Tag: Nevada Basketball

Nevada seals its fate, clearly headed for the NIT — another USC win

Nevada will not finish ahead of #USC. It’s another positive bubble break for the Trojans. Just a few more and they’re set.

The dominoes keep falling in USC’s favor in national bubble games. Though USC lost to Arizona State, the Trojans are getting the outcomes they need elsewhere across the country in order to make the NCAA Tournament and, most likely, avoid a trip to Dayton for the First Four.

Nevada is another team whose bubble very clearly popped on Thursday. The Wolf Pack lost their third straight game and tumbled out of the field, falling to San Jose State in overtime in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals.

Nevada lost to Wyoming, then UNLV, then to San Jose State. No team on the bubble — in real jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament — can survive that string of losses.

USA TODAY bracketology on Friday morning has Nevada in the “next four out” category, so not even one of the first four out. The Wolf Pack will go to the NIT. It’s done.

Consult our bubble guide for more details on the national bubble picture before Selection Sunday.

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Mountain West Conference Tournament: #5 San Jose State vs. #4 Nevada–Prediction, How to Watch, Odds

San Jose State and Nevada meet in Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinal action. Here’s a preview.

Mountain West Conference Tournament: #5 San Jose State vs. #4 Nevada–Prediction, How to Watch, Odds

Spartans, Wolf Pack meet in MWC Tournament Quarterfinals

https://twitter.com/coachmosser & @MWCwire

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What: Mountain West Tournament Game 5
Who: #5 San Jose State Spartans vs. #4 Nevada Wolf Pack
When: Thursday, March 9th – 2:30 PT
Where: Thomas & Mack Center; Las Vegas, NV
How To Watch: CBS Sports Network
Live stream: FuboTV — get a free trial
Odds: Nevada -5 Over/Under 131

San Jose State and Nevada will meet for the third time this season in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The two teams are trending in opposite directions, with the Spartans winners of three straight, and the Wolf Pack coming off a disastrous week. It was one that really saw their NCAA Tournament profile take a big hit. A road loss to last place Wyoming was bad enough, but they blew a big lead late on Saturday to in-state rival UNLV and fell in overtime. The back-to-back defeats dropped Nevada from around an 8 or 9 seed according to most bracketologists, to squarely on the bubble (the last four in/first four out batch of teams). That makes this game enormous for multiple reasons for the Pack. Obviously the winner of this will move on to Friday night’s semifinal against the winner of Thursday’s first game between Colorado State and top seeded San Diego State. But a loss by Nevada is going to put them in a precarious position on Selection Sunday.

The task will not be easy here, as San Jose State is playing very good basketball and is brimming with confidence. They have the freshly named Mountain West Coach of the Year in Tim Miles, and the Player of the Year – Omari Moore. The Spartans finished the regular season with an upset over Boise State, a blowout of Colorado State, and a 20-point rally/come from behind victory at Air Force. Miles has squeezed the best out of this squad, the role players are playing their roles and Moore is performing at an extremely efficient rate, hence his POY award.

This does not seem to be a good matchup for San Jose State, as two of their worst performances of the season came against Nevada. The Wolf Pack possess an elite wing defender in Tre Coleman, who can bother Moore, and slow him down better than most in the conference. They also have a stretch big, Will Baker, who while he is great in the paint, can also pull the Spartans rim protector Ibrahima Diallo away from the basket with his threat of knocking down jump shots.

Do you go with the hot hand or do you go with the better matchup? Wolf Pack boss Steve Alford has a history of performing well in the MWCT, mostly while with New Mexico, but he’ll have his work cut out for him getting his troops to put the late collapse versus UNLV behind them. This one should be tight all the way through, but Nevada has a bit too many bullets in the chamber and should move on to Friday’s semis.

Prediction: Nevada 73 San Jose State 67


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Good news for USC: Nevada plays its way out of the field with loss to UNLV

Nevada was in great shape for the NCAA tourney, but Ls to Wyoming & UNLV should knock Steve Alford out of the field.

The craziness of March is upon us. USC is dealing with two rather sudden and unexpected absences for its big Saturday night game against Arizona State, with Drew Peterson and Vince Iwuchukwu both sidelined. That’s the very bad news for the Trojans. However, there’s a lot of good news on the bubble.

