ATLANTA – Hallice Cooke sat in Nevada’s shell-shocked locker room after a 69-68 loss that crushed the Wolf Pack’s NCAA Tournament run and ended its season. He turned to one of the team’s graduate assistants.
“Just one possession,” he said.
Cooke, glassy-eyed, shook his head.
“Just one possession,” he repeated.
That one possession had gone the Wolf Pack’s way in its first two NCAA Tournament games, thrilling victories over Texas and Cincinnati that rallied Reno behind this upstart and shorthanded team that took Nevada basketball to a place it had been only once before – the Sweet 16.