The Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball team’s comeback came up just short in the final regular game of the season, losing to the San Diego State Aztecs by a score of 79-78.
The first half of the game was pretty much dead even between the two teams. When one team got on a run, the other would quickly answer back. San Diego State had the first points of the game off a hook shot from Nathan Mensah. Nevada kept up with the Aztecs for most of the half.
Both teams had a few turnovers in the first half, with both Nevada and SDSU committing seven. One thing that the Wolf Pack had trouble with in the first half was points in the paint, with the Aztecs scoring 20 points in the paint compared to just six from Nevada.
The second half would be the turning point of the game for San Diego State, as they would start the second half on a 10-2 run. Momentum started to swing in favor of the Aztecs until Nevada would go on a rally of their own. The Wolf Pack went on to force 10 turnovers in the second half which completely changed how the game ended up.
Nevada was down by as much as 18 points and rallied back to make it a one-point game with 15 seconds remaining when senior Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a three, forcing SDSU to take a timeout. Unfortunately for Nevada, Grant Sherfield’s shot to win the game was blocked by Keshad Johnson to seal the victory for San Diego State.
San Diego State was led by Matt Bradley who had 24 points shooting 6-10 from the field and going 11-12 from the free throw line. He also had six rebounds on the night. Elsewhere, Trey Pulliam finished with 12 points and Nathan Mensah ended up with 10 points and six rebounds.
Grant Sherfield led all scorers for Nevada with 30 points and seven assists. The lone senior on the team Desmond Cambridge Jr. finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Warren Washington led the Pack in rebounds with 10.
Next up for Nevada is the Mountain West Tournament which is being held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. All teams in the Mountain West will compete to see which team gets the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Nevada’s first game will be on Wednesday, March 9, against the New Mexico Lobos. Nevada is the #8 seed and New Mexico is the #9 seed.
Jake Gardner can be reached at kelseymiddleton@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush