Nevada Men’s Basketball’s 2021-22 non-conference slate will include six home games at Lawlor Event Center, as well as three games at the 2021 Crossover Classic at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The schedule will include three NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago: Eastern Washington (Nov. 9), North Texas (Dec. 4), and Grand Canyon (Dec. 21).
Season tickets are scheduled to go on sale to the general public in August, however Wolf Pack fans can place a deposit now to hold a spot for select-a-seat at nevadawolfpack.com/mbbdeposit.
“Our guys have had an outstanding summer, and I’m pleased with our overall offseason development,” said Nevada head coach Steve Alford. “Our non-conference schedule will be back to a full 13 games. The challenge is playing seven games away from home, which should prepare our team for Mountain West play.”
The Pack, which went 16-10 (10-7 MW) last season, and reached the Mountain West Tournament semifinals, will open the 2021-22 campaign with a two-game home stand, hosting the defending Big Sky champion Eagles Nov. 9 at Lawlor, with San Diego coming to town Nov. 12.
Following the season-opening stand, Nevada will head to the Bay Area to face a pair of WCC teams in Santa Clara (Nov. 16) and San Francisco (Nov. 18), before heading to Sioux Falls for the 2021 Crossover Classic from Nov. 22-24. The event will feature Washington, George Mason, and South Dakota State, in addition to the Pack, with game times and matchups to be announced later.
The Pack closes the season’s opening month back at Lawlor, hosting Pepperdine Nov. 30, before hitting the road for the final time of the non-conference season. Nevada will head to Texas to face C-USA champion and 2021 NCAA Tournament second-round participant North Texas Dec. 4, before wrapping the trip Dec. 7 against UTA.
The non-conference slate comes to a close with a three-game stand at Lawlor featuring UMD (Dec. 15), LMU (Dec. 18), and WAC champion and NCAA Tournament participant Grand Canyon (Dec. 21).
Head coach Steve Alford begins his third season at the Nevada helm, returning eight players, including Mountain West Newcomer of the Year point guard Grant Sherfield and All-Mountain West shooting guard Desmond Cambridge, Jr.
Sherfield, who was named All-District by the USBWA and NABC as well as to the All-Mountain West First Team, finished the season with team-best figures of 18.6 points, 6.08 assists, and 1.62 steals per game. The Wichita State transfer made a significant impact in his debut season with the Pack, and established himself as one of the top point guards in the nation, leading the Mountain West in assists and steals, and ranking second in scoring and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.51). He showed a flair for the dramatic, as well, hitting three game-winning shots in the final seconds for Nevada during the season.
Cambridge, Jr. also earned all-district recognition from the NABC, finishing the season with 16.3 points per game and a team-best 69 3-pointers, ranking fifth and third, respectively, in those categories among Mountain West players.
Also set to return in 2021-22 are forwards Warren Washington (10.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg in 2020-21) and K.J. Hymes (6.3 ppg, 22 blocks), along with freshman starters Tré Coleman (5.0 ppg, 20 steals) and Daniel Foster (4.3 ppg, 48.6 FG pct. over 11 games).
Headlining the Pack newcomers for 2021-22 are five-star recruit Will Baker, a seven-foot center transfer from Texas, along with AJ Bramah (21.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg for Robert Morris in 2020-21) and Kenan Blackshear (9.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg at FAU in 2020-21).
2021-22 Nevada Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule (all times TBA, home games in bold)
Nov. 9 – Eastern Washington
Nov. 12 – San Diego
Nov. 16 – at Santa Clara
Nov. 18 – at San Francisco
2021 Crossover Classic at Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Nov. 22 – vs. TBD
Nov. 23 – vs. TBD
Nov. 24 – vs. TBD
Nov. 30 – Pepperdine
Dec. 4 – at North Texas
Dec. 7 – at UTA
Dec. 15 – UMD
Dec. 18 – LMU
Dec. 21 – Grand Canyon
