Shaw shines in Pack debut
The Nevada basketball team won 89-67 in its exhibition debut Saturday against San Francisco State.
“We had a very vanilla package,” Nevada coach Mark Fox said of his team’s strategy.
Nevada’s game plan lacked its normal attack: guard Armon Johnson only played 16 minutes, all nine players on the team received at least nine minutes of play and the team’s leading scorer was a junior college transfer.
“The defense wasn’t very good,” Fox said. “We didn’t spend time preparing. We made awful mistakes.”
San Francisco State, a member of the California Collegiate Conference, played tough with Nevada.
The Gators stayed within three points of the Wolf Pack, 24-21, with eight minutes left in the first half. But a Ray Kramer three-pointer extended the lead to 27-21, sparking a 22-4 Wolf Pack run to end the first half.
The Gators pulled within 10 points with 12 minutes left in the second half, but the Wolf Pack stretched its lead with seven straight free-throw shots. Nevada would not look back.
The Wolf Pack won with strong rebounding (42-29); a large free-throw advantage (28-12) and help from a new star on the team.
Nevada guard Joey Shaw led the Wolf Pack with 25 points.
“It was good to be back,” Shaw said. “It’s been a long time.”
Shaw’s play was showcased in his aggressiveness.
With 8:14 left in the game, Shaw jumped over a San Francisco State player for a rebound. The Nevada guard missed the ball and crashed on a photographer underneath the net.
Shaw’s aggressiveness made it seem like he didn’t look intimidated by his recent return to Division I basketball.
“The game is always slow to me,” said Shaw, who spent his freshman season at Indiana University. “It didn’t really affect me.”
Shaw transferred from College of Southern Idaho during the off-season to Nevada.
Shaw was 10-of-20 from the field for the Wolf Pack. He was also 13-of-14 from the free-throw line.
Shaw wasn’t the only player on the team who contributed in the exhibition.
Four Wolf Pack players scored in double digits: Luke Babbitt (16), Malik Cooke (14), Shaw (25) and Kraemer (12).
Armon Johnson scored six points. He played 13 minutes in the first half, but only three minutes in the second half.
“He chose not to play,” Fox said. “But he’ll be back.”
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on Saturday, November 8th, 2008 at 11:18 pm and is filed under Breaking News, Men's Basketball, Sports.
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