Photo by Louis Bubala. Grant Sherfield returns to play Colorado State and had 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Nevada men’s basketball played their first home game after going 0-3 on their recent road trip. They had a tough matchup against the 18-3 Colorado State Rams. 

This game had a clear star, senior guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. He was stuck on automatic all night. He has been having a great February and it only got better tonight against the Rams. Cambridge Jr dropped 36 points on 13-15 shooting from the field and 7-9 shooting from three. He added four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks to his stat sheet. 

Junior guard Grant Sherfield had a solid return game after missing the last three. His scoring was not there but he still finished with 11 points, a team high seven assists, and four rebounds. Junior guard Kenan Blackshear broke his streak of three straight games with double digit points. He ended with eight points, five assists, and four rebounds on an efficient 3-6 from the field. 

Nevada had some help off the bench from junior forward K.J Hymes and sophomore guard Daniel Foster. Hymes had six points and Foster finished with six points, four rebounds, and one assist. 

The game opened with both teams hitting shots early. Cambridge Jr. started the Nevada scoring with a layup and Blackshear connected on a jumper. This was followed by a Cambridge Jr. dunk and a Baker dunk. Nevada took the lead 8-7 with 15 minutes left in the first half. 

Cambridge Jr. and Foster each scored a bucket but Colorado State began to pull away. The Rams run was ended by Sherfield when he hit a three for his first basket of the game. Nevada continued to put points up as Cambridge Jr. stayed hot, cashing in on another jumper and three pointer. 

Colorado State responded with a small run of their own. The wolf pack were down 31-23 with four minutes left in the half. Nevada kept battling and they were able to close out the half on a solid run. Foster made a layup and the red hot Cambridge Jr. added two more threes. Nevada was down at half 31-36.

The second half had an ugly start for Nevada as they turned the ball over twice on their first two possessions. Sherfield made a jumper to get Nevada on the board with 18 minutes left in the second half. Cambridge Jr. connected on a three but this was not enough. 

Colorado State took full advantage of the Wolf Pack’s lack of offense in the second half and they increased their lead 53-36 at the 15 minute mark. Cambridge Jr. tried to get his team back in the game with three free throws and a jumper. Nevada’s offense finally started to show up with some good passing and consistent scoring from the team. 

Nevada tried to mount a comeback with a three from Coleman and a dunk from Hymes. This was followed by buckets from Blackshear, Sherfield, and Hymes. The success from their late second half scoring burst had brought the lead down to ten. The Wolf Pack were down 60-70 with five minutes left in the game. 

Cambridge Jr. continued his marvelous game knocking down back to back threes which dropped the lead to eight. However, Nevada was unable to close the gap as the high powered Colorado State offense kept putting points on the board. Nevada did get some late buckets with a Sherfield layup and another Cambridge Jr. three with a minute left in the game but their comeback was unsuccessful. Nevada did not string together enough meaningful stops and they lost 82-72. 

This disappointing Nevada basketball season continues to get worse as Nevada struggles to find a win. An outstanding Cambridge Jr. performance is overshadowed by another loss. Nevada needs to play better on both ends of the court and they need more consistent play from their bench. The Wolf Pack will hopefully turn the page next game since Cambridge Jr. is on fire right now and Sherfield will have a game under his belt since returning from injury. Nevada’s next game is at Utah State on Feb.11.