Other teams battling USC for a final at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament are falling short, giving the Trojans more margin for error if they do wind up losing to ASU on Saturday.

By the time you read this article, you might already know the result of the USC-ASU game, but two hours before tipoff in the Galen Center, we can pass along this piece of breaking news:

The Nevada Wolf Pack, a team located in a position similar to USC’s (last four byes or last four teams in the field), lost in overtime to UNLV on Saturday at home in Reno. The stunning loss — Nevada was up by seven against a shorthanded UNLV team with 3:35 left — is a very bad result for a Nevada team which lost at Wyoming earlier this past week. The two losses have knocked Nevada from a No. 9 or 10 seed position to a spot which is likely out of the field. Nevada is probably “first four out” at best, and very possibly “next four out,” as a result of these two face-plant losses. It’s not as though Nevada needed to beat good teams to get in. The Wolf Pack just had to handle their business against the lower end of the Mountain West.

They couldn’t do it.

Nevada is certain to need at least two wins at the Mountain West Tournament next week. That means after winning a quarterfinal game, Nevada will have to beat either San Diego State or Boise State to make the field of 68. It’s a very positive result for USC and other bubble teams outside the Mountain West.

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2022 Mountain West Tournament: Boise State vs. Wyoming Preview, How To Watch & More

Boise State vs. Wyoming: Game Preview Wyoming hoping to foil the Broncos net cutting ambitions. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Boise State pushing for a Mountain West title sweep, the Wyoming Cowboys WHO: Boise State (25-7, 16-3 in the MWC) …

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Boise State vs. Wyoming: Game Preview 

Wyoming hoping to foil the Broncos net cutting ambitions.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Boise State pushing for a Mountain West title sweep, the Wyoming Cowboys 

WHO: Boise State (25-7, 16-3 in the MWC) vs. Wyoming (13-17, 6-12 in the MWC)

WHEN: Friday March 11th, 7:30 PM MT, 6:30 PM PT

WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center

TV:  CBS Sports Network

STREAM: FuboTV – Get a free trial

Odds: KenPom has Boise State as 2 point favorites

SERIES RECORD: Nevada leads all time series 25-10

The Mountain West Regular Season Champions Boise State are striving for a sweep of conference hardware. After getting much needed rest after a first round bye, the Broncos are ready to fend off a Nevada in the first quarterfinal matchup of the day.

The Broncos ended the regular season with a 71-68 loss against Colorado State in Fort Collins. The Rams were Mountain West Coach of the Year Leon Rice’s kryptonite this season. Being the only team to sweep the Broncos in conference play. Prior to that loss they were on a five game winning streak, including wins against San Diego State and Utah State at home.

Nevada ended the regular season on a four game losing streak. But they managed to overcome a persistent New Mexico squad, to beat the lobos 79-72 in yesterday’s lunch time first round matchup. Coach Alford’s squad was led by redshirt junior guard Grant Sherfield, who poured in 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.

2022 Mountain West Tournament Day 2 Results, Highlights

“I thought we did a lot of good things in the paint,” said Nevada head coach Steve Alford. “I thought we handled the backboard the way we wanted to handle it. I thought we made things hard on (Jaelen) House and (Jamal) Mashburn, which is a key. And I really thought we guarded, the first 16 minutes of the second half, I thought was the difference.”

Last Time Out

The last meeting between these two longtime conference mates (Big Sky, MWC & WAC) was on March 1st. The Wolf Pack traveled north to fall 73-67 inside ExtraMile Arena. Led by transfer forward Kenan Blackshear who had a team high 16 points. And thwarted by Abu Kigab who had a game high 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists & 3 steals. Boise State swept Nevada this season, which was the first time the Broncos were able to do so since 2016.

Players to Watch:

G-Grant Sherfield-Nevada

Sheffield is an absolute bucket getter in every sense of the phrase. Although inconsistent at times with his shooting touch, the 6-2 combo guard is averaging 18.9 PPG, 6.4 APG & 4.3 RPG. His season long totals earned him Third Team All-Mountain West honors this week along with fellow Wolf Pack backcourt member Desmond Cambridge.

