Nevada’s Grant Sherfield against Pepperdine on Nov. 30, 2021. (Photo: Nevada Athletics)
Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 98-62 victory over the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Wednesday night at Lawlor Events Center:
STARTERS
GRANT SHERFIELD: A+
Nobody fills up the stat sheet like Grant Sherfield. The Wolf Pack point guard played 32 minutes and scored 28 points with 12 rebounds, nine assists, a steal as well as five turnovers and three fouls. He was 10-of-16 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line. Nine of his rebounds came in the second half when the game was already a blowout.
Sherfield did miss a jumper, commit a foul and turn the ball over twice in a span of just 38 seconds early in the first half but a minute later he had a 3-pointer and an assist and played nearly flawlessly the rest of the night. Sherfield scored 11 points as the Pack went on an extended 40-16 run over the final 15-plus minutes.
Sherfield didn’t leave the game for good until there was just 42 seconds to go and won’t likely be on the floor in a 36-point blowout that late in a game the rest of the year. But Sherfield, who hadn’t played in 15 days like the rest of his teammates, needed the workout.
DESMOND CAMBRIDGE: A
Cambridge, as he almost always does, played the role of Robin to Sherfield’s Batman, perfectly.
He scored 25 points in 33 minutes, draining 6-of-9 3-pointers and pulling down seven rebounds. He also blocked two shots and had a pair of steals. He dominated the final 3:38 of the first half with a pair of threes, a steal and a rebound and eight points as the Pack took a 47-35 lead at the break.
Cambridge also had three threes in a pivotal stretch of five-plus minutes early in the second half as the Pack turned a 51-35 lead into a 71-48 blowout.
WILL BAKER: B+
The 7-foot center from the University of Texas made the most of his 21 minutes, scoring 17 points and pulling down nine rebounds with two steals and an assist. He also took a dozen shots (making seven), was 3-of-6 from the line and was whistled for four fouls. And, oh yeah, he turned the ball over an alarming seven times.
It was the turnovers that seemingly caught the attention of coach Steve Alford the most. Alford took Baker out of the game immediately after his first turnover 87 seconds into the game and made him sit the bench for more than five minutes. Baker was then taken out of the game seven seconds after his second turnover. Alford did let him stay in after his third turnover but then took him out 32 seconds after his fourth. He was taken out immediately after his fifth turnover, stayed in after his sixth and was removed 10 seconds after his seventh.
Sprinkled in between the turnovers, however, was some dominating play by the center, particularly in the first four minutes of the second half when he had two steals, two rebounds, four points and an assist.
KENAN BLACKSHEAR: A
Blackshear, a Florida Atlantic transfer making just his second start of the year, showed he belongs in the starting lineup. The 6-foot-6 junior had 13 points and 11 rebounds (all on the defensive end) in 31 minutes. He also had two steals, hit a 3-pointer and dished out four assists while turning the ball over just once. His 31 minutes, four field goals, nine shots, 11 rebounds and 13 points were all season highs.
TRE COLEMAN: D
Coleman has had a dreadful start to his second season at Nevada, shooting just 8-of-47 (17 percent) from the floor and 4-of-28 on threes (14 percent). He’s also gotten to the free throw line for just five shots in 218 minutes. Coleman was 0-of-5 against Duluth, missing all three of his 3-pointers and failing to score a point in 27 minutes. Coleman did have three rebounds and a block and turned the ball over just once but he also didn’t have an assist.
BENCH
K.J. HYMES: B
Hymes gave the Pack a solid 15 minutes, mainly playing after Baker committed a turnover. The 6-10 junior scored seven points (2-of-3 shooting) with four rebounds and an assist. Hymes, though, did also turn the ball over twice, giving the big men in the middle nine turnovers in 36 minutes combined as the Pack played without 7-foot center Warren Washington.
JALEN WEAVER: B
Weaver, a 6-4 freshman, made two of his three shots and his only free throw for five points in 17 minutes. He also had a rebound and an assist. This was just Weaver’s fourth appearance of the season after playing just a combined 10 minutes and scoring just one point (0-for-4 from the floor) over his first three games. The last time he played before Wednesday was Nov. 23 against George Mason.
DANIEL FOSTER: B
Foster was on the floor for 24 minutes and fared well with seven rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal and three points. He did miss 5-of-6 shots but he’s not going to be counted on to score all that much this year. His 24 minutes, six shots, seven rebounds and one block were all season highs.
COACHING: A
Steve Alford played just eight players and gave them all plenty of work. All eight played between 15 and 33 minutes. So, yes, mission accomplished. The Wolf Pack played with surprising rhythm and crispness (after the first 15 minutes, that is) considering it was their first game in 15 days after two weeks in health and safety protocols. But that isn’t all that surprising since Sherfield basically always had the ball in his hands and played all but eight minutes of the game.
After a 1-4 start, Alford’s Pack has now won four in a row by an average of 22 points. It was good to see the Pack work on its offense, taking 44 of its 68 shots inside the 3-point circle and also getting to the line for 24 free throws. The 21 assists on 35 field goals, as well as the 98 points in the 40 minutes, were also impressive after not playing for 15 days.
OVERALL: A
The first 15 minutes of the game were a bit sloppy and lackluster (the Pack finished with 18 turnovers for the game) but that was to be expected after a long layoff. It’s also difficult to get excited about playing a Division II team.
But it helped the Pack’s focus and concentration that this was the Pack’s first game in 15 days instead of the third in a span of 11 days (two games were canceled because of health and safety protocols) as it was originally scheduled.
Minnesota-Duluth, despite its 11-0 record coming into the game, is the type of team you normally would play in an exhibition game in early November. So this was merely a glorified scrimmage and doesn’t really mean all that much. But it was the perfect game for a Pack team that was just looking to work up a sweat after not playing for half a month.
Also don’t forget the Pack played this one without Warren Washington and still had a 56-29 edge on the glass, so they did work hard all night long. The 36-point win would have been more impressive had Sherfield and Cambridge not played a combined 65 minutes but, hey, everyone needed the work.
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