This past Friday, the Nevada Basketball team faced off against the Idaho Vandals to kick off the 2017-2018 regular season. Following an undefeated preseason slate, the Wolf Pack begin their defense of the Mountain West Conference regular season championship. Below are three takeaways from last Friday’s matchup.

Defense

Head coach Eric Musselman said the defensive play against Idaho was “remarkable”, and I’d have to agree. Aside from shaky parts during the first half and whistle-happy referees, the Wolf Pack were still able to thrive while some players were in foul trouble.

At the end of the first half, The Pack went on a 25-6 run, holding Idaho to a very low field goal percentage throughout the rest of the game. Idaho only shot 38% percent from the field, and 21% from beyond the arc. Lindsey Drew and Cody Martin both shared a pair of blocks, adding to a team total seven for the night.

What really stood out to me defensively was the play of Cody Martin. He sat on the bench for maybe thirty seconds, tallying up 39 total minutes out of 40. Most impressively he ended up with only one foul, compared to the rest of the team that totaled 22.

The Martin Twins

Nevada has only played four games this season, including the exhibition matchups, but already it is something special watching the twins compete on the court together. During their time at North Carolina State, they both were role players who were limited on the court. Here at Nevada, their skillset is spread out and quickly noticed. While asked about the alley-oop combination between Caleb and Cody, Caleb acknowledged the hand gestures or a glance from one another to set up the lob.

“That was just from when we were little,” said Caleb Martin.

The twins’ chemistry is unparalleled, and it fits perfectly with the Wolf Pack. Both of them had record setting nights as Caleb Martin dropped 26 points while his brother Cody added 15.

Old faces produce

Nevada’s basketball team has a lot of new faces with a lot of talent. It might seem easy to get caught up in all the hype with the transfers finally being able to see some action, but some seasoned veterans made a big presence Friday night.

Jordan Caroline and Lindsey Drew each started for the Wolf Pack, both scoring in the double digits. Drew tallied six assists as well.

No matter who is starting for the Wolf Pack, or who is putting up huge numbers on the statsheet, everybody on that team will be happy to produce and do their part in order to get a win. The Wolf Pack have a very unselfish group of players, game in and game out they are going to feed off one another and continue to contribute.