Grades: Pack not up the challenge of The Pit

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 89-55 men’s basketball loss to the New Mexico Lobos at Albuquerque on Sunday:

STARTERS

JAROD LUCAS: D

Lucas, like most of his teammates, was completely overwhelmed by the Lobos’ defense, the crowd (15,021) and the moment. The 6-3 shooting guard was 3-of-13 from the floor (2-of-7 on 3s) and finished with nine points (equaling his season low).

Lucas missed his first four shots and scored six points (on two threes) in the first half and three points in the second half. He never made two shots in a row and only went to the free throw line once (he was 1-of-2) in his 26 minutes.

This is the second time in the last four games that Lucas has scored nine points. His nine-point efforts came against two of the better defensive teams (San Diego State and New Mexico) on the road. He was coming off two games against Wyoming and Colorado State in which he scored 20 and 28 points. Last season he scored 28 at New Mexico in a 97-94 double-overtime win.

Lucas has now scored under 10 points in just seven of his 54 games for the Wolf Pack over the last two seasons.

KENAN BLACKSHEAR: D

Blackshear, like Lucas, scored six points in the first half, three in the second half and finished with nine. He was 3-of-9 from the floor overall and just 1-of-3 in the second half as the Lobos made him disappear.

The 6-6 point guard, though, also had a season-low one assist. It is just the third time in the last two seasons (54 games) that he has had just one assist since becoming the Pack’s starting point guard.

New Mexico, it was obvious from the start, was determined to suffocate Lucas and Blackshear defensively and they succeeded to perfection.

NICK DAVIDSON: C -

Davidson had six points and seven rebounds in his 26 minutes. The 6-8 sophomore took just six shots, making three on a layup, a short jumper in the paint and a dunk.

Most of his rebounds (four) came in the game’s first four minutes. Davidson didn’t have an assist or block and committed two turnovers.

Davidson scored 10 or more points in 10 of the Pack’s first 12 games this year. Since then, however, he’s been under 10 in five of nine.

TRE COLEMAN: C +

Coleman was awarded a team-high 33 minutes because, unlike most of his teammates, he actually found a way to be productive most of the game. He finished with seven points on 2-of-6 shooting with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.

He blocked a Jaelen House shot in the paint and later stole the ball from House late in the first half. Coleman hit a 3-pointer six-plus minutes into the game and had a layup to cut the Pack deficit to 48-32 with 15:34 to play in the second half.

Over a six-minute stretch late in the first half he had a block, assist, two free throws and a steal, helping the Pack keep its head above water.

K.J. HYMES: B -

Hymes, for some reason, played just 19 minutes despite being as productive as any Pack player on the floor. The 6-10 center had six points, seven rebounds, two blocks and an assist and was the only Nevada player to match the Lobos’ physicality and aggressiveness when he was on the floor.

Yes, Hymes also had four turnovers, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Two of the turnovers came in the first minute of the second half. But he followed that by being the spark that kept the Pack in the game midway through the second half.

Hymes had three offensive rebounds, two free throws, a layup and an assist over a span of just three minutes that was the driving force behind the Pack cutting the deficit to just 53-44 with 10 minutes to play.

Hymes, though, played just five of the final 15 minutes. His seven rebounds against New Mexico are his season high and his most since he had eight against Nebraska on Nov. 26, 2020.

BENCH

HUNTER McINTOSH: C

McIntosh, understandably, was a little rusty on Sunday. The 6-3 veteran, after all, had taken just seven shots and scored just five points over his previous five games combined.

So, yes, it wasn’t all that shocking to see McIntosh miss 6-of-7 shots (4-of-5 threes) against New Mexico. But it was good to see him finally fire up some shots.

McIntosh finished with five points, two assists and a steal against the Lobos and did bring energy to the lifeless Pack. He was at his best when the Pack was at its best early in the second half. He played a stretch of four-plus minutes, contributing a 3-pointer and an assist when the Pack outscored the Lobos 9-4 to cut the deficit to 53-41 with just under 11 minutes to play.

