Nevada’s would-be dream season ended like a March Madness nightmare

The Nevada Wolf Pack left last year’s NCAA tournament as a favorite in this year’s. They fell to a cinderella Loyola-Chicago team in the Sweet 16 then, but retained their three best players, added a five-star recruit and key transfers. Surely they’d cleared the way for another chance in 2019.

The Wolf Pack started the year at No. 7 in the preseason AP Poll. They began the season 14-0, tied for the regular-season title in the Mountain West, and appeared set to make a Final Four run when March came around.

But Cody and Caleb Martin, and Jordan Caroline couldn’t ever get this Nevada team back to its old ways. The Wolf Pack put up a gaudy 28-3 record entering the conference tournament, but their losses showed some cracks in the armor. When they were beat by nine in the semifinals of the Mountain West tournament, it was clear Nevada wouldn’t be getting a protected seed in the NCAA tournament.

A 70-61 upset loss to No. 10 Florida was a fitting way for Nevada’s season to end in the opening round of March Madness. The Wolf Pack trailed big early on, fought back in the end, and ultimately dug themselves into too deep a hole.

In reality, Nevada was never a threat in what was supposed to be the year.

There was never a guarantee that the Martin twins were going to return to school. Both attended the draft combine, and waited until the very end to announce their return.

Nevada also kept Jordan Caroline, an 18-point scorer who also averaged nine rebounds in his junior season. Then came transfer Tre’Shawn Thurman, a guard from Omaha, followed by transfer big Trey Porter from Old Dominion.

For all of its on-paper talent in the preseason, Nevada never really felt like a juggernaut. Their non-conference schedule was full of cupcakes, which left them little margin for error in conference if they wanted a high seed. A 27-point loss to New Mexico in January — a team that finished below .500 — showed that perhaps the hype would be too much for this team.

Even still, a first-round elimination is painful for Wolf Pack fans in what was built up as the most anticipated season in program history. How did it happen?

Nevada’s offense was elite a year ago, finishing No. 7 overall in efficiency, per KenPom. That wasn’t the case this year. The Wolf Pack slipped to No. 26 in offensive efficiency, mostly because their shooting percentages cooled off from three-point range.

Nevada also seemed to wear down late in the season. Head coach Eric Musselman never used all the depth he had at his disposal, choosing to play his starters long minutes all season only to see their efficiency on both ends begin to drop.

When star big man Caroline started to become bothered by lingering tendinitis in his right Achilles tendon, Nevada looked like it would be for Musselman’s decision to ride his starters so hard during the year. Caroline finished with only seven points on 2-of-11 shooting vs. Florida.

As a team, Nevada just ran out of gas. It shot 34 percent from the field and 20 percent from three against the Gators. It turned the ball over 14 times (three more than Florida) and never found the offensive cohesion that carried it so far last year.

Six of the eight players in Nevada’s rotation have run out their eligibility, and the team will have to start from the ground floor next season. So far, the Wolf Pack have just one three-star recruit for next season, but they have a building block in freshman Jordan Brown.

Brown, a five-star recruit, was the No. 19 prospect in the nation this season, and No. 1 in California. He had a disappointing first year, playing just 10 minutes per game and scoring three points with two rebounds. But the 6’11 big will have a more feature role next season.

Nevada has a long climb back towards the top, which they knew coming into this season would be the case. They just didn’t know it’d come after such a disappointing finish after they’d already seen their peak.