Grades: Pack lets a big one get away

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 63-60 men’s basketball loss to the Dayton Flyers in the NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City on Thursday:

STARTERS

JAROD LUCAS: C

Lucas led the Pack with 17 points, but he missed 10-of-17 shots overall and 6-of-9 threes and he also didn’t get to the free-throw line once or hand out an assist or grab a steal.

Lucas did almost nothing for the first 29 minutes of the game, scoring just seven points and shooting 3-of-12 from the floor. But he then finally caught fire, scoring 10 points in the final 11 minutes on 4-of-5 shooting (two threes). He had two 3-pointers and a jumper over a three-minute stretch for a 56-39 lead with 7:39 to play as it looked like the Pack would coast to an impressive NCAA Tournament victory.

But he then took just two shots in the final seven-plus minutes, disappeared defensively (like everyone else in silver and blue) and provided no leadership (also like everyone else in silver and blue) as the Pack offense and defense fell into chaos, disarray and panic.

KENAN BLACKSHEAR: B +

When an offense scores just four points in the final seven-plus minutes of the game, a huge chunk of the blame has to fall on the point guard. But Blackshear, a fifth-year senior playing his final college game, was the heart and soul of his team on Thursday, scoring 15 points with eight assists.

Dayton simply couldn’t handle Blackshear physically. He had five points and an assist in the final six minutes of the first half as the Pack turned a 23-16 deficit into a 34-25 with an 18-2 run by halftime. It was clear at that point that the Wolf Pack would be doing the Flyers a favor each time the ball was not in their point guard’s hands.

Despite what the scoreboard might suggest, Blackshear did not completely melt down over the final seven minutes. His teammates (we see you, Nick Davidson) just forgot who was the driving force behind their 17-point lead in the first place.

Yes, Blackshear took a silly 3-point shot and missed with 2:52 to play (he was just 5-of-28 on threes this entire season) but the shot came off an offensive rebound by Tre Coleman and Blackshear simply got caught up in the moment. The same scenario would repeat itself in the final seconds of the game with the same result.

Blackshear, though, banked in a shot from about eight feet to the right of the basket for a 60-59 lead with 63 seconds to play and he also fed Lucas for a mid-range jumper and a 58-56 lead with just over two minutes to play.

His only real failure was simply giving up the basketball on offense the final seven minutes.

NICK DAVIDSON: B

The 6-8 Davidson, for the most part, handled himself as well as possible against Dayton’s 6-foot-10 center DaRon Holmes. Davidson finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals, going 6-of-13 from the floor and providing enough of a speed bump to help limit Holmes to just 18 points on a mere eight shots.

But then came the final seven minutes when, well, Davidson broke down mentally. Davidson drained a 3-pointer for a 46-33 lead with just under 12 minutes to play as the Wolf Pack universe was all sunshine and rainbows.

But then coach Steve Alford summoned Davidson to the bench for three minutes and the sophomore’s afternoon turned into a nightmare. Davidson came back to the floor with 8:31 to play and the Pack still up 53-39. For the final eight-plus minutes he committed two fouls on Holmes, turned the ball over once, missed a jumper in the paint and misfired on a 3-pointer as the Pack imploded.

The turnover with 16 seconds to go and the missed 3-pointer with four seconds left were the two most disturbing events of this Pack loss. Why was he dribbling the ball against Holmes (and, it appeared, off Holmes’ right leg) at the top of the key with the Pack down 61-60. And why was he lofting a 3-pointer down 63-60 in the final seconds with Lucas standing just to his left?

Yes, Davidson had made two threes (in four attempts) in the game already, but he was still just a 29-percent shooter from beyond the arc this season. Why Davidson, who makes his living within an arm’s length of the rim, was handling the ball roughly 12 and 20 feet away from the basket on the Pack’s final two possessions is a mystery that will never be solved.

TRE COLEMAN: C -

Coleman was solid in the first half, scoring eight points on two threes and a short jumper to go along with a steal and an assist. He was also a big reason why Dayton had just 25 points at halftime and missed 9-of-12 threes.

The 6-7 forward, though, didn’t score a single point in the second half and was on the floor for all of Dayton’s 23 points in the final 6:27. Those 23 points also included four 3-pointers, three by Kobe Brea. Coleman was seen getting over late to cover on two of those threes.

The Pack outscored Dayton 10-5 over 3:35 to take a 56-40 lead while Coleman was on the bench midway through the second half. Dayton then proceeded to outscore the Pack 23-3 with Coleman on the floor over the final seven-plus minutes.

K.J. HYMES: C

The 6-10 Hymes played 16 minutes and somehow picked up just two fouls with the aggressive DaRon Holmes patrolling the paint for Dayton. Hymes, though, didn’t take a single shot in his 16 minutes and had just three rebounds and a point. He sat the bench for the final 8:14 of the first half and last 8:31 of the second half.

Hymes’ highlight was an offensive rebound off a Lucas missed 3-pointer that he quickly fired back out to Lucas for a successful 3-pointer for a 49-35 lead with just under 11 minutes to play.

Hymes, however, was relegated to the bench two minutes later, never to return. Hymes could then only sit and watch Dayton’s historic comeback as Holmes erupted for eight points in the final 7:14.

BENCH

DANIEL FOSTER: C -

Foster had two points, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal in his 24 minutes. Over the final 30 minutes of the game, though, he didn’t score and pulled down just two rebounds and was on the floor for the final 5:40 as Dayton took over the game.

