Nevada routs Southern Illinois in Las Vegas Classic

Dec 23, 2017, 06:13 am

LAS VEGAS -- Caleb Martin came off the bench to score 19 points and he added six rebounds, four assists and a couple of steals as Nevada romped to an 86-64 victory over Southern Illinois on Friday in the opening round of the Las Vegas Classic.

Jordan Caroline added 13 points and seven rebounds, Kendall Stephens had 11 points and reserve Elijah Foster scored 10 for the Wolf Pack (11-2).

Sean Lloyd Jr. topped the Salukis (7-5) with 12 points, Rudy Stradnieks and Kavion Pippen added 11 points apiece and Aaron Cook scored 10.

After Tyler Smithpeters hit three free throws to give the Salukis a 17-16 lead midway through the first half, Caleb Martin buried three 3-pointers in a 13-0 run to put Nevada on top 29-17. Rudy Stradnieks' layup ended the run, but Nevada promptly answered with another 12-0 spurt to push its lead to 41-19 and coasted from there.

Nevada dominated the boards 41-23 and shot 57 percent (32 of 56) from the floor and 58 percent (11 of 19) from beyond the arc. Southern Illinois, which saw a three-game win streak end, connected on just 22 of 57 (39 percent) from the floor and made just 4 of 17 (23.5 percent) from long range.