Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 64-56 men’s basketball loss to the Boise State Broncos at Lawlor Events Center on Friday . . .
STARTERS
JAROD LUCAS: C
Lucas failed to come up big in the most important home game of the season so far. The veteran shooting guard misfired on 9-of-14 shots overall and 5-of-6 3-pointers, scoring 14 points.The Boise State defense basically bottled him up, robbing the Pack of its best jump shooter for much of the game. Lucas also had four fouls and a turnover, though he did have four assists.Lucas didn’t score for the first 11-plus minutes of the game, missing his first three shots. He also came out slow in the second half, playing the first six-plus minutes without a stat, not even a shot.Lucas best moment came late in the first half when he stole the ball from Boise’s Andrew Meadow and then hit a 3-pointer five second later for a 19-16 lead with 5:28 left before the break. He also fed Nick Davidson for a 3-pointer with 25 seconds to go to cut the deficit to 60-56.
KENAN BLACKSHEAR: C
Blackshear, like Lucas, also failed to take control of the game when the Pack needed it the most. The veteran point guard was just 5-of-16 from the floor and just 5-of-8 from the free throw line and finished with 15 points. He didn’t score the first 17 minutes of the game.Blackshear took just five shots in the first half (just two in the first 17 minutes). He was far more aggressive in the second half, going 3-of-11, though he did collect five fouls in the final 13 minutes of the game and fouled out with 48 seconds left.His layup cut the deficit to just 52-50 with 3:40 to go though he did miss another layup 30 seconds later and misfired on a jumper with a minute to go.Blackshear had three assists and three turnovers though two of the assists and two of the turnovers came in the first 16-plus minutes of the game as he turned into a shoot-first point guard in the second half.
NICK DAVIDSON: B
Blackshear and Lucas probably should have each given Davidson a few of their shots. Davidson scored seven of the Pack’s first 11 points as the Pack built an 11-6 lead seven-plus minutes into the game.Coach Steve Alford, though, then summoned Davidson to the bench and, well, the magic in the Pack offense disappeared for the rest of the game.Davidson finished with 12 points in 32 minutes, making 3-of-8 shots, 5-of-5 free throws and handing out a pair of assists. He, however, didn’t score after being relegated to the bench with 12:35 left in the first half until there was just 1:46 to play in the game.His five points late in the second half, though, gave the Pack legitimate hopes of a comeback victory. He hit two free throws to pull the Pack to within 55-53 with 1:46 to go and his 3-pointer (off a feed from Lucas) cut Boise’s led to 60-56 with 25 seconds left.
TRE COLEMAN: B +
Coleman, too, likely should have gotten a few of Blackshear and Lucas’ shots.The 6-7 forward might have been the best Pack player on the floor on Friday. He finished with eight points, making all three of his shots, with a team-high six rebounds, three assists and three steals.Coleman was the only Pack player to score in the first five minutes of the game with a layup and a mid-range jumper. Two of his assists and two of his steals also came in the first half.He had a three-point play to cut Boise’s lead to 52-46 with 4:31 to play. His steal with 4:23 to play led to a layup by Lucas five seconds later, cutting Boise’s lead to 53-48.Coleman played 34 minutes with 27 of them coming in the game’s final 29 minutes.
K.J. HYMES: B
The 6-10 Hymes, for some reason, played just 18 minutes despite the fact the Pack was getting destroyed on the boards (43-24 for the game) most of the night.Hymes was productive in his 18 minutes (10 in the first half) with four points, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals. He only took just two shots, converting a layup with 11:26 to play and missing a jumper in the paint two minutes later.But, despite Hymes’ productivity, the Pack was outscored 26-15 when he was on the floor. Hymes then was stuck on the bench for the game’s final 8:42 after playing eight of the first 11-plus minutes of the second half.
BENCH
HUNTER McINTOSH: D
McIntosh did almost nothing in his 13 minutes, missing his only shot and committing a foul. It was just the second time in 17 games this year that he failed to score and the first time in his 23-game Pack career that he failed to score or pick up at least one assist.The Pack was outscored 21-16 when McIntosh was on the floor.