The Flyers basically went right at Foster twice in the final minute to win the game, literally shoving the 6-6 post player out of the way near the basket for a layup and two free throws by the 6-3 Enoch Cheeks.

Holmes also had no problems going in the paint in Foster’s neighborhood for five points with Foster on the floor the final 5:40.

TYLER ROLISON: D

The 6-foot freshman point guard played just eight minutes with fellow point guard Hunter McIntosh out of the lineup for the second consecutive game with a knee injury.

Rolison, who didn’t play the final 11 minutes of the game and wasn’t responsible for the Pack meltdown, missed his only shot (a layup) and didn’t score and had a rebound, foul and turnover. The Pack was outscored 10-2 when he was on the floor.

TYLAN POPE: C

Pope, as usual, brought energy and a wide range of results when he was on the floor. He had two points, three rebounds, three fouls, two turnovers and an assist in just 10 minutes, giving the Pack as many negative moments as positive ones.

He fed Coleman for a 3-pointer late in the first half and also drove the baseline for a dunk off a feed from Blackshear for a 51-36 lead with 10 minutes to play.

But he was also on the floor, for some reason, for the first two minutes of Dayton’s ridiculous comeback down the stretch, feeding that comeback with a missed 3-pointer, foul and turnover over a one-minute stretch.

COACHING: C

Alford did a brilliant job the first 33 or so minutes as the Pack executed everything he wanted to build a 56-39 lead with 7:39 to play. At that point he should have been able to simply go back to the locker room, have a cold beverage or two, sit back and start thinking about how his Pack would attack Arizona on Saturday.

It’s difficult to determine what Alford could have done the final seven minutes to prevent the Pack’s worst postseason meltdown in the school’s history. All we know is that everything he tried to do was a disaster.

Two timeouts didn’t work. Two veteran guards (Lucas, Blackshear) with 10 years of combined experience on the floor looked lost. Players stepped out of character and did things they never did before.

Can you blame Alford for Davidson dribbling near the free-throw line on DaRon Holmes with 16 seconds to play or shooting a three with four seconds left? Maybe. Blackshear and Lucas should have been the only ones touching the ball at that point and everyone on the court should have known that.

Alford, to be sure, is not completely void of blame. Any coach, especially one who makes seven figures a year and is in his third decade on the bench (let alone his 22nd NCAA Tournament game) should be able to simply push, pull or drag his team across the finish line after building a 17-point lead with seven minutes to go.

Where was his guidance from the bench in those seven nightmare minutes? Where were his answers? Why did it seem like his entire team forgot everything he taught them?

It was simply one of the worst seven minutes of Pack basketball in school history and everyone is to blame. The Wolf Pack, an experienced, hard-working team that should have been able to protect a 17-point lead down the stretch with its eyes closed, simply lost its cool, composure and focus.

Dayton made its last seven shots from the floor and scored 24 points over the final 7:14. The 56-39 lead turned into a 56-56 tie in just under five minutes. The two Dayton players everyone knew would be getting the ball (Holmes and Brea) teamed up for 17 of the first 20 points of Dayton’s 24-4 run to close out the game.

OVERALL: C

The Wolf Pack now knows how the 2017-18 Cincinnati Bearcats felt. Cincinnati went up 65-43 on the Pack with 11:37 to play in the 2018 NCAA Tournament only to see the Pack go on a 32-8 run the rest of the way to steal a 75-73 victory.

That was the last time, by the way, the Pack has ever won a NCAA Tournament game. The losing streak is now a school-record four in a row.

A lot of strange, weird things happened on Thursday that even made the meltdown in the final seven minutes possible. The most important thing that happened was that the officials swallowed their whistles. The Wolf Pack, whose whole offense depends on getting to the free-throw line, was just 3-of-6 from the line on Thursday.

Why didn’t the Pack simply attack the lane all game long to try to get DaRon Holmes in foul trouble? Holmes only had two fouls the entire game. The Pack had more successful field goals (25-21) than Dayton, just one fewer 3-pointer and battled to an even 30-30 draw on the boards. But they were outscored 13-3 from the line against a team that lives and dies on threes.

Blame it on Salt Lake City. The two most mystifying, gut-wrenching and stupefying Wolf Pack losses ever in the NCAA Tournament were in the Pack’s only two games in the tournament at Salt Lake. The first was an 87-79 loss in 2006 to Montana, a Big Sky Conference team they should have beaten by double digits, and the second, well, was Thursday night.

Alford chalked it up to the random, inexplicable, haphazard, hit-or-miss nature of the NCAA Tournament — you know, like it was out of his and his team’s control. Maybe that’s just how coaches deal with blowing a 17-point lead with seven minutes left in a NCAA Tournament game without pulling out their hair.

The Wolf Pack team that was on the floor for the final seven minutes was not the same team that won 26 games in the regular season. Heck, it wasn’t the same team that was on the floor for the first 33 minutes on Thursday.

The Pack team in the final seven minutes was a frightened, disheveled, panicked, jittery group looking for someone, anyone, anything to wake it from a nightmare that wouldn’t stop.

Some teams and coaching staffs are built for the regular season and some are built for the pressure cooker that is the postseason tournaments. The Pack has gone 48-15 combined over the past two regular seasons and 0-4 in the Mountain West and NCAA tournaments.