+/- for the consolation against UNLV

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

The Cats earned a much-needed win against a capable opponent in the desert.
I didn't count the last 27 seconds because it was a free-throw shooting battle and the Cats held a 64-55 lead when Collins started subbing offense for defense.
That sort of scenario doesn't reflect overall performance and punishes the defensive substitute in this analysis.

Player	Minutes	NU Pts	UNLV Pts	Raw +/-	Player +/-	Net +/-
Barnhizer	39	64	53	+11	+8.05	+10.25
Leach	21	38	26	+12	+5.51	+7.91
Nicholson	29	48	43	+5	+5.38	+6.38
Mullins	18	28	27	+1	+2.31	+2.51
Hunger	10	16	12	+4	-1.48	-0.68
Windham	9	15	13	+2	-2.63	-2.23
Smith	3	0	8	-8	-0.65	-2.25
Martinelli	37	58	46	+12	-5.68	-3.28
Ciaravino	4	6	11	-5	-2.95	-3.95
Berry	28	47	36	+11	-7.88	-5.68

Brooks Barnhizer was the star of the game, with strong support from Jalen Leach and Matt Nicholson.
Leach was excellent in the minutes he was on the court, playing with foul trouble, making 3 of 3 from distance and 5 of 6 overall.
Nicholson's box score is frenetic with 2 steals, 2 blocks, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 for 10 from the foul line and zero turnovers.
Nick Martinelli turned the ball over 4 times, so he got dinged hard for that. Ty Berry went 0 for 5 and didn't put much in the box score.
Hidden within the numbers is the re-assuring fact that the starters (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Berry/Leach) went 31-18 against the Runnin Rebels in about 17 minutes.
The starting lineup has played together for the 4 games since Barnhizer returned. They struggled against Pepperdine, but have been very effective in the other 3 games.
31-18 against UNLV, 34-23 against Butler. 36-21 against Montana State.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Nick really gets into trouble when he picks up his dribble inside.

Looks like Smith got minutes at the expense of Gelo, who had a few issues against the Rebs. It didn't help. Collectively, those two got outscored 19-6 on the court.

KJ's time on the court was reasonably productive, though he only took one shot and had a steal and a turnover (I think it was a long lead pass to BB near the paint that was easily picked off).

 

[FeralFelidae]

Whatever his shortcomings, Nicholson's +/- numbers consistently indicate that the team is better with him on the floor. Just his presence seems to make a difference.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Looks like Smith got minutes at the expense of Gelo, who had a few issues against the Rebs. It didn't help. Collectively, those two got outscored 19-6 on the court.

Funny you mentioned that - I sort of assumed that Smith and Ciaravino were out there at the same time - but they weren't.
Ciaravino came in for Barnhizer at 12:29 of the first half after NU had taken a 9-4 lead.
So that group was Hunger/Martinelli/Mullins/Windham/Ciaravino
followed after a minute by Nicholson/Barnhizer/Mullins/Windham/Ciaravino...
We got outscored 11-6 to tie the game at 15 with 8:28 to go in the half.
We didn't see Ciaravino after that.
In everyone's defense, when Mullins, Windham and Ciaravino are all playing at the same time, I'm not expecting too much.
And when Hunger/Martinelli/Barnhizer teamed up with Windham, NU outscored UNLV 9-2.

Smith was sent in for Leach after Leach had picked up another foul with 5:47 to go in the first half.
We got outscored 6-0 in less than a minute with Smith and the other starters on the floor. We didn't see Smith after that.

 

[GatoLouco]

Big take away is that it's likely we see a repeat of last year in terms of how we use our bench and rotation. As we set into conference the rotation will probably tighten and we will squeeze as much as we can from the top 4.