Sherfield is averaging 15.2 field goal attempts a game, with over 10 of those coming from inside the arc. He’s a wide-bodied ball handler who doesn’t mind driving the lane to earn his points. And as we saw against New Mexico, he can influence a game in multiple ways on the court. Going 8-9 from the free throw line while dishing out 5 assists and only being responsible for 2 turnovers. He’ll need some help from either Cambridge or even big man Will Baker if the Wolf Pack are to survive one of the best defenses in the country.

F-Abu Kigab-Boise State

After a shoulder injury that ended Kigab’s postseason early this time last year. The 6-7 Canadian forward decided to return for his extra season of eligibility. Since, he has helped lead this Boise State squad to their first outright conference championship and anchoring one of the toughest defenses in the country. The combo forward posted regular season averages of 14.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG 2.3 APG & 1.2 SPG. Earning Second-Team All-Mountain West honors along with a spot on the All-Defensive Team.

Kigab is all over the floor and makes his money taking tough defensive assignments, attacking the glass and getting to the free throw line while doing it. As the team’s leading scorer he doesn’t need to have the most points every game for Boise State to win, his contributions pile up elsewhere for his team to survive and advance.

Keys to the Game

For Boise State: Flash that Top-20 Ranked Defense, Secure the Basketball and knock down the three.

For Nevada:  Find and take quality shots, Crash the glass and avoid fouling

Prediction: Boise State 70, Nevada 65

I think Nevada has the individual scorers to upset Boise State given the perfect storm. But those scorers don’t exactly score with efficiency in on a consistent basis. So the wrong amount of missed shots or turnovers will surely give the Broncos the W and send them to the semifinals on Friday.

The winner of this one faces the winner of #4 Wyoming & #5 UNLV, set to tip-off at 2:30 PM PT in the Thomas and Mack. They’ll play Friday at 6:30 PM PT on the CBS Sports Network.

Larry Muniz covers college basketball as a writer for Mountain West Wire and WAC Hoops Digest. Also as a co-host of the college basketball podcast “Hoops Talk W/Jay & Larry”. He is also a USWBA Member.

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Mountain West Tournament: Boise State Tops Nevada To Advance To Semifinals

Mountain West Tournament: Boise State Tops Nevada To Advance To Semifinals Broncos move on to the net round Contact/Follow @MWCwire Nevada’s season is over Boise State squeaks past Nevada, 71-69, advancing to the tournament semi-finals to face …

Mountain West Tournament: Boise State Tops Nevada To Advance To Semifinals

Broncos move on to the net round

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Nevada’s season is over

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Boise State squeaks past Nevada, 71-69, advancing to the tournament semi-finals to face fourth-seeded Wyoming.

Both teams came out ready for battle in the semi-final game. At the U16 media timeout, Nevada would lead 12-9, shooting 71% from the field. Boise State would go 4-7 from the field early, scoring all of their points inside the paint. The Wolf Pack would keep the pressure on the Broncos, making nine of their first 11 shots from the field. Nevada would see an early 22-15 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half. Boise State would perform a complete 180 and closed the first half on an 18-5 run to put the Bronco’s up 38-33 at halftime. Boise State shot 60% from the field in the first half, compared to Nevada’s 46%.

Coming out onto the court for the second half, Boise State was able to continue the great offensive performance. After a continuing back and forth battle from both teams, the Broncos were able to jump to a 61-49 lead with just eight minutes left in the game. Grant Sherfield scored seven of the Wolf Pack’s next nine points to cut the lead to just four at 62-58 with 6:52 left to play in the game. Emmanuel Akot scored back-to-back baskets, including a three-pointer to pull away a bit. The Broncos led 67-60 with just under five minutes left in the game. Warren Washington went to the free-throw line with four minutes left to bring the game to within three. With 90 seconds left in the game, Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a layup to bring the game to within two, 71-69. Unfortunately for Nevada, that is the score the game would at, following a missed last-minute three-point attempt by Kenan Blackshear.

Boise State was led by their third-leading scorer, Emmanuel Akot. Akot finished with 22 points in-game and proved to be too much for Nevada to handle. The 6’8 guard went 8-15 from the field, adding in four triples as well. Also finishing in double digits for the Broncos were Marcus Shaver Jr. and Abu Kigab who finished with 15 points and 11 points respectively. For Nevada, it was no other than Grant Sherfield leading the way. Sherfield finished with 25 points on 50% shooting from the field and added six assists to the game total. Desmond Cambridge Jr. finished with 16 points, while Warren Washington added 13 points to give Sherfield some help on the offensive end. Nevada finished shooting 44% from the field but struggled shooting the ball from deep, finishing 6-21 from beyond the arc. 

