Nevada senior Logan McNeley had a shooting night from the perimeter to remember as the Tigers earned a 65-45 win over Clever on the third day of the Kaminsky Classic on Friday.
McNeley was white hot from outside to open the game for Nevada (6-4), cashing in on five 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of game action to push the Tigers to an early 14-point lead. Up 36-27 at halftime, Nevada continued to scorch the nets from beyond the arc in the third, pushing the lead to 20-plus points and pacing the Tigers to the win.
“Just that he did not not shy away and still had confidence after having a tough shooting night before … it really just kind of threw coals to the fire for our guys,” Nevada coach Shaun Gray said of Logan McNeley’s early performance from outside. “It was really good for us. It energized the bench, it energized the whole team. I think that confidence just spread throughout the group.”
McNeley finished the night with eight 3-pointers on 8-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc, leading the Tigers with a game and career-high 26 points. He added three rebounds and three assists. Logan Applegate finished with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting, including four 3-pointers. He closed with four rebounds and four assists.
“All of the attention that Applegate draws, to have a guy go for 22 one night and 26 the next is really big for us,” Gray said of Logan McNeley’s night. “It really proves we are not one dimensional and we can beat you from multiple spots on the floor.”
As a team, Nevada shot 54.2 percent from 3-point land, making 13-of-24 total shots from the perimeter.
Bryce Gelle led Clever (3-7) with 16 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Kadeon Broome scored 11 points and had five rebounds. Grant Pellham had seven points, six assists and four rebounds to go along with two steals.
GAME NOTES
Nevada jumped out to a 10-2 start in the win, with Logan McNeley knocking down two 3-pointers in the first four minutes. He sank three more triples, with two of the coming in the final minute of the first quarter to give the Tigers a 22-8 lead.
Down 16, Clever went on a 10-0 run midway through the second period to trim the margin to six, 30-24.
“In the second quarter, I don’t know if it was maybe we were too comfortable and didn’t stay locked in, or maybe fatigue playing in a back-to-back. Whatever it was, we did not communicate on some screens. … A quiet defense is not a good defense. We made a big emphasis at halftime of talking and making sure we are making the call early. We saw those adjustments in the second half and I was proud of our guys for taking that to heart and doing that.”
Nevada pushed the lead back to nine by halftime, and took control of the game for good to close out the third quarter. The Tigers led 47-35 before scoring the final 10 points of the period to build a 60-35 lead with eight minutes of game action left.
“This is a determined, focused group that really has a no-mess-around mentality,” Gray said. “I didn’t really have to tell them what was wrong. They knew and they made adjustments.”
Lane McNeley and Logan Applegate opened the run with back-to-back 3-balls before an offensive rebound and putback score from Ben Hines pushed the lead to 20, 55-35, with 1:40 on the clock. Logan McNeley added a score on the break before knocking down another 3-pointer to close out the quarter and the run, while all but eliminating any chance of a Blue Jays’ comeback.
UP NEXT
Nevada matches up with William Chrisman at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in the third-place game to wrap action in the Kaminsky Classic.
Clever takes on Carl Junction at 11 a.m. in the fifth-place game of the Kaminsky Classic.
