Nevada seniors Jerod Lucas, with ball, and Kenan Blackshear have been two of the Wolf Pack’s leaders all season. They will get one more shot at the NCAA Tournament, beginning Thursday with a first-round game against Dayton.
Nevada Appeal file
The Nevada basketball team, in the midst of its most successful season under fifth-year coach Steve Alford, will get the chance to make more memories.
The Wolf Pack (26-7) was granted an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, three days after a disappointing loss in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas.
Nevada will play Dayton on Thursday at Salt Lake City in the first round of the tournament. The Flyers, out of the Atlantic 10, enter the game at 24-7.
The Pack was granted a No. 10 seed in the West Region by the tournament’s selection committee.
SEASON RECAP
Nevada won its most regular-season games in its five years under Alford, finishing second in the final Mountain West standings (at 13-5, trailing only Utah State’s 14-4).
The Wolf Pack won key non-conference games against Washington, TCU, and Georgia Tech, then went on to challenge for the MW title. Nevada beat Utah State in the teams’ only meeting (77-63 on Feb. 6), swept UNLV, and split with San Diego State and Boise State.
In its most recent outing, though, Nevada was stunned by Colorado State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament, losing 85-78 on Thursday.
Individually, the Pack’s leaders this season have been shooting guard Jarod Lucas (17.8 ppg), point guard Kenan Blackshear (4.9 apg), and center/forward Nick Davidson (7.3 rpg).
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
It is the second consecutive trip to the NCAAs for Nevada, which lost in a “First Four” game last season to Arizona State.
Overall, the Wolf Pack has appeared in 10 previous NCAA Tournaments, compiling a 6-10 record and reaching the regional semifinals in both 2004 and 2018.
Alford has led teams into the tournament 13 times, reaching March Madness with Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico, UCLA, and Nevada. He is one of four coaches to lead five teams into the NCAA Tournament.
MOUNTAIN WEST
The Mountain West placed six teams into the NCAA Tournament, including automatic qualifier New Mexico, which won the conference tournament title on Saturday.
The conference’s at-large selections were Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State, Colorado State — the final team selected for the 68-team field —and Boise State.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Who: Nevada (26-7) vs. Dayton (24-7)
When: Thursday, 1:30 p.m.
Where: Salt Lake City
TV: TBS
Radio: 94.5 FM (John Ramey)
