Menu
Many happy returns: Tigers drub Seneca, 68-29
Upon returning from Christmas break Tuesday night the Nevada Tigers showed no signs of rust, drilling the Seneca Indians, 68-29, at Wynn Gym.
The non-conference victory improves Nevada to 9-1 overall, having won 27 of their past 29 contests, dating to Jan. 3 of last year.
Guards Braeden Hinton and Carter Swearingen dropped in Nevada’s first eight points as the Tigers jumped on top 8-0 midway through the opening frame.
A Jake Thurston three was Seneca’s lone basket of the quarter. Nevada senior forward Clay Gayman scored the final five points of the first to hand the Tigers a 13-3 advantage.
Things continued to unravel for Seneca, with the Tigers opening the second quarter on an 11-2 blitz. The Tigers went in front by 19 points via Gayman’s 40-foot pass to Swearingen for a breakaway lay-in. The offensive onslaught continued as senior forward Hunter Mason threaded a pass from underneath the basket to Hinton, who swished a right wing trey for a 27-9 lead.
After picking up his second foul at the five minute mark of the second Gayman went to the bench for the remainder of the half. With 1:18 remaining in the half Swearingen, who had a career night, knifed into the lane and scored, swelling the Tigers lead to 24 points.
Seneca, however, finished with a 4-0 spurt, closing the gap to 33-13 at the break.
The Tigers opened the second half on a 15-4 run, punctuated by Swearingen’s triple from close to NBA range.
The Tigers advantage ballooned to 29 when Swearingen drained his second trey of the night, this time from the left wing, for a 53-24 Nevada advantage late in the third.
The rout continued early in the fourth as five quick points from Hinton, followed by a Matt Thompson spin-move lay-in in the paint, put Nevada firmly in control, 62-27, as the Tigers coasted to the 39-point victory.
Swearingen finished with a game-high, and new varsity career high, 16 points, to go along with four steals. Gayman, who was on the bench for most of the second and fourth quarters, concluded with 15 points and three blocks. Hinton and Thompson joined the double-figure scoring club, finishing with 13 and 11 respectively.
“Because we were so locked in defensively, and played good team basketball at the defensive end, that led to some good offense the other way,” said Nevada head coach Shaun Gray.
Added Gray: “Other than some issues with dribble penetration, I thought it was a great defensive performance. I thought our interior/post defense was really good,” as the Tigers clamped down on Seneca’s top two post scorers — Cameron Brattin and Gavin Dunham, holding the pair to a combined 15 points.
“I was really proud of our post defense,” said Gray. “We have a lot of guys who can alter shots, and that’s a good luxury to have on the defensive end.”
Gray said Gayman did a fantastic job in the face of constant double and triple teams.
“He was able to find those open cutters and shooters around him,” said Gray. “Carter and Braeden hit open shots; Matt and Hunter cut into the lane, and were able to score.”
Gray said he was impressed with Swearingen’s performance.
“Carter excels in that transition-type game, and reads that pretty well,” said the fourth-year Nevada head coach. “Hopefully, he can ride this hot streak into the Kaminsky Classic.”
Tiger notebook
The Tigers are dealing with a potentially season-altering injury, as sophomore forward Dalton Gayman is out with a hip fracture, according to Gray. Gayman, the younger brother of Clay Gayman, was a major contributor off the bench.
Gray noted that the injury likely occurred during Nevada’s Nov. 30 victory over Rogers (Ark.) at the Carthage Invitational. Gayman, however, was unaware of the severity of the injury and continued to experience discomfort over the past several weeks.
“That was the verbiage that was communicated to us,” explained Gray of Dalton Gayman’s injury, adding, “I don’t have the HIPAA release document to know exactly what it was.”
With no definitive timetable for his return, Gray indicated that Gayman will be reevaluated in two weeks.
“You can’t just completely replace and mirror what we lose with Dalton,” said Gray of the 6-foot-5 left-handed forward. “So we adjust. Typically, when Dalton comes into the game, in what we would call that first rotation, we go really big with basically three 6-5 guys in the game. We really try to take advantage of that.”
Gray said with Gayman out indefinitely, the new substitution pattern, with freshman point guard Logan Applegate being the first guy off the bench, will impact the rest of the players on the floor. For example, Swearingen would go from point guard to shooting guard; Hinton from shooting guard to small forward; Thompson from small forward to power forward; and Clay Gayman from power forward to center.
“What we think will happen out of this, it will make us more versatile,” said Gray. “Because we’ll have guys that feel comfortable playing different spots on the floor. While we never want a guy to be out, and we’re much better with Dalton, we feel like we have to make the best of it.”
Up next
The Kaminsky Classic in Joplin.
Nevada opens against Francis Howell, a Class 5 school located in St. Charles. Francis Howell enters 7-3 overall. Tip off is slated for 4:30 p.m. Thursday.