Playing in his final game at Lawlor Events Center, Nevada senior Kenan Blackshear (13) dribbles past UNLV's Luis Rodriguez (15) and (20) Keylan Boone in the first half of Nevada's 75-65 win against their in-state rivals. The Wolf Pack men's basketball team played their final home game to a packed house.
Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 75-65 men’s basketball victory over the UNLV Rebels at Lawlor Events Center on Saturday . . .
STARTERS
JAROD LUCAS: A +
Lucas stepped into the ring on Saturday like a young Mike Tyson, landing five devastating punches to UNLV’s gut in the first 11-plus minutes and determined to end the game before all of the school-record crowd of 11,877 found their seats.
The 6-3 shooting guard came out of the locker room determined, focused and as angry as a bull in the chute at the Reno Rodeo. He scored 10 of the Pack’s first 12 points in the first four minutes of the game on two threes, two free throws and a jumper and drained a three for a 31-19 lead seven minutes later.
Lucas, with 13 points with 8:28 to go in the first half, left the Rebels dazed and spent the rest of the game as a utility man, doing what was needed to win the final home game of the season.
He finished with 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting on four threes and six free throws. He scored seven points in the final seven minutes of the game to prevent UNLV from stealing a victory it didn’t deserve.
The Lucas we saw on Saturday is part of the mix that can take this team past the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
KENAN BLACKSHEAR: A +
Fifth-year seniors in their final college home game against their biggest rival are supposed to lead the way, take control of the game and blaze a path to victory for their teammates. And that is exactly what Lucas and Blackshear did on Saturday.
Blackshear, who did not have a single assist in 23 minutes against Boise State last Tuesday, had nine pivotal assists against UNLV. Six of those assists were on Lucas field goals as the two team leaders were joined at their silver and blue hips on Saturday.
Three of Blackshear’s assists to Lucas came in the first four minutes of the game. He also found Lucas for a 3-pointer and a 31-19 lead with 8:28 left in the opening half and two jumpers 95 seconds apart early in the second half for a 45-35 lead.
Blackshear then spent the second half of the second half scoring the ball when the Pack needed it the most. He scored 10 points in the final 10:44 on six free throws, a layup and a jumper. He also found the time for two more assists in those final 10-plus minutes.
Blackshear finished with 16 points, nine assists, a block and a steal and left Lawlor for the final time with a valiant performance.
The versions of Lucas and Blackshear we saw on Saturday is what can make this Wolf Pack special the rest of the month. The two are, without question, the best guard tandem in the Mountain West.
NICK DAVIDSON: A
Davidson, who played a season-high 37 minutes, was the perfect complement to Lucas and Blackshear on Saturday. He turned in his seventh double-double this year with 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a steal and played 28:14 of the final 29:22.
He was on the floor for the final crucial 12 minutes after UNLV had taken a 48-47 lead when he was on the bench for 68 seconds. He promptly stole the ball from UNLV’s Kalib Boone and fed Blackshear for a layup and a 51-48 lead with 10:44 to play. His jumper in the paint gave the Pack a 70-61 lead with 67 seconds to play.
Davidson started the second half by rebounding his own missed jumper and putting it back for a layup and a 41-33 lead. He also had a dunk for a 33-23 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
TRE COLEMAN: A
Coleman spent his 33 minutes, for the most part, concentrating on the defensive end of the floor. The 6-7 Swiss Army Knife finished with seven points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He took just two shots the entire game, making both, and did not throw up a shot over the final 34:28 of the game.
Coleman, though, was flawless on offense, making his two shots, his only 3-pointer and both of his free throws. The only other time that has happened (when he’s taken at least one field goal, 3-pointer and free throw) in his 122-game career was against San Jose State on Feb. 15, 2022 when he was 3-of-3 from the floor, and 1-of-1 on threes and free throws.
Coleman also had a team-high three offensive rebounds, passing the ball out to Lucas for a 3-pointer after his third and final offensive rebound for a 58-50 lead with seven minutes left.
