Not everything the Nevada Wolf Pack attempted Wednesday in its 78-57 loss to the San Diego State Aztecs failed.
The Wolf Pack, actually, was very successful at one of its most important objectives. They kept Jamaal Franklin from taking over the game.
The 2011-12 Mountain West Player of the Year never found his rhythm against the Pack, making just 5-of-14 shots -- 1-of-6 on 3-pointers -- and scoring just 14 points. Franklin also turned the ball over six times, his most since he had seven in the Aztecs third game of the year at Missouri State.
Pack head coach David Carter praised Wolf Pack guard Jerry Evans after the game for his defensive work on Franklin.
"Jerry did a good job," Carter said. "He made him work for everything he got."
Franklin has struggled his past two games. In a 58-45 loss at Wyoming on Jan. 19 and the Pack game, he is just 8-28 from the floor for 27 points combined with 10 turnovers.
The 6-foot-5 junior from Hawthorne, Calif., though, does have a knack of filling up the stat sheet. Even though his shot wasn't falling against the Pack, he still had five assists, four steals and seven rebounds.
Franklin, arguably the best all-around player in the conference, is now third in the Mountain West in scoring (17.8), sixth in assists (3.4), second in rebounding (9.6), fifth in steals (1.5) and seventh in blocks (1.1).
