Board story

Crushed glass was more than just a stylistic choice for Nevada.

The Wolf Pack sandblasted Hawaii’s hopes for a Western Athletic Conference regular-season title with a plus-19 rebounding advantage and an 88-79 win on Thursday night. The WAC-leading Pack (20-4, 9-1 WAC) grabbed 46 boards to UH’s 27 as the visitors earned their eighth 20-win season in the past nine years.

"You saw the championship team there tonight, for sure," a disconsolate UH coach Gib Arnold said. "That’s what you do when you’re champions; you come in and you play on big nights, and you win big games.

"They crushed us on the boards, and that’s always a big indicator of who’s got the biggest heart."

With Idaho’s defeat of New Mexico State earlier in the evening, UH (13-10, 5-4) had a chance to move into a tie for second place in the WAC. The ‘Bows looked in prime position to do so with a 6-0 run and momentum swing to close the first half, resulting in a three-point lead at intermission.

But Nevada dominated the second half with 51.9 percent shooting and the Stan Sheriff Center "Blackout" crowd of about 6,000 filed out silently as UH dropped to fourth place with five WAC games left.

"I loved the crowd. Crowd was great. I feel like we owe ’em an apology," Arnold said. "That’s not who we represent. … We come out like that, that’s embarrassing. We let our university down, we let our state down tonight. And I hope as long as I’m here, you never see a team play like that again. It’s inexcusable."

UH has a day to recover for Fresno State (11-15, 3-7) on Saturday.

The ‘Bows were unable to take the Pack to the final buzzer like in Nevada’s 77-74 win in Reno last month. Each member of the Pack’s vaunted starting five scored in double figures, led by 20 from All-WAC guard Deonte Burton and 19 from sharpshooter Malik Story.

And center Dario Hunt, clearly fired up to go head-to-head against Vander Joaquim, got the better of the UH center for the first time in four career meetings with a 15-point, 17-rebound night to Joaquim’s 14 and nine.

Nevada coach David Carter knew that’s where his team’s attack needed to start, coming off a home loss to Idaho that snapped the Wolf Pack’s 16-game winning streak.

"I really challenged those guys coming into this game," Carter said.

The Pack responded with 20 offensive rebounds to nine for UH — and several for the ‘Bows came in the final, desperate seconds. Hunt alone matched UH on the offensive glass, and Nevada posted a 17-9 advantage on second-chance points.

"I thought we could attack them inside," Carter said. "I thought the offensive glass would be an area where maybe we could have an advantage. The way they play defense with the on-ball screens, they really show a lot. There’s not a lot of block-out, and we thought we could take advantage of that."

Meanwhile, Nevada packed it in with a zone for much of the game, encouraging point guard Miah Ostrowski and others to take 3s while keeping tabs on UH’s top scorer Zane Johnson, who struggled with a 2-for-13 night for nine points. Ostrowski buried a career-best four treys among his season-high 15 points, but it would not be enough as UH shot 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) from deep.

In the final seconds, Wolf Pack players executed midair chest-bumps to follow their sound execution of their game plan.

Forward Joston Thomas scored 18 in the losing effort, while swingman Hauns Brereton added 17. Ostrowski had eight assists.

UH cut a nine-point deficit to four with less than 6 minutes left, but the Pack’s Burton and Story buried statement-making 3-pointers in succession for a 79-67 lead.

The ‘Bows got brief life on Ostrowski’s final 3-pointer with 1:01 left to make it 85-77. Garrett Jefferson elevated for a dunk to cut it to seven with 48 seconds left, but that would be as close as it got.

Nevada hit eight of 12 free throws in the final 2 minutes, enough to ice it despite a 23-for-39 (59 percent) effort for the game.

"We were right in the game; it’s just they hit two 3s, and that was kind if it," Ostrowski said. "Give credit to them. They’re tough, but I know we can do a better job than that."

UH played without indefinitely suspended forward Trevor Wiseman, its top hustle player, for the first time this season.

Fueled by hustle plays by Johnson — he dove for two balls going out of bounds, once tumbling over the scorer’s table and the second time coming up with a steal — UH closed the first half strong. Joaquim took Johnson’s save and dribbled upcourt, finding Thomas for a slam to beat the halftime buzzer for a 39-36 lead.