Coleman assisted on a K.J. Hymes layup, drained a 3-pointer and put in a layup over a four-minute stretch as the Pack took a 17-5 lead with 14:28 to go in the first half. Coleman also blocked two UNLV layup attempts, one in each half.
K.J. HYMES: D
Hymes played just 13 minutes despite picking up just one foul. The 6-10 center, playing his final game at Lawlor (his first at home was against Utah on Nov. 5, 2019 when he fouled out after playing just seven minutes), had two points, two rebounds and two turnovers.
Nearly half his 13 minutes came over the first 5:16 of the game when he had a layup for a 7-3 lead. He played just 68 seconds over the final 16:27 of the game. The Pack was outscored 5-0 over those 68 seconds as Hymes committed an offensive foul.
BENCH
HUNTER McINTOSH: C
McIntosh made Wolf Pack history on Tuesday at Boise State when he went 6-of-6 on 3-pointers. He also made Wolf Pack history on Saturday when he became the first Pack player this century to score 25-plus points (26 at Boise State) in a game and then go scoreless in his very next game.
The closest that has ever happened this century for a Pack player was in February 2008 and December 2008. Brandon Fields scored 21 points against Idaho on Feb. 16, 2008 and then came up empty against Southern Illinois on Feb. 23, 2008. Joe Shaw scored 21 against Colorado State on Dec. 2, 2008 and then didn’t score against UNLV on Dec. 6, 2008. Jalen Harris had 26 against Colorado Christian on Oct. 30, 2019 and then went scoreless in just eight minutes (he got injured) against Utah on Nov. 5, 2019 but the Colorado Christian game was an exhibition.
McIntosh played 12 minutes against UNLV and didn’t even take a shot as UNLV was quite aware of what he did four nights earlier in Boise. He had a rebound and two assists but also three fouls.
DANIEL FOSTER: B +
Foster gave the Wolf Pac a solid and much-needed productive 26 minutes off the bench. He took and made just one shot the entire game but was also 4-of-4 from the free throw line, pulled down four rebounds and had two steals and an assist.
His layup gave the Pack a 47-40 lead with 13:50 to play. He also stole the ball from Rob Whaley Jr. and fed Lucas for a layup and a 62-52 lead with 6:10 left. His offensive rebound and two free throws put the Pack up 66-54 with just under five minutes to play.
TYLER ROLISON: A
Rolison played just eight minutes but found a way to produce at pivotal moments in the game.
The 6-foot freshman, who showed he wasn’t afraid of the moment at all in his first career home game against UNLV, hit a 3-pointer for a 22-14 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half as the Rebels were on a 16-4 run.
Rolison then had two huge buckets less than a minute apart for a 55-50 lead with 8:13 to play in the second half. He didn’t play in either the last nine minutes of the first half or last seven minutes of the second half as the guard minutes belonged to Lucas and Blackshear.
TYLAN POPE: Incomplete
Pope played just two minutes late in the first half and didn’t put up a statistic.
COACHING: A +
Steve Alford put the game in the hands of Lucas, Blackshear, Davidson, Coleman and Foster and the five played their roles perfectly. What we saw on Saturday is how this Wolf Pack should operate when things go as they are drawn up on the coach’s chalkboard before the game.
Alford had his team ready to play in front of the greatest crowd to ever witness a Pack basketball game in Reno and it came with the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West tournament on the line against the Rebels. Ta about seizing the moment. This is what it looks like when coaching, preparation, effort, execution and focus comes together on one magical night.
OVERALL: A +
The Wolf Pack is now 26-6 overall and 13-5 (second place) in the Mountain West heading into the postseason.
If you laid out the perfect scenario for a regular season on the coach’s chalkboard before the season started, well, this is what you would want.
The Pack has won seven in a row and 10 of its last 11 and is playing its best basketball and firing on all cylinder going into the postseason tournaments.
The last Pack team to win 10 of its last 11 regular season games was 2006-07. The last to win its last seven regular season games was 2005-06, which won its last 11 in a row in the regular season.
Now the real fun is about to start.