Up next for Boise State, the Broncos face the fourth-seeded Wyoming Cowboys Friday at 6:30 PM PST. 


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2022 Mountain West Tournament Day 2 Results, Highlights

2022 Mountain West Tournament Day 2 Results, Highlights Semifinals are set Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire Day 2 is in the books. The 2022 Mountain West basketball tournament has been on fire with the quarterfinal games all ending up being …

2022 Mountain West Tournament Day 2 Results, Highlights

Semifinals are set

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Day 2 is in the books.

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The 2022 Mountain West basketball tournament has been on fire with the quarterfinal games all ending up being single-digit outcomes. The favorites advancing to the semifinals basically means that the Mountain West is guaranteed to be a four-bid conference, and will have its best NCAA Tournament showing in years.

These games. from Thursday were all can’t miss, but if somehow you did we have highlights of the four games.

Game 4: Boise State 71, Nevada 69

Game 5: Wyoming 59, UNLV 56

Game 6: Colorado State 53, Utah State 51

Game 7: San Diego State 53, Fresno State 46


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2022 Mountain West Tournament: Boise State vs. Nevada Preview, How To Watch & More

Boise State vs. Nevada: Game Preview Nevada hoping to foil the Broncos net cutting ambitions. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Boise State pushing for Mountain West title sweep, the Nevada Wolf Pack is their first obstacle. WHO: Boise State …

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Boise State vs. Nevada: Game Preview 

Nevada hoping to foil the Broncos net cutting ambitions. 

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Boise State pushing for Mountain West title sweep, the Nevada Wolf Pack is their first obstacle.

WHO: Boise State (24-7, 15-3 in the MWC) vs. Nevada (13-17, 6-12 in the MWC)

WHEN: Thursday March 10th, 1:00 PM MT, 12:00 PM PT

WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center

TV:  CBS Sports Network

STREAM: FuboTV – Get a free trial

SERIES RECORD: Nevada leads all time series 51-30

The Mountain West Regular Season Champions Boise State are striving for a sweep of conference hardware. After getting much needed rest after a first round bye, the Broncos are ready to fend off a Nevada in the first quarterfinal matchup of the day.

The Broncos ended the regular season with a 71-68 loss against Colorado State in Fort Collins. The Rams were Mountain West Coach of the Year Leon Rice’s kryptonite this season. Being the only team to sweep the Broncos in conference play. Prior to that loss they were on a five game winning streak, including wins against San Diego State and Utah State at home.

Nevada ended the regular season on a four game losing streak. But they managed to overcome a persistent New Mexico squad, to beat the lobos 79-72 in yesterday’s lunch time first round matchup. Coach Alford’s squad was led by redshirt junior guard Grant Sherfield, who poured in 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.

“I thought we did a lot of good things in the paint,” said Nevada head coach Steve Alford. “I thought we handled the backboard the way we wanted to handle it. I thought we made things hard on (Jaelen) House and (Jamal) Mashburn, which is a key. And I really thought we guarded, the first 16 minutes of the second half, I thought was the difference.”

Last Time Out

The last meeting between these two longtime conference mates (Big Sky, MWC & WAC) was on March 1st. The Wolf Pack traveled north to fall 73-67 inside ExtraMile Arena. Led by transfer forward Kenan Blackshear who had a team high 16 points. And thwarted by Abu Kigab who had a game high 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists & 3 steals. Boise State swept Nevada this season, which was the first time the Broncos were able to do so since 2016.

Players to Watch:

G-Grant Sherfield-Nevada

Sheffield is an absolute bucket getter in every sense of the phrase. Although inconsistent at times with his shooting touch, the 6-2 combo guard is averaging 18.9 PPG, 6.4 APG & 4.3 RPG. His season long totals earned him Third Team All-Mountain West honors this week along with fellow Wolf Pack backcourt member Desmond Cambridge.

