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Nevada limits mistakes, pulls away in second half
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
CARTHAGE, Mo. -- A renewed emphasis on taking care of the basketball and a hot stretch by senior Justin Reed carried the Nevada Tigers to a 61-44 win over the hosting Carthage Tigers Tuesday.
Nevada (9-4 overall, 2-1 in the Southwest Conference) went without a turnover in the third quarter and Reed scored seven straight points for the Tigers as they turned a 29-26 deficit into a 33-32 lead and they didn't trail the rest of the way.
This came after the Tigers committed nine first-half turnovers and went into the break tied at 26.
"It was addressed at halftime, I do know that much," Nevada head coach John McNeley said of his team's sloppy play in the first 16 minutes.
"It was unforced. Lazy passes and dribbling off our feet. We just weren't focused to start the game."
McNeley said he could tell his players weren't focused during his pre-game address.
"I counted four guys that yawned in our pre-game talk. I'm not sure if that's possible. You can't be focused and yawn," he said.
If a fiery McNeley speech wasn't enough to get the Tigers going, Reed's aggressive play was.
After Carthage (5-8, 1-3) came out of the break with a three-point play by Keith Van Gilder, Reed took the ball to the basket for a layup, driving through the Carthage defense.
Carthage answered with a trey from Matt Smallwood to take their biggest lead of the game at 32-28, and Reed countered with another driving layup.
After Nevada earned a stop, Reed pulled up and canned a three from the top of the key with a defender in his face and Nevada went up 33-32.
"That was the difference in the game," McNeley said. "(Reed) took over and got the ball to the basket and made that three."
From there the Tigers started making a run. Owings made one of two free throws, Bryan Campbell hit a mid-range jumper and J.R. Mills dropped a turnaround near the right baseline. After that the Campbell-Nathan Gragg combo started making some waves.
Campbell hit Gragg on a pick and roll, and the next time down Campbell took it himself with a short jumper. Another pick and roll gave Gragg a chance at a three-point play, but he couldn't convert the free throw and Nevada led 44-36.
Nevada held for the last shot of the third period and Drew Weatherly threw up a high-arcing 3-point attempt that found nothing but net, putting the fatal dagger in the hearts of the Carthage players and fans as time expired.
With the Tigers up 47-36, Nevada milked the clock in the final period, and their largest lead came at the end of the game.
Mills led the Tigers with 14 points, while Reed added 13, 11 of them in the second half.
Campbell was the only other Nevada player in double figures with 10.
Carthage was led by Tyler Breitag's eight points.
Needless to say, McNeley was in much better spirits when he faced his team after the game.
"I told them, 'If you play 32 minutes like you played the last 16 minutes, you can be a good basketball team,'" he said.
Nevada got another strong game from post Eric Good, who blocked many shots and altered a few more.
"(Good) might be, aside from Campbell, our best defensive player right now," McNeley said. "I usually don't like my players going for a block, but he's one that can do that and be effective. We can be a little bit more aggressive when he's in the ballgame."
In the first half Tuesday, neither team played particularly well. Carthage led for most of the first quarter, until Mills converted a breakaway basket and a foul shot to tie the game at 12 at the end of one. Mills scored eight in the first period to keep the Tigers in the game.
In the second quarter it was Carthage taking a 17-14 lead. Then Weatherly hit a trey to tie the game, and Campbell scored to give Nevada a small lead. Opie Tipton followed with a 3-pointer of his own and Nevada looked as if they would make a move, up 22-17. Carthage kept it close though, and it was still even heading into halftime.
Nevada will continue their road swing in conference play with a visit to Neosho Friday.
The Wildcats are 1-17 this season, 0-1 in the league. Even so, McNeley isn't taking Neosho lightly.
"I look at them as being very capable on any given night," McNeley said. "We've got to go down there and play 32 minutes like we played the last 16 (Tuesday)."