Nevada Basketball: What went wrong for the Wolf Pack against Florida?

Nevada basketball entered the NCAA Tournament with high expectations. Yet, they fell in the first round to Florida. How did this happen?

Florida just upset Nevada basketball in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Regardless of what the score said, the game was never really that close. Needless to say, my bracket went up in flames after this game as I had the Wolf Pack in the Final Four. Now earlier in the week, I wrote the article on three keys for Nevada to beat Florida. It appears Eric Musselman and the Wolf Pack did not read my article as they absolutely failed in all three I discussed: ball security, defensive rebounding, and free throws.

First, I previously mentioned the Martin twins held just over a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio during the Wolf Pack’s regular season. Well against Florida, the twins had a combined 1 assist to 8 turnovers. Yes, you read that right a 1 to 8 ratio; you cannot win a game like that. Not to mention, they also shot a combined 13-for-34 from the field. Florida was not even playing overly impressive defense; Cody and Caleb just could not make a shot.

Second, the defensive rebounding for Nevada was poor. Even though the Wolf Pack kept Kevarrius Hayes at bay with one offensive board, the Gators as a team recorded 10 offensive rebounds and scored on most of their second chance opportunities. The full court pressure defensive scheme that Nevada was running most of the game, was getting shredded by Florida’s backcourt. No changes were made at halftime and Florida continued to take advantage.

Lastly, we get to free throws. Nevada only had three more free throws than Florida, but you have to take into account the Wolf Pack’s intentional fouls at the end of the game. In normal gameplay, not including intentional fouls, Nevada shot 10 more free throws than the Gators, but they could not convert a high enough percentage. Shooting 72% is pretty low for an NCAA Tournament game and it seemed Nevada missed all the free throws when they needed them the most. Some nights, it is just not in the cards for a team to win, and isn’t that why we as fans find March Madness so entertaining? Any team can win on any given night, and tonight, the Florida Gators were undeniably the better team.