Sherfield is averaging 15.2 field goal attempts a game, with over 10 of those coming from inside the arc. He’s a wide-bodied ball handler who doesn’t mind driving the lane to earn his points. And as we saw against New Mexico, he can influence a game in multiple ways on the court. Going 8-9 from the free throw line while dishing out 5 assists and only being responsible for 2 turnovers. He’ll need some help from either Cambridge or even big man Will Baker if the Wolf Pack are to survive one of the best defenses in the country.

F-Abu Kigab-Boise State

After a shoulder injury that ended Kigab’s postseason early this time last year. The 6-7 Canadian forward decided to return for his extra season of eligibility. Since, he has helped lead this Boise State squad to their first outright conference championship and anchoring one of the toughest defenses in the country. The combo forward posted regular season averages of 14.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG 2.3 APG & 1.2 SPG. Earning Second-Team All-Mountain West honors along with a spot on the All-Defensive Team.

Kigab is all over the floor and makes his money taking tough defensive assignments, attacking the glass and getting to the free throw line while doing it. As the team’s leading scorer he doesn’t need to have the most points every game for Boise State to win, his contributions pile up elsewhere for his team to survive and advance.

Keys to the Game

For Boise State: Flash that Top-20 Ranked Defense, Secure the Basketball and knock down the three.

For Nevada:  Find and take quality shots, Crash the glass and avoid fouling

Prediction: Boise State 70, Nevada 65

I think Nevada has the individual scorers to upset Boise State given the perfect storm. But those scorers don’t exactly score with efficiency in on a consistent basis. So the wrong amount of missed shots or turnovers will surely give the Broncos the W and send them to the semifinals on Friday.

The winner of this one faces the winner of #4 Wyoming & #5 UNLV, set to tip-off at 2:30 PM PT in the Thomas and Mack. They’ll play Friday at 6:30 PM PT on the CBS Sports Network.

Larry Muniz covers college basketball as a writer for Mountain West Wire and WAC Hoops Digest. Also as a co-host of the college basketball podcast “Hoops Talk W/Jay & Larry”. He is also a USWBA Member.

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Why Nevada Will Sneak Away With The Mountain West Tournament

Why Nevada Will Sneak Away With The Mountain West Tournament Can the Wolf Pack win it all? Contact/Follow @MWCwire Steve Alford’s group an unlikely champ? Nevada has had a roller-coaster season, to say the least. The Wolf Pack were picked to finish …

Why Nevada Will Sneak Away With The Mountain West Tournament

Can the Wolf Pack win it all?

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Steve Alford‘s group an unlikely champ?

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Nevada has had a roller-coaster season, to say the least. The Wolf Pack were picked to finish third in the preseason Mountain West poll. Nevada instead went on to go 12-17 on the season, 6-12 in the Mountain West conference to finish eighth in the conference. Nevada saw a step back from last season from Desmond Cambridge, while Texas transferred Will Baker less than lived up to the preseason hype.

Grant Sherfield has been forced to should most of the scoring load this season and at times, even the All-Mountain West player struggled to carry the burden offensively. A couple of areas Nevada can hang their hat on are forcing turnovers on defense and passing the ball, leading to assists. The Wolf Pack ranks in the top three in the conference in assists and steals.

2022 Mountain West Tournament Bracket, TV Schedule Announced

While the Wolf Pack may have had a season most fans want to forget, there is still basketball to be played this season. Nevada looks to make a run at the Mountain West Tournament and could surprise a few fan bases in the process. Here are three reasons why Nevada could shock the field and win the automatic bid Mountain West bid to the NCAA March Madness Tournament.

Grant Sherfield leading Nevada can do some real damage

The 6’2 junior guard averages a little less than 19 points per game and leads the Wolf Pack with six assists per game. However, Sherfield has proved countless times in the past that he has the ability to score 30-plus points in a game. Sherfield even has the ability to string multiple 30-point games in a row, which is a good recipe to string together wins in March. 

A finally healthy Nevada team can make waves 

Along with a player being dismissed early in the season and a COVID pause in January, the Wolf Pack have faced the injury hurdle multiple times late in the season. Warren Washington was out for longer than a month with a hand injury and Grant Sherfield was sidelined multiple weeks with a foot infection. Both players are back and the team is healthy once again. While Nevada is coming off of four straight losses, this is a team that has actually played well as of late. The Wolf Pack can finally go back to their full gameplan with their entire squad healthy and can unleash the true potential they hold.

