Nevada finishes non-conference season on a high note
Wolf Pack win, 79-72
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Nevada defeats San Diego
Nevada heads into their conference season on a high note after narrowly skating by the University of San Diego, 79-72.
It was more of the same from Nevada as they were able to score at will, shooting 45% from the field. However, the Wolf Pack couldn’t stop the Toreros from keeping this game close. While San Diego struggled shooting the ball in the first half, the Toreros finished the game shooting 38% from the field and 34% from deep. While 34% from deep isn’t the best stat line, the Toreros launched 32 threes point attempts which made up for the lack of efficiency. The Toreros added 4 assists and six blocks to their stat line forcing 12 turnovers from Nevada.
Nevada started the game slowly shooting just 36% from beyond the arch on 4-11 shooting. Nevada seemed to fix their defensive woes in the first half holding San Diego to only 26 points. Nevada held the Toreros to 30% from the field and 14% from beyond the arch. The Wolf Pack was led by Desmond Cambridge Jr. who had 11at the break and was given a boost off the bench by true freshman Alem Huseinovic who had five points. The Toreros took advantage of the free throw line going to the stripe 10 times compared to Nevada’s one. The Wolf Pack couldn’t take advantage of their strict defense and entered the break with only a five point advantage, 31-26.
Nevada let off the gas defensively as the Toreros went on a 21-4 run in the second half to go up by five. San Diego shot 50% from beyond the arch in the second half. The relaxed defense by Nevada nearly cost them the game but clutch performances by their backcourt saved the day once again. Grant Sherfield ended the game with a career high of 25 points on 9-18 shooting. Cambridge Jr. also had himself a day with 27 points and shot 7-11 from the three-point line. They had no help from the rest of the Wolf Pack as the next leading scorers were Zane Meeks and Derrick Henry with six points each. This has become a trend for Nevada as they have yet to find a reliable third option to score the ball. For the Toreros it was scoring by committee as nine different players scored.
Nevada’s spotty defense nearly lost them an easy win against a lower tear WCC opponent. Coach Steve Alford and company need to desperately need to fix the defensive woes before they face the upper tier teams in the Mountain West. They also need to find a reliable third scoring option to support the one-two punch of Cambridge Jr. and Sherfield. Next for the Wolf Pack are the Air Force Falcons as they come to Lawlor Events Center on Friday at 7 p.m. for the first of their two game series.
