Nevada’s Jarrod Lucas poured in a career-high 28 points as the Wolfpack beat the Air Force 75-69 in men’s basketball at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Leading the player by double digits.
Will Baker added 16 points and 8 rebounds, Kenan Blackshear added 14 points, and the Wolf Pack improved to 2-0 in Mountain West and 12-3 overall.
Nevada made 6/14 from three-point range and Lucas was 3-5 from the arc.
Nevada lowered 34 rebounds to the Air Force’s 26, and nine of the pack’s boards were offensive, the pack’s second-most offensive rebounds in a game this season.
Lucas surpassed his previous career-high 27 points after shooting 70 percent from the field, 60 percent from behind the arc, and 92 percent from the free-throw line. Lucas has achieved his double-digit numbers in 14 of his 15 games for Nevada this season, making at least three of his 3-pointers in nine contests.
Nevada freshman forward Darrion Williams scored six points on a 3-6 shot from the field, had six rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Nevada made 45 percent of field goals (23-of-51) and 23-of-26 from the free-throw line.
Nevada never trailed and held at least an eight-point advantage until the final 15 seconds of the game when the Falcons came within six.
The 75 points scored by Nevada is the most points the Air Force has allowed in a game this season.
Nevada returns home to host Colorado on Wednesday at 7:30 PM and travels to San Jose on Saturday (January 7) at 1 PM.
San Jose State beat Colorado State 78-70 on Saturday, and the Rams fell 0-2 in the conference and 8-7 overall.
Jim Krajewski covers college high school and youth sports for the Reno Gazette Journal. follow him on twitter @RGJPrepsPlease support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com.