Box Score RENO, Nev. - Pacific's men's basketball team (1-2) returns to Stockton after falling to the Nevada Wolf Pack (3-0), 88-39. The Tigers found themselves in an early significant deficit that proved too difficult to overcome, which led them to taking the fall in their second road contest of the year.
 
The first half opened with a nice shot from beyond the arc from Cam Denson, reminiscent of the fabulous night out in Berkeley last weekend. While the spark came early, it didn't catch, as the Tigers spent the duration of the half struggling to get shots to fall. 
 
Nevada entered Wednesday night's contest coming off a hot shooting affair from the floor against Washington. That success carried over to the Lawlor Events Center as the Pack ended the first half shooting 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, while recording a .595 field goal percentage. 
 
Pacific found success getting to the line, but the shooting woes were present all over the floor. That, in combination with Nevada's omnipresence on both ends of the floor, put the Tigers in a 55-15 deficit at the break.
 
There was notable improvement in the second half from the Tigers, but there was also a significant mountain they had to climb. While the Pack's shooting cooled from deep (opening 0-6 in the second half), they still churned out points in the paint. Nevada ended the evening shooting 50.7 percent from the floor with 34 made shots while Pacific was 14 of 57. 
 
Nevada was also a staggering presence on the opposite side of the floor, hauling in 41 defensive rebounds on the night. With 54 total rebounds, they generated more scoring opportunities for themselves as well, recording 13 offensive rebounds. 
 
"We had a plan coming into tonight, but we couldn't execute it. I was surprised that we allowed our defense to get to this point, where we gave up 88 points," head coach Leonard Perry shared after the game, "I know Nevada is really good, but I did not think we defended the way we are capable of defending, the way we defended the first two games. I didn't see that tonight and I thought our defense affected us on the offensive end or vice versa. When we missed some shots, we didn't get back with the same vigor and physicalness I know that we are capable of, and Nevada took advantage of that."
 
He continued, "They've got some really good players, but I think we have better players than the way we played tonight. The second half they shot 40%. It didn't feel like they were 1 for 10 from three, but I think they were 1 for 10 from three in the second half. All of those are the way we commonly guard, that is what we do. And tonight, in the first half they shot 50% at half and we had a deficit that was through the roof. We never really recovered from it, and we paid the price."
 
Lamar comes to town next, having found success of its own with 25 offensive rebounds in its previous game, Lamar presents the Tigers with another tough test. "We are going to have to put this away quickly," Perry added, "This team coming in on Saturday plays hard. They are not more talented, but they play harder. If we don't get rid of this quickly, we will be disappointed on Saturday."
 
Pacific hosts Lamar at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18 at the Alex G. Spanos Center.