LAS VEGAS – Nevada's "Big Three" of
Grant Sherfield,
Desmond Cambridge, Jr., and
Warren Washington combined for 75 points and shot 59 percent as the Pack rolled past No. 4 Boise State, 89-82, in Thursday's Mountain West Championship quarterfinal.
The Pack (16-9) advances to Friday's semifinals, where it will face top-seeded San Diego State at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Cambridge, Jr. set his Nevada career high with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including a 4-for-8 showing from deep. The redshirt junior guard scored 13 of Nevada's first 17 points, including the game's opening bucket as the Pack led wire-to-wire.
Sherfield continued his mastery over Boise State, scoring 26 points for his third 20-point performance against the Broncos in as many games this year. The Mountain West Newcomer of the Year was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep and went 8-for-14 from the field.
Washington matched his career best with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting, and posted his third double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds.
Nevada hit nine 3-pointers in a wild opening half in which the teams shot a combined 61.8 percent, taking a 51-45 lead into the break.
The Wolf Pack defense, after allowing Boise State to shoot 69.6 percent over the opening 20 minutes, locked down in the second half. Thanks in part to Cambridge's defensive work on Bronco All-Mountain West First-Teamer Derrick Alston (16 points on 6-for-13 shooting), the Pack held the Broncos to just 35.7 shooting over the final 20 minutes.
Boise State (18-8) hit its first two attempts of the second half, the latter a triple from Devonaire Doutrive, to pull to within a point at 51-50. But Cambridge, Jr. and Washington would score the next five points to spur an 11-2 Pack run that made it 62-52 with 14 minutes to play.
The Broncos would get as close as five twice more, the last time with just over five minutes to go, at 71-66, but again it was Cambridge, Jr. reigniting the Pack offense. He scored four points in a quick 6-1 Nevada run to get the lead back to 10 at 77-67 with three minutes to go, and Boise State never got closer than six the rest of the way.
Doutrive led the Broncos with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, with Emmanuel Akot adding 15 points.
