Grades: Back to basics for Pack in solid team win

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 72-55 men’s basketball victory over the Weber State Wildcats at Lawlor Events Center:

STARTERS

JAROD LUCAS: B

Lucas had a quiet, efficient and productive game, scoring 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting (3-of-5 on threes) with two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

He had a pair of threes 54 seconds apart to give the Pack a 49-34 lead with 11:29 to play and then didn’t score the rest of the game.

Lucas, who has had a rollercoaster season so far shooting the ball, scored five points in the first half on a jumper and 3-pointer in the game’s first four-plus minutes. He then scored eight in the first eight-plus minutes of the second half.

KENAN BLACKSHEAR: C +

Blackshear’s game was a little all over the place on Wednesday. He finished with a team-high 15 points, but nearly half of those points (six) came in the final five-plus minutes in garbage time.

He also had five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal, but he was also called for three fouls and he turned the ball over four times.

It must also be noted that the Pack basically put the game away with Blackshear on the bench midway through the second half. Blackshear went to the bench (after a turnover and a foul) with the Pack up just 37-32 and 15:10 to play. When he returned seven-plus minutes later the Pack was cruising along with a 58-43 lead.

Blackshear’s 3-pointer (he was 1-of-3 for the night on threes) is his first of the season. He had taken just four all season in the first eight games, missing them all.

NICK DAVIDSON: B

Davidson was very productive in his 28 minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal.

Davidson’s three blocks all came in the second half. In a span of just three-plus minutes late in the second half he had a 3-pointer, two blocks, a steal and an assist.

Davidson also had a jumper and a layup 56 seconds apart to give the Pack a 43-34 lead with 13:07 to play.

TRE COLEMAN: B

Does the Wolf Pack have another 3-point shooter it can count on? Well, Tre Coleman obviously thought so against Weber State. Coleman came out firing from long distance, tossing up four 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes of the game, missing three of them.

His final two 3-point attempts (he made one) came in the final two minutes with the Pack comfortably in the lead. He finished 2-of-6 on threes after going just 3-of-13 over the first eight games beyond the arc.

Coleman had a solid overall performance against the Wildcats with 10 points, four assists and four steals in 32 minutes. When he wasn’t firing up threes, his teammates fed him for two layups.

Three of his assists came in the first half.

K.J. HYMES: B +

Hymes was a big reason why the Wolf Pack had a 29-22 lead at halftime.

The 6-10 sixth-year center scored eight points in roughly five minutes late in the first half to give the Pack a 27-17 lead.

He had two short jumpers in the paint and two dunks during that stretch for his only shots, finishing a perfect 4-of-4 for the game. All of those points came with Weber State starting center Alex Tew (6-foot-11) on the bench with two fouls.

Hymes finished with 10 points and three rebounds in his 15 minutes before heading to the bench with 16:48 to play because of an ankle injury.

He is now 22-of-36 (.611) from the floor this year and is averaging 7.3 points in his 16 minutes a game.

BENCH

HUNTER McINTOSH: C

McIntosh salvaged his night with a pair of 3-pointers less than two minutes apart for a 58-39 lead with just under nine minutes to play.

The rest of his 19 minutes were filled with a foul, a turnover, a rebound and a missed 3-pointer.

The Pack outscored Weber State just 37-35 with McIntosh on the floor.

DANIEL FOSTER: D

Foster was on the floor for 16 minutes, took just one shot, pulled down four rebounds, committed three fouls, handed out an assist and did not score.

All three of his fouls came during a stretch of 7:25 in the second half. He didn’t play the final eight minutes of the game.

His assist, on a 3-pointer by Tre Coleman with 13:30 to go in the first half, came 16 seconds after he stepped on the floor for the first time.

TYLER ROLISON: A

Rolison had a wonderful stretch of five-plus minutes in the second half and was one of the biggest reasons the Pack finally pulled away from the Wildcats.

The 6-foot freshman was the best player on the floor at a critical time. He entered with the Pack up just 37-32 with 15:10 to play in the second half and proceeded to take Weber State out of the game.

Over the next 5:32, Rolison had four assists that led to 11 Pack points and also scored five points as the Pack took a 55-36 lead with 9:38 to play. It was Rolison’s 3-point play (on a jumper in the paint and a free throw) that gave the Pack that 55-36 lead.

His four assists came in a span of just 2:50, leading to 3-pointers by Jarod Lucas (two) and Hunter McIntosh and a layup by Nick Davidson.

Rolison finished with five points, a career-high five assists and three rebounds in 16 minutes.

JAZZ GARDNER, JERIAH COLEMAN, AMIRE ROBINSON: Incomplete

Gardner had three awful minutes (a turnover, foul, rebound and missed 3-pointer) and four solid minutes (a rebound and an assist) in the second half. The 7-foot freshman played 67 minutes over the first six games but has now played just 15 minutes over the last three games.

Jeriah Coleman played just two minutes (no stats), while Amire Robinson saw five minutes and converted his only shot.

COACHING: B

Steve Alford brought his team back to the basics on Wednesday, reminding them how they won their first seven games. The Pack played solid team basketball against the Wildcats as the five starters all scored between 10-15 points.

The starters also combined for 14 assists, five blocks, eight steals and 16 rebounds in their 135 minutes. They also had eight turnovers, eight fouls and missed 10-of-16 free throws as the Pack didn’t really shake the Wildcats off their back until midway through the second half.

So, yes, it wasn’t exactly a flawless performance.

Alford needs to find a way to energize his offense. Everything was fine the first seven games when the Pack was enjoying a huge advantage at the free-throw line. That advantage, however, has dried up the last two games and the offense has been a bit lifeless with only one player (Blackshear on Wednesday) scoring as many as 15 points.

OVERALL: B

This wasn’t as easy as the 17-point difference in the final score might suggest. Alford challenged his team’s toughness after the 72-53 loss to Drake last Saturday and the Pack still came out at home against a Big Sky team and got out-rebounded 32-29.

Weber State had eight offensive rebounds and the Pack had just two. The Wildcats also had 17 second-chance and fast-break points combined to the Pack’s nine.

The Pack was also just 7-of-17 from the line and is now 16-of-35 over its last two games, turning what was once a huge strength into a concern.

Make no mistake, there was never a moment on Wednesday when the Pack appeared in jeopardy of losing the game. They did what they were supposed to do against an OK-but-not-great Big Sky team at home.

But you don’t get to play OK-but-not-great Big Sky teams at home the entire season.