With less than 5 minutes left, Nevada backup center Devonte Elliott walked to the Nevada bench after he picked up his fifth foul Saturday.
Wolf Pack coach David Carter gave his sophomore big man a pat on the back, not exactly for a solid game, but an important effort.
Elliott tied a season-high with eight points, had four offensive rebounds before fouling out and played effective minutes guarding Hawaii's top post player, Vander Joaquim, in Nevada's 77-74 win.
"I thought Devonte came up big for us," said Carter, who also was impressed with Elliott's 4-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line. "I thought he was very active. More active than he was the other night against San Jose State."
Elliott's effectiveness on defense came when starting Nevada forward Dario Hunt picked up his third foul 19 seconds into the second half.
Carter used Elliott down low to be aggressive when Hunt couldn't afford to.
"Even though he got five fouls, I told him those were good fouls," Carter said. "No disrespect to him, but Dario's more experienced, so we used up the fouls on Devonte and they were good fouls, and we were able to keep Dario in the game at the end.
"We knew the game plan, and Devonte had to be ready to play."
Joaquim finished with a team-high 22 points and frontcourt mate Joston Thomas had 21. Carter said they were one of the better inside duos in the WAC.
INJURED HUNT STRUGGLES
Wearing a black bandage on his bruised left shoulder, Nevada forward Hunt was limited to one point in 37 minutes of play.
When asked if the injury affected Hunt's play, Carter replied, "A lot."
"Because he can't go to his left hand," Carter said. "Everything's got to be to his right. It's been affecting him a lot, even shooting the ball."
Carter hoped Hunt will be healthy on Saturday against Fresno State and that it's not a season-long injury. The Wolf Pack plays Nebraska-Omaha on Tuesday, and it's not known if Hunt will play.
CROWD INVOLVEMENT
A season-high 5,452 fans attended Saturday night's game, and according to players, their collective voice was heard late in the game.
When Hawaii's Joaquim was shooting two free throws with 1:57 left, Nevada players were encouraging fans to be loud, and they came through.
Joaquim, who was 5-of-7 at the line heading into the shots, missed the first one before making the second.
"We got them pumped, and when (Joaquim) was at the free-throw line, he missed," Nevada guard Deonte Burton said. "That's big for us. We hope they keep coming to support us, and we'll give them a show."
AROUND THE RIM
The Pack improved to 19-11 all-time versus Hawaii. ... The Wolf Pack had a strong game from the free-throw line, making 18-of-22. ... Nevada improved to 11-0 when leading at halftime and 10-0 when outrebounding its opponent. The Pack had a 35-32 edge of the boards and grabbed 15 offensive boards. ... Nevada's next game is Tuesday against Nebraska-Omaha.
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