#21/20 NEVADA WOLF PACK (4-0) vs. SANTA CLARA BRONCOS (2-1)
GAME NO. 5
Sat., Nov. 25, 2006 - 7 p.m. PT - Leavey Center (4,500) - Santa Clara, Calif.
TELEVISION: KAME-TV 21 (Randy Rosenbloom & Dave Bollwinkel)
RADIO: Wolf Pack Sports Network (ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno)
Chris Healy (play-by-play) & Jason Glover (analyst)
Pregame, 6:35 p.m. PT
SERIES HISTORY: Santa Clara leads the series 34-24.
LAST MEETING: Santa Clara won the last meeting between the two teams, turning in a 67-62 victory on Dec. 14, 2002 in Santa Clara, Calif.
Following an 83-64 win over UC Irvine on Tuesday at Lawlor Events Center, the three-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Nevada Wolf Pack (4-0) hits the road for three consecutive games, starting with a contest at Santa Clara on Saturday, Nov. 25. Saturday’s game at the Broncos’ Leavey Center will tip off at 7 p.m. Pacific Time and will be broadcast locally by Nevada’s new television partner, KAME-TV 21. Ranked 21st in the latest Associated Press poll and 20th in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll, Nevada has won its first four games to open the year and brings a six-game road winning streak into Saturday’s game with Santa Clara. Following the tilt with the Broncos, the Wolf Pack heads to Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday, Nov. 29 before ending its three-game streak away from Lawlor Events Center vs. California on Dec. 3 in the Pete Newell Challenge in San Jose.
The Wolf Pack returns four starters from last year’s 27-6 team, including preseason All-American senior forward Nick Fazekas, senior guard Kyle Shiloh and junior guards Ramon Sessions and Marcelus Kemp. Under the direction of third-year head coach Mark Fox, the team also features four other returning letterwinners and six new faces (one redshirt freshman and five true freshmen). