Nevada’s Grant Sherfield against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 17, 2021 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno. (Photo: Nevada Athletics)
Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 68-63 victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center:
STARTERS
GRANT SHERFIELD: A
Even when Sherfield doesn’t play his best game he is still the best player on the floor. Sherfield, who missed 5-of-6 shots and scored just four points in the first half, rebounded to dominate the second 20 minutes. He scored 20 points in the second half and simply carried his teammates over a nine-minute stretch when he scored 12-of-14 Nevada points. He finished with 24 points, four assists and two steals in 37 minutes, draining 9-of-10 free throws.
Sherfield had a pair of threes just three minutes apart for a 55-53 lead with 7:12 to play for the only Pack points in a span of 10-plus minutes. He was the only Pack player to score in seven-plus minutes as a 49-42 Wolf Pack lead with 11:35 to play turned into a slim 57-56 lead with just under five minutes to go.
DESMOND CAMBRIDGE: C
Cambridge finished with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting (he missed 5-of-7 threes) before fouling out with 31 seconds to go. It was the type of performance by the Pack’s No. 2 scorer that usually leads to a Wolf Pack loss.
Cambridge missed 5-of-6 shots (all three of his threes) and scored just two points in the second half (he did sit out for nine minutes in a row in the middle of the half with four fouls). His only bucket in the second half, though, gave the Pack a 59-56 lead with 4:18 to go. He also had a pair of steals in the second half.
Cambridge, who played just 24 minutes, did score eight points (two threes) in the first half as Sherfield struggled. So, yes, he always seems to find a way to contribute in a positive manner even on an off night.
WILL BAKER: B-
Baker, like Cambridge, did most of his damage in the first half, leading the Pack with nine points in the first 20 minutes. His only 3-pointer of the game gave Nevada a 35-26 lead a minute before halftime.
The 7-foot center finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three turnovers in just 23 minutes. He missed a pair of free throws early in the game with the Pack trailing 7-6 and missed a layup with the game tied 15-15. Baker, though, also rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Cambridge, drew a foul and made a pair of free throws for a 22-17 lead. It was Baker’s dunk with 39 seconds to play that proved to be the winning points of the game.
KENAN BLACKSHEAR: C
Blackshear didn’t do much on the offensive end, missing his only two shots and scoring just four points in 31 minutes. But the 6-6 guard, who has apparently replaced Tre Coleman in the starting lineup, had three assists, two steals and a block. He blocked a layup by Marymount’s Joe Quintana with 12 minutes to go and the Pack up 47-39. One of his steals led to a pair of free throws by Sherfield midway through the second half. His two free throws with 31 seconds to play did give the Pack a 67-63 lead.
WARREN WASHINGTON: B
Washington returned to the lineup after missing a game and gave the Pack a solid 26 minutes. The 7-foot center had seven points, eight rebounds and three blocks and turned the ball over just once. Washington, as usual, battled foul trouble (four) but the Pack has an extraordinary amount of depth in the middle with Washington, Baker and the 6-10 K.J. Hymes.
Washington missed a short jumper in the paint and grabbed the offensive rebound, setting up a 3-pointer by Sherfield that gave the Pack a 46-37 lead with 14:42 to go. He also blocked a shot by Marymount’s Keli Leaupepe with 7:28 to go and the Pack up just 52-51. His defensive rebound and successful free throw after a block by Coleman basically put the game away with 21 seconds to go and the Pack up 68-63.
BENCH
TRE COLEMAN: C-
Coleman was just 1-of-6 from the floor as his horrid shooting continued. Four of his five misses were in the paint and his fifth errant shot was a 3-point attempt. The 6-7 sophomore is now 9-of-53 from the floor (17 percent) and 4-of-29 on threes (14 per cent) this season.
Coleman, though, was on the floor for 23 minutes against Marymount because he continues to work hard without the ball. He had six rebounds, an assist and a block. That block, on a jumper by Marymount’s Eli Scott in the paint with 23 seconds to go, helped preserve the victory.
K.J. HYMES: C-
Hymes, playing behind Baker and Washington, was on the floor for just 10 minutes and barely saw the floor in the second half (just 90 seconds). He scored two points and had a rebound and also had two fouls and a turnover. The bulk of his playing time (4:29) came in the final five-plus minutes of the first half when his only bucket of the game gave the Pack a 28-20 lead with 4:41 to play. He also had two fouls and a rebound in that stretch.
DANIEL FOSTER: B-
Foster was on the floor for 22 minutes and, as usual, did a little bit of everything with four points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal, two turnovers and two fouls. Foster led everyone in the game with five crucial offensive rebounds.
The 6-6 sophomore from Australia has averaged 22 minutes a game off the bench in the last five games (all Pack wins) after averaging 14 minutes a game over the first five games of the year (four losses). He had an assist on a 3-pointer by Cambridge for a 20-17 Pack lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half. He also had an offensive rebound, drew the foul and made a pair of free throws for a 30-24 lead with 3:49 to go in the first half. Foster seems to be one of Alford’s favorites. He had two turnovers in a span of 68 seconds with 5:37 to play and the Pack up just 57-56 but Alford kept him on the floor the remainder of the game.
ALEM HUSEINOVIC: Incomplete
The 6-4 sophomore from Bosnia and Herzegovina played just four minutes, two in each half. The Pack outscored Marymount 7-2 in Huseinovic’s two minutes in the first half but was outscored 7-0 in the second half (Huseinovic missed a 3-pointer) while he was on the floor, turning a 52-46 Pack lead into a 53-52 deficit with 7:28 to play.
COACHING: A
Steve Alford’s best coaching move every game is making sure Grant Sherfield is almost never off the floor. Alford grinded out this win despite his team getting out-rebounded (40-34), outscored in the paint (26-24) and outscored on second chance points (13-7). Alford also had almost zero offense to go to off his bench (10 points by the reserves on 3-of-11 shooting in a combined 59 minutes).
The Pack nearly let this one slip away as Marymount tied the game at 63-63 with 99 seconds to go. But, it must be pointed out, Marymount led in the final 35 minutes for a whole 29 seconds (all in the second half) and never by more than one point. But the Pack looked a bit sluggish and off their rhythm the entire night (either Sheffield or Cambridge was struggling the entire game) and could never pull away.
The Pack, in typical Alford fashion, played solid basketball in the final 99 seconds with the game on the line, taking intelligent shots and playing great defense, keeping the Lions off the scoreboard.
OVERALL: B
The Pack won this game at the free throw line, draining 24-of-29 (Loyola Marymount was just 14-of-29). Marymount also came out extremely cold, missing 19-of-27 first-half shots and scoring just 28 points in the first 20 minutes. The Pack probably should have been up 15-20 points at the break but led by just seven instead.
Give the Pack defense credit for its work on the Lions’ Eli Scott, who was averaging 17 points a game. Scott had a rough night, missing 10-of-13 shots for his worst shooting night of the year. He also turned the ball over six times and scored just 12 points in 33 minutes. It also didn’t hurt Nevada that the Lions’ Keli Leaupepe fouled out after playing just 21 minutes and torching the Pack for a team-high 20 points on 5-of-7 3-point shooting.
The difference, as usual, for the Pack was Lawlor Events Center and Sheffield. The Pack is 14-3 at Lawlor since Sheffield joined the team before last year.