DANIEL FOSTER: C -
Foster gave the Wolf Pack 22 uneventful minutes with no points or assists and a turnover and a foul to go along with four rebounds, a block and a steal. The Pack was outscored 37-31 when Foster was on the floor.Foster missed his only shot, a layup with 16 minutes to play in the game. The Pack offense simply did not function no matter who was on the floor.
TYLER ROLISON: C
Rolison did connect on a 3-pointer for a 16-14 lead with 7:27 left in the first half. But the rest of his evening came up empty.The 6-foot freshman played just eight minutes. He missed 3-of-4 shots and also had a rebound and a turnover. He missed a layup with 15 seconds to play that would have cut Boise’s lead to four.Rolison played just two minutes in the second half. He entered the game with 17:31 to go in the second half, committed a turnover 33 seconds later and was sent to the bench 50 seconds after that with 16 minutes left in the game and stayed there until there was just 38 seconds to play.
TYLAN POPE: Incomplete
The fifth-year, 6-foot-6, 240-pound junior played just two minutes and committed a foul and a turnover and missed a layup. Pope, who missed the first 10 games because of a pre-season hand injury, has been given just 20 minutes over the Pack’s first three Mountain West games and he has failed to score.
COACHING: C
Steve Alford got out-coached just a bit on his own floor Friday night. Boise, obviously concentrated on Jared Lucas and Kenan Blackshear, not allowing the Pack veterans to take over the game as they have done countless times this season, especially at Lawlor Events Center.That strategy didn’t work all that well early on as Tre Coleman and Nick Davidson combined to score the Pack’ first 11 points, giving Nevada an 11-6 lead with 12:35 to play in the half.Alford, though, then sent both Davidson and Coleman to the bench, robbing himself of his only offense for the game’s first seven-plus minutes, and inserted the offensively challenged K.J. Hymes and Tylan Pope into the game.That resulted in a 6-0 run by Boise and a 12-11 Broncos lead just 72 seconds later. That allowed Boise to catch its breath, calm the game down and gain confidence and the Pack never really recovered.He also took Davidson out for the final two minutes of the first half with the game tied, 25-25. Boise then went on a 5-2 run to take a 30-27 halftime lead, a lead they kept for the remainder of the game.Alford is loyal to his veteran shot-takers like Lucas and Blackshear almost to a fault and that belief never wavers. We saw it with Jalen Harris in Alford’s first Nevada season (2019-20) and with Desmond Cambridge and Grant Sherfield the next two seasons and now it has been Blackshear and Lucas the last two years.It works often but sometimes it doesn’t, usually depending on the physicality and defensive mindset of the opposition. But it always makes the Pack an easy team to prepare for. Boise’s plan worked to perfection on Friday and the Pack had no real answer.Lucas and Blackshear took 30 of the Pack’s 50 shots, they made just 10 combined and the Pack scored just 56 points at home.
OVERALL: C -
The Wolf Pack, beyond a shadow of a doubt, learned quite a few things about itself on Friday.The biggest thing they learned is that physical, aggressive teams can come to Lawlor and just bully them around the floor. Boise State had a disturbing 43-24 rebounding advantage and held the Pack to just 36 percent (18-of-50) shooting.The Pack had an impressive 23-16 edge in points off turnovers. But when they didn’t have the advantage of playing offense after forcing a turnover (like having the man advantage in hockey) they watched Boise dominate with a 48-33 advantage (sort of like in hockey with both teams at even strength).Boise had 18 turnovers and didn’t even block a single Pack shot and still controlled the game for much of the second half. It was because the Pack offense simply disappeared because Boise took them out of the comfort zone.That should not have been allowed to happen at Lawlor.The second biggest thing the Pack learned is that all the depth they supposedly had going into the season just might be a myth.The Pack bench disappeared (three points, 1-of-7 from the floor, five rebounds, three fouls, three turnovers in 45 combined minutes) against Boise on a night they were desperately needed to provide an offensive spark. That was just three days after the bench provided just eight points in 56 minutes against Air Force (also at Lawlor).Speaking of physical, aggressive teams that like to bully an opponent, the Pack now has to go to San Diego State on Wednesday.
