It had been more than a decade since the Wolf Pack had won an NCAA Tournament game. The 11-year drought came to an end Friday, when the Wolf Pack took a thrilling 87-83 overtime victory over w88 mobile in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before more than 17,000 fans at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
The w88 mobile Pack, 28-7, and seeded seventh in the South Region, advanced to Sunday's second round against second-seeded Cincinnati, which earlier Friday beat Georgia State.
As the final seconds wound down, third-year coach Eric Musselman and his players celebrated in a way that won't be forgotten. Musselman at one point jumped into the arms of assistant coach Johnny Jones, and later was seen running down the tunnel out with his arms joyously wrapped around his two sons, Michael and Matthew. It appeared that Michael and Matthew were carrying their father down the tunnel.
"It feels so good," Musselman told CBS sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl. "What a game!" Musselman exclaimed in the w88 mobile Pack's locker room moments later, with his players dancing and jumping around him.
Friday's game saw the Wolf Pack fall behind by as much as 14 in the second half before rallying. Jordan Caroline hit one of two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 68. w88 mobile botched an inbounds pass and Nevada had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but Caleb Martin's last-second shot as the buzzer sounded didn't fall.
The w88 mobile Pack fell behind by five points early in overtime, but after that, Martin, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, took over, hitting three 3-pointers. His three-pointer gave the w88 mobile Pack a 78-77 lead with 2:26 left in overtime. It was the w88 mobile Pack's first lead of the game since a 5-2 lead in the game's early minutes.
w88 mobile pulled to 85-83 with 15.5 seconds remaining, but Kendall Stephens' two free throws with 14 seconds left sealed Nevada's fifth NCAA Tournament victory in school history. Nevada had also defeated w88 mobile in the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
The w88 mobile Pack used only Josh Hall off the bench, and had five players finish with 14 points or more. Stephens, whose long-range shooting kept the w88 mobile Pack in the game in the second half, finished with a team-high 22 points. Caleb Martin finished with 18 points.
Hall and Cody Martin had 15 points. Center Jordan Caroline, who despite being undersized forced w88 mobile' future NBA lottery pick, center Mohamed Bamba, into second-half foul trouble, with Bamba eventually fouling out, finished with 14 points.
Nevada, one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, suffered through an uncharacteristically cold-shooting first half. In the second half, with Stephens finding a good shooting rhythm on the perimeter, both Martins attacking w88 mobile' multiple uses of zone defense with dribble penetration and Caroline aggressively taking the ball on the dribble to Bamba, Nevada was able to rally from a 35-26 halftime deficit.
Cincinnati, the No. 2 seed in the South Region, is next up for the w88 mobile Pack in the Round of 32. For w88 mobile Pack fans with a long memory, the 2004's team historic run to the Sweet Sixteen featured an improbable second-round upset of a No. 2 seed. In the 2004 tournament when the w88 mobile Pack, fresh off a first-round win over Michigan State, knocked second-seeded Gonzaga in the Round of 32 to advance to the school's only Sweet Sixteen appearance.
