The Loyola Marymount Lions and the Nevada Wolf Pack meet Saturday in college basketball action from Lawlor Events Center. LMU is fresh off a win over Central Arkansas (their third W in a row), improving to 5-3 overall. As for Nevada, they’re undefeated through five games, most recently over Montana on Wednesday. Let’s get into our Loyola Marymount vs. Nevada prediction. 

LMU Lions 

Loyola Marymount won just two of their first five games over Westcliff and Jackson State this year. The losses otherwise came to Yale, Stephen F. Austin, and Oakland. The Lions were able to beat Florida International and UTEP in the next pair, though. In the win over the Miners, LMU held the opposition to just 30.2 percent shooting in a 67-47 result. 

In their last game versus Central Arkansas, the Lions were able to keep it going. Loyola Marymount had a modest five-point lead by the break but scored 54 more points from there in a 90-63 blowout. Leading the way off the bench was Dominick Harris with 31 points and six boards. Alex Merkviladze added 22 points with six rebounds as well. 

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Nevada Wolf Pack 

Over on the Wolf Pack’s side, they’re rolling right along with five straight wins. The first quartet came versus Sacramento State, Washington, Pacific, and Portland in succession. Matched up against the Pilots, the Wolf Pack shot an excellent 61.0 percent from the field and 54.2 percent from outside in a 108-83 finish. 

Nevada racked up another W in their latest meeting with Montana. The Wolf Pack stormed out to a 39-18 lead by the break and ended up winning 77-66 despite getting outscored by 10 points in the second half. Nevada’s Kenan Blackshear had a great game on a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. 

LMU VS NEVADA PREDICTION 

The Nevada pick makes sense to me. The Wolf Pack were great on both sides of the ball versus Montana, posting 41.2 percent from the field with 40 rebounds while holding the Grizzlies to 34.8 percent shooting overall and 18.5 percent from 3-point range. It’s been a nice scoring run through five games for Nevada; they’ve hit 77 or more points in every outing. 

As for LMU, they’re coming off a nice showing versus an overmatched Central Arkansas with 44.6 percent shooting and 13-of-26 (50 percent) from outside. The Lions have reached 70 points just once in their last four games though, so they’re going to have to step on the gas offensively to cover here. I don’t think LMU will quite make it.