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Tigers grind out victory over Butler for 13th straight win
It wasn't pretty, but the Nevada Tigers still found a way to get it done Tuesday night against the visiting Butler Bears.
Led by Clay Gayman's 24-point outing Nevada toppled Butler 68-58 for its 13th consecutive victory. The non-conference win improves the Tigers to 18-3 overall (6-3 WCC).
Nevada's best stretch of play came in the first quarter as the Tigers went in front 14-3. During the run, four different Nevada players scored, which included back-to-back 3-pointers from Gayman and Myles McNeley. The run was then capped by a Braeden Hinton steal and lay-in.
Gayman feasted on Butler's undersized frontline, dropping in 15 first quarter points as the Tigers led 26-14 entering the second quarter.
The Tigers went cold from the field in the second, scoring only seven points as they held a 33-24 halftime advantage.
A McNeley basket early in the second half put the Tigers up 39-30. Butler then went on a 12-5 run which trimmed Nevada's lead to 44-42 with 1:10 left in the third quarter.
Providing a spark off the bench with Clay Gayman in foul trouble, forward Dalton Gayman had a key tip-in just before the third quarter horn sounded to hand Nevada a 48-43 lead.
Dalton Gayman then opened the fourth quarter scoring on a give-and-go pass delivered by junior Hunter Mason, as the Tigers increased its lead to seven.
With five minutes remaining in regulation a Matt Sommer out-of-bounds pass resulted in a Clay Gayman lay-in to put Nevada up six. Butler struck back with a Kirby Connell trey to cut Nevada's lead to 52-49.
With just under four minutes remaining, Sommer drilled a trey from the right corner after receiving a skip pass from McNeley, as the Tigers led 56-50.
The teams continued to trade barbs, as Gabriel's 18-foot bank shot kept Butler within four. The Bears, however, struggled from the charity stripe, knocking down just 2-of-8 fourth quarter free throws.
With 40 seconds remaining Nevada was able to break Butler's full-court press as Hinton's pass connected with Sommer for the breakaway lay-in and a 62-55 lead.
After quickly advancing the ball up-court, Cody Gabriel buried one from long-range, slicing the Tigers lead to four with 33 seconds showing on the clock.
After a pair of Dalton Gayman free throws extended Nevada's lead back to six, the Tigers were then able to get a defensive stop at the other end. From there Nevada salted away the game from the charity stripe.
In addition to Clay Gayman's 24 points, Sommer finished with 13 and Hinton 10. In the post, Patrick Ferry and Dalton Gayman combined for 16 points, while McNeley chipped in five. Gabriel finished with a team-high 22 points for Butler while Connell added 18, including four 3-pointers.
"This was a classic trap-game and let-down game," Nevada head coach Shaun Gray said. "We're coming off two big wins against O'Hara and Warrensburg, and we have two big games coming up against El Do and (K.C.) Center."
Gray continued, "Your human nature is going to have a little bit of a letdown. What you have to do as competitors, as athletes is find a way to light that internal fire. We have to play each game with as much as intensity as we would if it were a state championship game."
Gray added he was somewhat disappointed his squad was unable to contain Butler from beyond the arc, as the Bears connected on seven 3-pointers for the contest. Gray said shutting down Butler from deep was a major part of the game-plan.
"Butler came into the game averaging 20 3-point attempts per game," Gray noted. "So we wanted to make them do other things. But we didn't execute.
"Another thing we knew coming in, was that (Gabriel) likes to take a lot of shots from the high-post. Again, we didn't execute in stopping him from doing that. So we let them do things they like to do offensively. And any time you let a team do that, you're going to have trouble."
Gray said he was very disappointed with his squad's rebounding effort.
"This was as bad a defensive rebounding game as we've had all year," he said. "And we've been talking about this as well ---- when a team takes a lot of long-range shots, those rebounds are going to come off the rim harder and result in longer rebounds.
"So our length isn't just going to be able to go up and get it. You're going to have to contact bodies and control the defensive glass. We didn't do a good enough job of that either."
Gray did say that he was pleased with the grit and determination his squad showed in pulling out the victory.
"This could have easily not gone our way," he said. "And even though it was a let-down I'm proud of the fact that in the end we showed a little bit of resilience and pulled it out."
Junior varsity
Nevada's junior varsity team flattened Butler 46-26 Tuesday evening to improve to 12-7 overall. Jayden Ast finished with a team-high 11 points while Austin Bash pitched in 10.
Up next
The Tigers face El Dorado Springs in its annual rivalry game, Thursday in El Do. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m.