a season-high 23 points along with nine rebounds. Smith was 7-of-9 from the field, 2-of-2 from three-point territory and 7-of-8 from the foul line. Brett Decker Jr. added 17 points, and Zander Carter notched career highs in points (10) and rebounds (6).
The Flames average 78.1 points per game while Nevada averages 76.3.
The Flames average 10,6 3-pointers per game while the Wolf Pack averages 6.6
Liberty University is a private, evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, founded in 1971.
