Grades: Pack picks up memorable road win

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 76-66 men’s basketball victory over the Boise State Broncos at Boise on Tuesday:

STARTERS

JAROD LUCAS: B +

Lucas struggled with his shot most of the night, going 4-of-14 overall and 2-of-9 on threes, but the fifth-year guard found other ways to contribute. He finished with 19 points and didn’t even make a shot in the second half, going 0-for-6.

Lucas was 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the second half and is now 16th in the nation with a .903 free throw percentage. His 140 successful free throws are fifth in the country.

Lucas also had three assists, leading to two 3-pointers by Hunter McIntosh and one by Daniel Foster. His steal off a turnover by Boise’s O’Mar Stanley also led to a 3-pointer by McIntosh and a 55-42 Pack lead midway through the second half.

Lucas went 4-of-4 from the line in the final 99 seconds to spoil any Boise State comeback hopes.

KENAN BLACKSHEAR: C +

Blackshear, seeing his first action in 11 days because of an ankle injury that forced him to miss two games, looked like a guy who hadn’t played in 11 days on a bum ankle in the first half.

The fifth-year point guard missed 4-of-5 shots and scored just two points while playing just 10 minutes in the first half. But Blackshear shook off the rust and looked more like himself in the second half to help the Pack dominate the Broncos.

Blackshear played 13 minutes and was 2-of-3 from the floor, 5-of-10 from the line and had two steals and a block in the second half. All 10 of his free-throw attempts came in the final 10 minutes of the second half as Boise did its best to foul the Pack’s 64 per cent free-throw shooter. But Blackshear spoiled that strategy, making 4-of-6 from the line in the final 81 seconds.

Blackshear finished with 11 points for the game on 3-of-8 shooting. He did not, however, have a single assist in a game for the first time since he became the starting point guard before last season. You have to go back two years, to March 5, 2022, against San Diego State, for the last game Blackshear went without an assist. This was just the fourth time in Blackshear’s 93-game Pack career (three seasons) without an assist.

NICK DAVIDSON: D +

Davidson never found his rhythm and comfort zone against the physical Broncos and suffered through a game he’d like to forget. The 6-8 sophomore had just six points and three rebounds in 31 minutes to go along with four turnovers and four fouls.

All six of Davidson’s points came in the second half on a 3-pointer for a 49-38 lead with 13:21 to play and a 3-point play (layup, free throw) for a 52-42 lead two minutes later.

Davidson was 2-of-6 from the floor and didn’t take a single shot the final 11-plus minutes. He played the final 6:23 and contributed two turnovers, a foul and a rebound.

The fact the Pack won by 10 on the road at Boise State without much help from Davidson is yet another example of the continued growth of this team.

TRE COLEMAN: C +

Coleman was nearly invisible on offense in his 34 minutes, going just 1-of-4 from the floor for four points and three assists. But, as usual, he was an integral part of a Pack defense that saw no Boise State player score more than 15 points or make more than two threes.

Coleman did have a 3-pointer for the Pack’s first points of the game (17:41 left in the first half) but then never made a shot the rest of the night. His three assists led to eight points (threes by Lucas and Hunter McIntosh and a layup by McIntosh).

Coleman also had just one rebound against Boise State after pulling down 19 boards over the last three games combined. His one steal and one rebound are his fewest combined rebounds and steals in a game since he also had just one rebound and a steal against TCU on Dec. 22.

K.J. HYMES: C

Hymes played 15 minutes, made his only shot from the floor and missed his only free throw for two points. But the 6-10 sixth-year center was active with two rebounds, a block and a steal.

He was called for three fouls and turned the ball over once and didn’t play the final 10 minutes of the first half or the final 6:23 of the second half.

He blocked an O’Mar Stanley shot early in the second half and picked up a steal off a turnover by Tyson Degenhart midway through the second half.

BENCH

HUNTER McINTOSH: A +

McIntosh treated Wolf Pack fans to one of the greatest shooting performances in school history. The 6-3 guard was 6-of-6 on 3-pointers for a game-high 26 points. His six threes are the most in one game in Wolf Pack history without a miss.

Nisre Zouzoua (against New Mexico on Jan. 25, 2020) and Lucas Stivrins (against Holy Names on Nov. 30, 2015) were both 6-of-7. Richard Brown (against Pacific on Jan. 15, 1996) and Zouzoua (against Colorado State on Jan. 29, 2020) were both 5-of-5.

McIntosh had four threes and 14 points in the first half and was the main reason the Pack was up 35-29 at the break. He then added a dozen points and two more threes in the second half.

