No. 5 Nevada is rolling into the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Basketball Championship quarterfinal.
The Wolf Pack cruised past No. 12 Air Force in the first round on Wednesday afternoon, holding the Falcons to less than 50 points in an 80-45 win. The 35-point margin of victory is the largest of any game in Mountain West tournament history.
“I thought something was outstanding: The guys followed the scouting report and they listened,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “We made some minor adjustments from game two and they just executed well. We shot the ball well because we got good shots.
“So at halftime when you’re up 29, then it’s about maturity level. How is your approach going to be, especially in the first ten minutes of that second half? I thought it was outstanding.”
Corey Camper Jr. led the scoring for the Wolf Pack with 11 points to go with five rebounds and two assists. 12 Nevada players got on the scoresheet, with nine of them going for at least five points. No team in MW tournament history has had at least nine players reach five points.
“When all 14 guys can get out on the court and give us great energy, great playing time, it’s always great,” Camper Jr. said.
Christopher Baudreau entered with around three minutes to go, much to the delight of the Nevada bench, which simultaneously got out of their seats and cheered their freshman forward. He had a couple of chances to be the 13th Nevada player on the scorecard, but couldn’t put one in.
“I told coach, ‘Bird has got to fly. You’ve got to let the bird fly,’” guard Elijah Price joked. “No, Chris is our guy. He works super hard in practice every day and he’s there for everybody when we don’t have great practices and games, so we love him.”
An array of dunks, lobs and blocks highlighted the Wolf Pack’s dominant win, including an acrobatic display on a pair of occasions by Joel Armotrading. Nevada totaled six blocks across five players — Price had two.
Nevada moves on to play against No. 4 Grand Canyon in the conference quarterfinal on Thursday. The Lopes will make their MW tournament debut with one of the more talented teams the field has to offer. Since joining the league before the season, they haven’t looked much out of place, which is impressive given the MW’s depth of top teams.
The two met just once this season in Reno, where the Wolf Pack won, 66-60, in overtime.
“That game back in Reno was fun. It was exciting. Bryce (Drew) and I are dear friends,” Alford said. “That was a crazy game, and we talked about it afterwards. They have played extremely well. They’re well-coached, and they’re a very hard team to play against, and we know that.”