DANIEL FOSTER: D

Foster only played 11 minutes because of fouls. The 6-6 senior did have two points, a rebound and an assist but he also found the time to commit three fouls and a turnover. He played just four minutes in the first half because of two fouls.

TYLAN POPE: C +

Pope was certainly active and brought energy with five points, four rebounds and a block in just 12 minutes. The 6-6, 240-pound transfer from Tulane is carving out a niche as a physical presence off the bench.

He had a dunk and a layup to go along with two rebounds during a four-minute stretch. His dunk, which cut the Lobo lead to just 53-44 with 10:11 to play, might have been the Wolf Pack highlight of the night.

Pope, who was 2-of-6 from the floor, likely would have led the Pack in scoring if not for two missed layups, a missed jumper in the paint and a missed free throw.

Pope had gone 9-for-17 from the floor with 20 points and 10 rebounds combined over the Pack’s last three games despite playing just a total of 35 minutes.

COACHING: D

The Pack was simply never truly in this game. Alford returned to the Lobos’ Pit, where he coached for six seasons a decade ago, and clearly had no idea how to help his team handle the energy in the building from the 15,000-plus fans or the Lobos’ defense on the floor.

The Pack missed its first eight shots from the floor, fell behind 10-0 and trailed by double digits for all but 23 seconds of the final 32 minutes. The Pack trailed by seven or more (three possessions) for the final 37-plus minutes.

No Pack player scored more than nine points. The Pack committed a season-high 15 turnovers or was smothered by the New Mexico defense. The Pack defense was also smothered by the Lobos offense. New Mexico made nearly 60 percent of all its shots (34-of-58), made half its threes (11-of-22) and scored 51 points in the second half.

One New Mexico bench player (Mustapha Amzil) scored more points (11) than any Pack player. The Pack defense made a point of trying to contain Lobos guard Jaelen House and House responded with 21 points, six assists, six steals and four 3-pointers. The rest of the New Mexico starters combined to make 19-of-28 shots (68 percent).

It’s true New Mexico might be the most difficult place to play in the Mountain West and the Lobos right now are the best team in the conference. But the Pack had won eight games in a row (two at The Pit) against the Lobos since 2019 and was 7-0 with Alford as its coach before Sunday night.

For an Alford-coached team to go to The Pit and get completely run over, well, it was an eye-opener.

OVERALL: D

The Wolf Pack has now lost four of its last five games to fall to 16-5, 3-4 after a 15-1, 2-0 start. So, yes, that 15-1 start is now officially a mirage that has faded away.

The Wolf Pack, the rest of the league now knows as fact, simply cannot beat competent teams when Lucas and Blackshear prove to be mere mortals (or worse). The only game out of the last five that both Lucas and Blackshear each scored 15 or more points was the only victory (77-64 over Colorado State) during that stretch. That victory at home (Lucas scored 28 and Blackshear had 20) was the only one of the last five games that the two combined for as many as 30 points.

None of this, of course, is a secret to anyone in the Mountain West. But it’s now up to Lucas and Blackshear to change the scouting reports. They simply cannot let opposing defenses dictate what they do on the court every night. That’s what is happening now and that’s why the Pack is losing.

Lucas and Blackshear still need to take the vast majority of the shots. They need to get to the free-throw line. They need to score. They need to be the alpha wolves on the floor so the rest of their teammates can fall in line behind them.

It’s a bit premature and a bit too the-sky-is-falling to say that a 16-5 team needs to figure out a way to salvage its season before it's too late. But that’s kind of where the Pack is right now or will be if what we saw the last five games continues for the next five. The goal now, therefore, is to prove that the last five games also prove to be a mirage just like the first 16.

The good news is that the Pack doesn’t have to go to either San Diego State or New Mexico the rest of the year. The bad news is that the schedule doesn’t really get much easier. New Mexico and San Diego State also both come to Lawlor Events Center in a span of just five days (Feb. 9 and 13).

Will the Pack still have legitimate NCAA Tournament hopes on the morning of Feb. 14? It's up to Lucas and Blackshear.