McIntosh, who started the past two games in place of an injured Kenan Blackshear, came off the bench against Boise and played 24 minutes. The Pack outscored Boise 53-47 with McIntosh on the floor.

The 6-3 transfer from Elon has been red hot over his past four games, going 23-of-43 from the floor and 18-of-29 on threes for 70 points. This hot streak came after he was 5-of-26 from the floor and 4-of-19 for 19 points combined over his previous 11 games.

That 11-game dry spell, by the way, started with a zero-point performance in 13 minutes against Boise State on Jan. 12, so the Broncos likely were not prepared for what they saw on Tuesday.

DANIEL FOSTER: C +

Foster was able to eat up 24 minutes for the Pack and contributed three points, three rebounds, a block and a steal.

The 6-6 senior was 1-of-3 from the floor, missing a layup and a jumper in the paint. His 3-pointer gave the Pack a 40-30 lead with 18:37 left to play.

TYLER ROLISON: C + 

Rolison played just 4:25 in the first half and only 3:25 in the second half but, as always, made his presence known. The 6-foot freshman from Los Angeles didn’t take a single shot all night but found time for two important assists that led to 3-pointers by Hunter McIntosh in the first half and Nick Davidson in the second half.

This is just the second time this season in Rolison’s 30 games that he did not take a shot. The other time was in eight minutes against Air Force on Jan. 9.

TYLAN POPE: A

Pope gave the Wolf Pack a solid and productive nine minutes and clearly deserved more playing time. The 6-6, 240-pounder made both of his shots from the floor and his only 3-pointer for five points along with three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

His three boards tied him for the team lead with four other players who all played at least 14 more minutes. All five of Pope’s points came in a span of 33 seconds, turning a 17-16 deficit into a 21-17 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the first half.

COACHING: A +

On the surface, this game might not seem like coach Steve Alford and his staff had much to do except sit back and enjoy a peaceful evening. The Pack after all, led for the final 25 minutes of the game and by at least seven over the final 15 minutes.

But Alford had to scratch and claw his way through this on many different levels, starting with a Boise crowd of 11,242.

Boise dominated the boards once again (39-23) and the Wolf Pack didn’t have a single offensive rebound the entire game. You are not supposed to win a game in a tough environment on the road when that happens. You should get blown out of the gym. The Pack had not gone an entire game without a single offensive rebound this century before Tuesday night (statistics are not readily available before then).

Alford had to weave his way through foul problems (six Pack players had three or four fouls) and a first half in which starters Nick Davidson, Tre Coleman, Kenan Blackshear and K.J. Hymes combined for six points. Starters Jarod Lucas, Coleman, Blackshear, Hymes and Davidson were just 11-of-33 from the floor for the game.

So how did the Pack win going away by 10? The Pack won with defense (12 steals) and McIntosh lighting the Boise night sky on fire. The bench, thanks to McIntosh, was 12-of-16 from the floor, 8-of-8 from the line for 34 points.

Boise, because of the Pack defense, simply couldn’t shoot (6-of-23 on threes) or handle the ball (starters Max Rice and O’Mar Stanley combined for nine turnovers) on their own home floor.

That’s what a difference-maker at head coach is supposed to do. He finds different ways to win when not everything is going perfectly.

OVERALL: A +

The Pack’s win at Boise State on Tuesday is the most meaningful, impressive and important victory in Alford’s five-year era as head coach. If there was any doubt the Pack can make some serious noise next week in the Mountain West Tournament, well, those doubts should now be gone.

Nobody in the league wants to play the Wolf Pack right now. By the middle of the second half on Tuesday it was apparent Boise State also didn’t want to play the Pack. The Pack simply choked the life out of the Broncos on their own home court in front of their 11,000-plus fans.

The Pack is now 25-6 and has won nine of its last 10 games. There are few teams in the country, let alone the Mountain West, that are playing as well as the Wolf Pack right now.

Does the Pack beat Boise without McIntosh turning in a historic 6-for-6 performance from beyond the arc? Probably not. Can you count on that happening ever again? Probably not. It never happened before Tuesday.

But what you can count on with this ever-improving Wolf Pack team is something else amazing dropping down from the heavens to help this team win meaningful games. The only thing this Pack team has counted on all season long is non-stop effort and focus at both ends of the floor. When you get those two things, the basketball gods take care of the rest. They took care of McIntosh and the Pack on Tuesday. They did the same with Jarod Lucas and his buzzer-beating half-court shot against Colorado State last week.

The next meaningful game is Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center against the UNLV Rebels. The Rebels beat San Diego State at home on Tuesday. Both teams are 12-5 in league play and could be playing for the Mountain West regular-season title on Saturday.

How’s that for historic?