Grades: Steady Pack gets job done vs. Air Force

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 67-54 men’s basketball victory over the Air Force Falcons at Lawlor Events Center on Tuesday:

STARTERS

JAROD LUCAS: C

Jarod Lucas had a forgettable night. The shooting guard missed 9-of-12 shots and, except for a wonderful two-minute flurry early in the second half, did almost nothing to contribute to the victory.

Lucas finished with 14 points, 10 of which came in a span of just 2:19 early in the second half. The fifth-year player missed all seven of his shots (three threes) in the first half and scored just two points as the Pack struggled at home to a 30-24 halftime lead against one of the worst teams in the conference.

Lucas saved his performance with three threes and a free throw in a two-minute flurry in the second half, giving the Pack a 42-32 lead with 14:06 to play. After that, though, he disappeared again, missing his only shot (a 3-pointer), committing two fouls and a turnover and connecting on two parting gift free throws with 47 seconds to play.

Lucas also didn’t have a block, assist or a steal but did grab four rebounds.

KENAN BLACKSHEAR: A

Blackshear finished with 22 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. The veteran point guard, as he often does in time of need, took over the game down the stretch, scoring eight points in the final four minutes, transforming an uncomfortable 54-48 lead into a game-over 67-54 advantage with 20 seconds to play.

Blackshear, though, never really found any consistency until the final 13 minutes of the game. He ended up scoring 15 of his 22 points in those final 13 minutes, thanks to five layups and five free throws.

The first 27 minutes of the game saw Blackshear take just four shots and commit four turnovers. In the first 20 minutes, coach Steve Alford sat him down for five consecutive minutes midway through the first half and the final two minutes of the half, likely because of three turnovers.

NICK DAVIDSON: A

Davidson was an efficient 4-of-5 from the floor for 12 points with 10 rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes. It was his second double-double of the season and first in 21 career games against Mountain West opponents.

The 6-9 sophomore missed his first shot (a layup) just 27 seconds into the game but then hit a 3-pointer and a layup two minutes apart early in the first half and a pair of dunks two-plus minutes apart late in the second half.

The dunks, off assists by Tre Coleman and Daniel Foster, gave the Pack a 62-51 lead with just under three minutes to play.

Davidson played the final nine minutes of the game, helping his teammates take a flimsy 47-42 lead and turning it into an eventual 13-point win with five points three rebounds and an assist.

Davidson had six of his 10 rebounds and two of his three assists in the second half. He didn’t take a shot for the final 14:32 of the first half and, oddly enough, for the first 14:32 of the second half.

TRE COLEMAN: B

Coleman had just seven points on a 3-pointer, a short jumper and a dunk but the fourth-year forward was instrumental down the stretch, helping the Pack avoid an embarrassing loss at home.

Coleman had a wonderful three-minute stretch late in the second half in which he scored two points and had two assists and a steal. His steal and feed to Kenan Blackshear for a layup gave the Pack a 58-48 lead with 3:35 to play.

His first five points came on a dunk and 3-pointer for a 16-14 lead eight minutes into the game. His steal and assist on a Lucas 3-pointer produced a 35-28 lead three-plus minutes into the second half.

He also missed two layups and a 3-pointer in the first 11 minutes of the second half.

K.J. HYMES: C +

The 6-10 center had four points, three blocks, a steal and one rebound in 16 minutes. He sat the final nine minutes of the game as the Pack held off the Falcons.

Hymes’ season-high three blocks saved the Pack six points as he blocked layups by Rytis Petraitis and Ethan Taylor in the first half and Jeffrey Mills 24 seconds into the second half. He had just seven blocks over his first 13 games this season.

The sixth-year veteran, though, played just five of the final 18 minutes, committed a foul and missed a layup as the Pack got down to the business of winning the game.

BENCH

HUNTER McINTOSH: C

McIntosh gave the Wolf Pack 19 uneventful minutes with three points, a rebound, two fouls and a turnover. His 3-pointer gave the Pack a 23-16 lead midway through the first half.

The 6-3 fifth-year guard played nine minutes in the second half and managed just a foul and no other stat. Air Force outscored Nevada 21-18 the final 11 minutes McIntosh was on the floor.

DANIEL FOSTER: C +

Foster played 20 minutes, the final four minutes coming down the stretch in meaningful crunch time as the Pack turned a 54-48 lead with 4:47 to go into a 66-51 advantage with 47 seconds to play.

Foster had just two points on a dunk nine minutes into the game but his three assists in the second half, on two 3-pointers by Jarod Lucas and a dunk by Nick Davidson, were important in the Pack’s efforts to keep Air Force at arm’s length.

Foster did not have a single rebound, block or steal in his 20 minutes. It is the first time this season in 16 games that Foster did not have at least one rebound.

TYLER ROLISON: C

Rolison, a 6-foot freshman, played just eight minutes, his shortest playing time since he got just four minutes in the season’s second game at Washington.

Rolison did help ignite the offense during his first four minutes in the floor midway through the first half with two assists, an offensive rebound and two free throws, but that was basically the end of his positive contributions for the evening.

He committed a foul and a turnover with six minutes to go in the first half, was immediately banished to the bench for the rest of the half and then played just three minutes in the second half.

TYLAN POPE: C

Pope played nine minutes and had three rebounds, a foul and a turnover. The Pack and Air Force played to a 13-13 tie when he was on the floor.

The 6-6, 240-pound Pope, who played the three previous seasons at Tulane, has now played just nine minutes in each of the Pack’s first two league games and has not scored a point (0-for-4 from the floor) with six rebounds.

COACHING: A

The Wolf Pack, under coach Steve Alford, doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel each time it steps onto the floor. The Alford-coached Pack this season has a distinct formula for victory that involves taking good shots, taking care of the ball, getting to the free-throw line and playing aggressive defense.

The Pack had 20-6 advantage on successful free throws, a 26-16 edge in points in the paint and a 21-10 edge in points off turnovers and it all added up to a 13-point win.

It wasn’t pretty. The bench struggled once again on Tuesday (just eight points and six rebounds in 56 collective minutes) forcing four of the starters into 30-plus minutes each. So, yes, this was, without question, more difficult that it should have been.

But a little hard work never hurt anybody.

The Pack led by just six at the half and by just four with 6:25 to play. But always keep in mind this season that this is a silver-and-blue-collar team more than anything else.

They Pack simply remained patient and eventually wore down the Falcons on Tuesday. That’s the Alford way with this Pack team.

The Pack stuck to its script on Tuesday, laid down the law at Lawlor, where it is 23-2 over the last two seasons, and is now 15-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.

OVERALL: A

If you were looking to see the Wolf Pack simply erupt, hit the ground running and obliterate arguably the two worst teams in the Mountain West (Fresno State and Air Force) over the last four days, well, that didn’t come close to happening.

But that wasn’t the goal. The Pack knew full well that 60-plus points against Fresno State last Saturday on the road and Air Force at home on Tuesday, two of the most offensively challenged teams in the nation, would be good enough.

Both Fresno State and Air Force’s only hope of winning on most nights is to turn every game into a rugby scrum, frustrating the opponent just enough to force them into trying to play out of character and make mistakes.

The hard-working Pack simply took care of business with the difficult part of the schedule now staring them in the face, starting Friday night at home against Boise State.