Nevada (5-4) vs. Loyola Marymount (6-4)
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021
Reno, Nev. - Lawlor Events Center

TV: CBS Sports Network (PxP: Chris Lewis; Analyst: King McClure)
Radio: ESPN 94.5 FM (PxP: John Ramey; Analyst: Len Stevens)

RENO, Nev. - Nevada (5-4) hits the middle of its three-game, pre-holiday home stand Saturday night, hosting Loyola Marymount for an 8 p.m. tip.

Saturday's contest will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, with Chris Lewis and Michael O'Donnell on the call.  The game will also be carried over the airwaves in Reno on ESPN Radio 94.5 FM and online through the Varsity Network app, with John Ramey and Len Stevens calling the action.

UP NEXT
The Wolf Pack wraps its pre-holiday home stand, and its regular-season, non-conference slate, Tuesday night (Dec. 21)with a 7 p.m. tip against Grand Canyon.

SCOUTING LMU
Loyola Marymount (6-4) had its two-game winning streak snapped last time out, falling 63-58 to New Mexico State last Saturday, Dec. 11.

The Lions average 69.1 points per game, while allowing 69.8 to opponents. LMU is led on the court by the play of Eli Scott (17.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 52.9 FG pct.) and Joe Quintana (15.1 ppg, 33 3-pointers, 44.0 3FG pct.).

LAST TIME OUT
Nevada returned from a 16-day period between games Wednesday night, rolling to a 98-62 victory over Division II Minnesota Duluth.

For the fourth-straight game, both guards Grant Sherfield and Desmond Cambridge Jr. scored at least 20 points, with Sherfield just missing Nevada's first triple-double in nearly 43 years. Sherfield finished the night with 28 points, a career-high 12 rebounds, and nine assists. Cambridge Jr. scored 25 points while going 6-for-9 from behind the arc.

Kenan Blackshear made his second start of the season, in place of an injured Warren Washington, and posted his first double-double as a member of the Wolf Pack, going for 13 points and 11 rebounds.

GETTING BACK TO ACTION
Wednesday night against Minnesota Duluth, Nevada played its first game since Nov. 30's matchup with Pepperdine.

The Pack was scheduled to make a two-game road trip to the Dallas Metroplex area, visiting North Texas (Dec. 4) and UT Arlington (Dec. 7), but the games, and trip, were canceled due to COVID protocols within the Nevada program.

TRIPLE-DOUBLE BARELY ELUDES SHERFIELD (AGAIN)
Preseason Mountain West Player of the Year Grant Sherfield, in each of Nevada's past two games, has come agonizingly close to recording the Pack's first triple-double in nearly 43 years (Jan. 25, 1979 - Johnny High with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, against Southern Oregon).

Nov. 30 against Pepperdine, Sherfield finished with 24 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds, and Wednesday night against Minnesota Duluth, he ended the night with 28 points, a career-high 12 rebounds, and nine assists.

Against the Bulldogs, Sherfield grabbed his 10th rebound, and stood at nine assists, with 3:10 remaining. However, he could not get that 10th assists, and the triple-double, over the remaining Wolf Pack possessions before coming out for good with 42 seconds remaining.

SHERFIELD, CAMBRIDGE JR. GOING FOR 20 (AGAIN)
The Nevada guard duo of Grant Sherfield and Desmond Cambridge Jr. has been on fire over the Pack's current four-game winning streak, as each player has scored at least 20 points in each win of the run.

The most recent entry to the streak came Wednesday night, as Sherfield scored a game-high 28 points, and Cambridge Jr., behind six 3-pointers, finished with 25.

Over this winning streak, Sherfield has averaged 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.50 assists, while shooting 58.2 percent (39-for-67) from the field. Cambridge Jr., meanwhile, is averaging 22.0 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 52.4 percent (33-for-63) from the field and 43.6 percent (17-for-39) from 3-point range over the run.

THE BIG FOUR
Nevada's scoring depth has been on display over the first seven games of the season, as the Pack has four current players averaging double-figures in scoring.

Guards Grant Sherfield (19.6 ppg) and Desmond Cambridge Jr. (18.3 ppg) lead the way, with Warren Washington third at 12.4 points per game and Will Baker at 12.1 points per game.

Together, the group is shooting 51.5 percent (207-for-402). Sherfield and Cambridge Jr., specifically, account for 37.9 of Nevada's 80.4 points per game, and the pair has made just under half (126 of 265) of the team's field goals, including 63.5 percent (47 of 74) of the team's 3-pointers.