Experienced coaching

While many fans might be upset with how the coaches have handled the season, head coach Steve Alford and lead assistant Craig Neal have a great deal of experience when it comes to playing in conference tournaments. Alford and Neal coached at New Mexico previously and won two Mountain West Conference championships during their time with the Lobos. The coaching duo knows what it takes to win in March and could make adjustments to propel Nevada to a conference championship.


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21-22 Mountain West Basketball Best Players

Using Advanced analytics to cut through the smoke Contact/Follow @aztecbreakdown. The regular season is over. All that’s left is the conference tournament and then any post season tournaments Mountain West teams get into. It has been a wild season …

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Using Advanced analytics to cut through the smoke

Contact/Follow @aztecbreakdown.

The regular season is over. All that’s left is the conference tournament and then any post season tournaments Mountain West teams get into. It has been a wild season with a ot of parity throughout the league. The talent this year is arguably better than it’s been top to bottom in a long time.

The past few seasons I have looked at who were the best players in the conference, using a combination of advanced analytics. This entry marks the second installment for the 2021-22 season.

Three different advanced analytics will be used. The analytics are: Player Impact Plus Minus, Points Over Expectation, and Bayesian Performance Rating.

These 3 contributions put together should give us a good idea of who’s performed the best this season, as they measure different things, such as impact vs. efficiency. They all also measure contributions on the offensive and defensive sides of the floor, enabling them to paint a full picture.

2022 Mountain West Tournament Bracket, TV Schedule Announced

Player Impact Plus Minus – Also known as PIPM, this is an impact stat that primarily takes it’s measurements from box score stats. Basically, it measures how well a player has performed in the role they’re in. A player being used in the way that best suits their skill set will have a higher score than a player who is talented in certain areas but not able to show that talent off. As an example, if Hunter Maldonado was asked to shoot 3 pointers all game he would hurt his team, as that’s not his skill set. This statistic is important because no matter how purely talented a player may be, if the player doesn’t use the talents correctly it will hurt the team and prevent winning. PIPM also makes adjustments for the quality of opponents. For more on PIPM click here.

Points Over Expectation – Also known as POE, this is an efficiency stat. It takes into account the number and type of shots a player takes (or defends) and compares the outcome to what an average player would’ve done with the same number and type of shots. A score of zero is the equivalent of an average player. Since POE takes into account the number of shots, than the higher usage a player has, the more likely they are to be farther from 0. So players that are really efficient on large volume are the ones that get good scores here. It is also a per game stat, as opposed to a per 100 possession stat. Since basketball is about scoring more points than your opponent, someone who can score, and defend, at an efficient level is a valuable player. For more on POE click here.

Bayesian Performance Rating: Bayesian Performance Rating, or BPR, attempts to qualify the value a player gives their team while on the court primarily by measuring offensive and defensive ratings while a player is on the floor. It is an impact stat in the vein of PIPM, but uses different inputs to estimate the impact a player has. Similar to PIPM, it makes adjustments for the quality of teammates as well as opponents in it’s calculations, so that fans can better determine who is good vs. who plays with good teammates. A score of 0 is considered average. To learn more about BPR click here.

Combining the different methodologies of who helps their team when they’re on the floor, who looks good in the box score, and who is efficient should give us a pretty good feel for who has perfromed well this season, as these metrics will help cover up each other’s weaknesses.

Simply taking the average of these numbers won’t work though, as they measure different things. So Z-scores will be used. Basically, Z-scores measure how far away something is from average, with zero considered to be average. Once the Z-scores for all three metrics are calculated, the average of those numbers will be taken to determine who has been the best so far.

To give you a feel for Z-scores, last year, using the same methodology, Jordan Schakel led the league with a score of 2.777, and Neemias Queta came in second with a score of 2.694. Bryce Hamilton was considered pretty average with a Z-Score of 0.074.

With the boring explanation out of the way, lets look at the results.

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San Diego State vs. Nevada Recap: Wolf Pack’s Late Rally Falls Short Against Aztecs

The Wolf Pack battled the Aztecs but came up just short in their regular season finale.

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SDSU vs. Nevada Recap: Wolf Pack’s Late Rally Falls Short Against Aztecs

The Wolf Pack battled the Aztecs but came up just short in their regular season finale.

Contact/Follow @paschke_austin & @MWCwire

The regular season concludes with a loss.

In the last regular season contest for both San Diego State and Nevada, the Aztecs squeaked past the Wolf Pack, 79-78.

San Diego State and Nevada both started slowly in this game. Nevada would see an early 6-4 lead nearly five minutes into the contest. The Wolf Pack’s lead would slowly grow to five following a Warren Washington layup with nine minutes left in the first half. Matt Bradley was fouled on a three-point shot with six minutes left in the half, allowing the Aztecs to take a one-point lead. The contest would once again be tied with one minute left in the half thanks to a Sherfield 3-points. Lamont Butler was able to score two quick buckets for the Aztecs before the halftime buzzer sounded. San Diego State led 36-33 going into the locker room for halftime.

Keshad Johnson and Nathan Mensah were both able to score coming out of halftime, giving the Aztecs an early seven-point lead. Trey Pulliam would extend the lead to nine and would force a Nevada timeout with 17 minutes still left in the game. Nevada would fall into a deep scoring slump, allowing the Aztecs to go on a 17-6 run over a six-minute span. This would give San Diego State a 59-41 lead with 12 minutes left in the contest. This was the moment Nevada decided to start fighting. The Wolf Pack started pressing the Aztecs, forcing turnovers which made things interesting late in the contest. Following a Sherfield jumper, Nevada was able to cut the lead to single digits with five minutes left in the game. The Aztecs coughed the ball up four times in the final three minutes, giving Nevada the final shot. Grant Sherfield took the final shot, but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. San Diego State was able to hang on, 79-78.

While San Diego State’s defense struggled in this contest, the Aztecs can thank their defense for the final stand, stopping Gran Sherfield’s final attempt. Ultimately, San Diego State can hang their hat on their shooting from the field. The Aztecs finished shooting a very impressive 53%. San Diego State also shot 35% from the arc in what would be an impressive showing offensively from the Aztecs. Despite turning the ball over 19 times, leading in fouls, and losing the rebound battle, the Aztecs were able to make stops when needed, to hang on to this game.

The Aztecs were led by Matt Bradley who finished with 24 points but got some help with three other San Diego State players finishing in double-digit scoring. Trey Pulliam finished with 12 points on 50% from the field. Lamont Butler and Keshad Johnson had good games, finishing with 11 and 10 points respectively.

Nevada just couldn’t find the right recipe defensively. It is incredibly hard to win a game when letting San Diego State shot over 50% from the field in both halves. Grant Sherfield played amazing, scoring 30 points on 9-19 shooting, but just couldn’t get enough help to propel Nevada past the Aztecs. Desmond Cambridge Jr. finished with 12 points on 25% shooting from the field. Cambridge Jr. did his part on defense, getting four steals and one block. Warren Washington and Will Baker were the two other Wolf Pack players to score in double digits, both finishing with 11. Washington was able to grab 10 rebounds as well, finishing with an impressive double-double.

The Wolf Pack as a whole shot 37% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Nevada just didn’t have enough firepower to get past the Aztecs. The Wolf Pack were able to grab 36 rebounds and got to the free-throw line 30 times. In the end, Nevada allowed San Diego State to get too many easy buckets, which allowed the Aztecs to jump to such an impressive lead in the second half. Nevada struggled to fight back to one but should have never let the Aztecs get an 18 point lead to begin with.

MVP

While every part of me wants to make the Most Valuable Player in this contest Grant Sherfield, who finished with 30 points and seven assists, it feels strange giving the award to someone on the losing team. Therefore, the award has to go to San Diego State’s Matt Bradley, who played a more than an impressive game. Bradley finished with a team-leading 24 points on 6-10 shooting. The 6’4 guard also made it to the free-throw line 12 times, knocking down 11 of them. Bradley was able to grab six rebounds tying the team-high.

Up Next

San Diego State finished the regular season 21-7, 13-4 in conference play and is the third seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Aztec’s first game is Thursday, March 10, when San Diego State plays the winner of Fresno State and San Jose State’s contest on Wednesday, March 9. Nevada finished the regular season 12-17, 6-12 in conference play and is the eighth seed in the conference tournament. The Wolf Pack faces New Mexico Wednesday, March 9.

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