Santoro: Loss at Wyoming not good, but doesn’t kill the season

Sports Fodder:

Nevada Wolf Pack basketball fans probably aren’t out on the window ledge just yet. But they might be looking out the window. That’s what a loss to the last-place team (80-71 at Wyoming on Monday) in your conference can do to a fan base in late February. Relax, Pack fans. It’s OK to be concerned. That’s natural. But take a deep breath, a sip from your favorite beverage and think good thoughts. Your silver and blue sky isn’t falling and it certainly isn’t time to jump out the window. The Wyoming game was the perfect storm for a Pack upset. It was the second road game in four days. It was just the third time the Pack has played consecutive games on the opponent’s floor and, well, the Pack lost the final game of all those trips (Oregon on Dec. 10, San Diego State on Jan. 10 and Wyoming on Monday). College basketball players just don’t do all that well when the airplane ride, hotels and unfamiliar gyms start to stack up. The Pack still hasn’t lost two games in a row all year. Wyoming was riding a wave of emotion on Senior Night. The Pack simply never adjusted to all those ugly empty yellow seats glaring in their eyes. It was just a goofy Pack game with the Pack losing its identity (Tre Coleman took a dozen shots). When you play Wyoming in late February, after all, you are just thrilled you weren’t stuck in a bus for four hours in the snow out on Interstate 80. So, yes, maybe the Pack relaxed a bit too much, playing an eight-win team in a cold and almost empty gym on a weird Monday night. It happens.

•••

Nobody is saying that everything is perfect in Pack Land with UNLV coming up Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) at Lawlor Events Center and the postseason tournament next week in Las Vegas. But the Pack didn’t ruin anything on Monday in Wyoming. The NCAA Tournament is still a very real possibility for this team as things stand now. The Pack is still No. 35 in the nation in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings, the most important factor in determining the 36 at-large teams (68 total) in the tournament. Yes, of course, what happened at Wyoming might be the start of a total collapse (stop looking out that window) that could end with a loss to UNLV on Saturday and another knife in the back in the first game of the Mountain West tournament. That would give the Pack a solid but not eye-opening 22-10 record and losses in four of its last six games. But nothing is easy in college basketball. If the Pack really wants to be in the NCAA Tournament, the time has come to go out there and prove it. Show you are worthy. That’s the essence of the Mountain West, the Show Me Conference. Go beat UNLV and finish a perfect 15-0 at home and go win at least one game in the Mountain West tournament. All will then be well in Pack Land and the fan base can open the drapes, swing open the window and take a refreshing deep breath of air and relax.

•••

A loss Saturday and in the first game of the tournament might leave the Pack looking up at the bubble teams for the NCAA Tournament. If the Pack then heads to the who-cares NIT, it will be one of the biggest disappointments in recent school history. The biggest, of course, was just four years ago in 2018-19. The Pack started that year 24-1 but then lost four of its last nine games. The last two losses came in the second game of the Mountain West tournament to San Diego State and the first NCAA Tournament game to a mediocre 15-loss Florida team. One day the Pack is driving a Maserati, living in a 10-bedroom mansion with a super model wife and the next day there’s a Toyota in the uncovered parking spot at the one-bedroom apartment and the super model wife is on a beach in Maui scouting potential new husbands. But at least that team went to the NCAAs. The 2011-12 team won 16 in a row and 19-of-20 at one point and went to the NIT. It won the Western Athletic Conference regular season title but lost in its second tournament game to a 15-loss Louisiana Tech team. The NCAA selection committee then didn’t think a 26-win Pack team was worthy of a bid, a ridiculous notion that is still baffling (the Pack was better than roughly 50 of the 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament). Never trust the NCAA selection committee. Go win Saturday and at least once next week in Las Vegas.

•••

Every potential NCAA Tournament bracket in the media right now has the Wolf Pack involved, likely as a No. 9-11 seed. San Diego State and Boise State seem to have already locked up a NCAA bid from the Mountain West. The Pack is in, barring a collapse, and Utah State still seems to be on the bubble. Utah State, then, seems to be the Pack’s biggest competitor for that third NCAA spot from the Mountain West. Nevada is now 22-8 overall and 12-5 in league while Utah State is 22-7, 11-5. The two teams split their two regular season meetings. The Aggies play UNLV on Wednesday night (go, Rebs!) in Las Vegas and host Boise State on Saturday. There’s a chance both will go to the NCAA Tournament but not likely unless they meet in the tournament title game.

•••

Is there a true Player of the Year in the Mountain West this year? Not really. All of the top teams (Boise State, San Diego State, Nevada, Utah State) have a one-for-all, all-for-one mentality that features numerous players in the spotlight on a given night. It’s why they are the top teams, instead of a middle-of-the-road UNLV (Elijah Harkless), New Mexico (Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn) or San Jose State (Omari Moore) that rely heavily on one or two guys. The Player of the Year usually comes from the regular season champ, but San Diego State (like Boise State, Nevada and Utah State) is the epitome of a team-first mentality. No Aztec is averaging more than 13.1 points (Matt Bradley), 5.9 rebounds (Nathan Mensah) or 3.6 assists (Darrion Trammell). Bradley leads the team with 47 threes and Jaedon Lee leads with 70 successful free throws. They should just give the Player of the Year to the entire San Diego State team.

•••

Who is the Wolf Pack’s Player of the Year? That, too, can change on a nightly basis, but the Pack wouldn’t be anywhere near 22 wins right now without point guard Kenan Blackshear. Blackshear is averaging 14.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, is 117-of-151 from the line (.775) and has 47 steals. Nobody is ever going to include Blackshear among the great Pack point guards in history, but he sets the tone for his teammates in every game. The Pack needs him to play well in every game the rest of the year starting on Saturday. When Blackshear plays well the rest of the team follows his lead. When he struggles, well, you saw what happened (five points on 2-of-10 shooting) on Monday at Wyoming.

•••

There’s a chance (though not likely) that Grant Sherfield regrets his decision to transfer to Oklahoma after last season. The Sooners, barring a miracle, are not going to the NCAA Tournament his year. Oklahoma is 14-15 right now and 4-12 in the Big 12. Sherfield might be watching his former Pack teammates (namely Blackshear, Will Baker, Tre Coleman) in the NCAA Tournament this year getting the exposure Sherfield craved when he went to the Big 12. The Sooners’ struggles this year, though, are not Sherfield’s fault. He is Oklahoma’s best player, leading the team in scoring at 16.3 a game. He also has 3.3 assists a game and is now shooting .406 from 3-point range after clanking them to the tune of .333 last year at Nevada.

•••

Desmond Cambridge and Warren Washington left Nevada after last year and moved to Arizona State. There is a chance they will be in the NCAA Tournament since the Sun Devils are now 20-9 and 11-7 in the Pac-12. Cambridge leads Arizona State in scoring at 13.9 a game (he was at 16.2 last year at Nevada) and also has 2.3 assist and 3.5 rebounds a game. Most of his numbers are down from last year when he was with the Pack. The 7-foot Washington is averaging 9.1 points (10.5 last year at Nevada) and a team-best 6.7 rebounds for the Sun Devils. It’s fun to imagine the Pack this year with Sherfield, Cambridge and Washington but that would likely mean that Oregon State transfer Jarod Lucas would not be in Nevada this year and freshman Darrion Williams, along with Blackshear and center Will Baker, wouldn’t have had the important roles they’ve enjoyed this year.