The Nevada men’s basketball team started the month of December on a high note, taking down the undefeated UC San Diego Tritons, 76-70 at Lawlor Events Center on Tuesday.
Nevada’s first nine points of the game were courtesy of 3-pointers from Tayshawn Comer, Elijah Price and Corey Camper Jr. to give the Wolf Pack a 9-4 lead. UC San Diego took a 12-11 lead after Leo Beath made a bucket and free throw off the and-one opportunity. Nevada then rattled off a 9-0 run of its own, which included a steal and dunk by Vaughn Weems as Nevada took a 20-12 lead at the 11:18 minute mark. Late in the half, UC San Diego cut Nevada’s lead to two following its first made 3-pointer of the night by Aidan Burke with 2:39 to play until halftime. The Wolf Pack held the Tritons scoreless for the remainder of the half, closing in on a 6-0 run and taking a 35-27 lead at the break. Nevada’s defense held UC San Diego to shooting 34 percent in the first half, including 1-of-10 from distance.
UC San Diego started the second half with a pair of 3-pointers from Tom Beattie and Aidan Burke to cut Nevada’s lead, 35-33. Nevada’s Chuck Bailey III responded with a 3-pointer of his own to extend the Wolf Pack’s lead and Tayshawn Comer chipped in with a nice drive to the basket as Nevada’s lead grew, 40-33. The Tritons and Wolf Pack continued exchanging buckets and a 3-pointer by UC San Diego’s Alex Chaikin gave the Tritons a 47-46 lead with 11:51 to play in regulation. Nevada capped off an 8-0 run after Tayshawn Comer snagged a rebound and hit an 18 footer to extend Nevada’s lead to nine with 6:04 remaining. UC San Diego rallied and cut the lead to two once again following a block by Elijah Price that deflected into the hands of Chaikin who drained his second 3-pointer of the night, making the score 68-66.
Nevada was up 70-68 when Tayshawn Comer missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity with 37 seconds to play, then Elijah Price missed a pair of free throws with 25 seconds to play, but Peyton White snagged the rebound following Price’s second missed free throw to give Nevada the ball back. Corey Camper Jr. came up clutch for Nevada and hit six free throws in the game’s final 16 seconds to seal the Wolf Pack’s 76-70 victory.
Nevada’s trio of freshmen in Myles Walker, Ethan Croley and Peyton White played significant minutes off the bench and combined for 18 points and 16 rebounds. Beath led all scorers with 17 points while Camper led Nevada with 15 points. Nevada shot 46.7 percent from the floor, including 35 percent from three while UC San Diego shot 34.4 percent from the floor and a season-low 6-of-23 from three. The Tritons entered Tuesday’s game leading the Big West conference in three-point field goal percentage (42.3%) and threes per game (11.0).
Entering Tuesday’s game, UC San Diego held the longest active streak in the country winning 20 consecutive regular-season games dating back to January 2025.