Nevada (4-1) at Grand Canyon (3-0)
Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 - 6 p.m. PT
Phoenix, Ariz. - GCU Arena
Watch | Listen | Live Stats

RENO, Nev. - Nevada (4-1) begins its second road trip of the campaign, a weekend wraparound, Friday night at 6 p.m. PT at Grand Canyon (3-0).

ON THE AIR
Friday's matchup will be available for streaming on ESPN3 and GCUTV, and on the radio on FOX 630 KPLY with Alex Margulies on the call. The radio broadcast will also be carried online at TuneIn.com and on the TuneIn app.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday's contest will be the second all-time meeting between the Pack and the Lopes. Nevada captured the first matchup nearly two years ago to the day of this season's meeting, beating Grand Canyon, 74-66, Dec. 9, 2018, at Lawlor Events Center.

UP NEXT
Nevada will head to Southern California to finish off the trip with Monday's 6 p.m. contest at San Diego. The Toreros opened their 2020-21 campaign Wednesday with an 83-56 loss at UCLA.

SCOUTING THE LOPES
Grand Canyon (3-0) brings its unblemished record into Friday's contest, although it will be the Lopes' first action since an 88-49 home victory over Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 1.

The Lopes have outscored their three opponents this season by an average margin of 28.7 points, and are averaging 83.7 points per game. GCU is making just over half of its field-goal attempts on the season (50.8 percent), but is hitting at clips of just 28.1 percent and 56.4 percent from 3-point range and the free-throw line, respectively.

Senior centers Alessandro Lever and Asbjørn Midtgaard lead the Lopes in scoring, averaging 16.7 and 14.3 points per game, respectively, while shooting a combined 63.9 percent (39-for-61) from the field. Midtgaard has made his home in the paint, shooting 71.4 percent through the first three games, and averaging 13.0 rebounds per contest.

On the perimeter, sophomore point guard Jovan Blacksher, Jr., paces the backcourt with 9.0 points, 6.33 assists, and 2.00 assists per game.

HOMETOWN TRIP
The first leg of the current trip marks a hometown return for a trio of Pack players.

K.J. Hymes, DeAndre Henry, and Alem Huseinovic return to their roots for Friday's game against GCU, where Hymes was a second-team All-4A selection as a junior for St. Mary's High School in 2016-17, before averaging a double-double of 12.1 points and 10.2 rebounds a game as a senior at Hillcrest Prep. Henry, meanwhile, played his senior season at PHHoenix Prep in 2019-20, averaging a double-double of 17.4 points and 11.3 rebounds a game, after three seasons at Mountain Point High School.

Huseinovic played alongside Henry at PHHoenix Prep last year, averaging 14.5 points and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 43 percent from 3-point range and 91 percent from the line. This came after a junior season at Chaparral High School in which he helped the Firebirds to the 6A Arizona title.

TEAMMATES LAST YEAR, OPPONENTS THIS YEAR
While they won't (shouldn't?) matchup against one another, position-wise, Friday, Nevada point guard Grant Sherfield and GCU center Asbjørn Midtgaard will be in the unique position of being on opposite benches a season after sharing a bench as teammates at Wichita State.

Last year, Sherfield appeared in 30 games, making 12 starts, as a freshman for the Shockers, averaging 8.1 points and 2.9 assists per game. Midtgaard, a senior with GCU, appeared in 66 games, with four starts, over three seasons with the Shockers (2017-20), averaging 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds over 8.0 minutes per game in 2019-20.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Pack has enjoyed some good hunting on the road so far this season, winning each of its two games outside of Reno. That 2-0 mark helped the Pack capture the Golden Window Classic title in Lincoln, Neb., from Nov. 25-26, and featured a key true road win at Nebraska (69-66 on Nov. 26).

A win Friday at GCU would get the Pack up to 3-0 away from home this season, and almost halfway to its run of seven-straight wins away from Lawlor to open the 2018-19 campaign.

SHERFIELD SHINES
Sophomore point guard Grant Sherfield has enjoyed a strong debut in a Nevada uniform, leading the Pack in scoring (16.4 ppg) and assists (4.80 apg) while hitting 44.4 percent of his 3-point attempts (8-for-18).

Sherfield, who transferred to Nevada from Wichita State and was granted immediate eligibility ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, needed just two games to create a memorable moment for Wolf Pack fans, pulling up and hitting the game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the arc with six seconds remaining in Nov. 26's 69-66 win at Nebraska.

He has scored in double figures in each of the first five contests, and posted his first 20-point effort in a Nevada uniform this past Monday, hitting the mark right on the nose on 6-for-10 shooting with six rebounds and eight assists.

STRONG TRANSFER CONTRIBUTION
Sherfield isn't the only transfer shining for the Wolf Pack early on, as redshirt junior guard Desmond Cambridge, Jr. (Brown), and redshirt sophomore forward Warren Washington (Oregon State) have made solid debuts.

Cambridge, Jr., has started all five contests, and is averaging 9.4 points and 2.80 assists. Along with Sherfield, he was part of the newcomer contributions which helped push the Pack past Nebraska Nov. 26 in Lincoln. In that 69-66 win, Cambridge, Jr., scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. He has scored at least seven points in all five Nevada games.

Washington, who, like Cambridge, Jr., sat out the 2019-20 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules and has started all five games this season, has put together a productive last three games, averaging 12.3 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 70.6 percent (12-for-17) from the field and 72.2 percent from the line during that span.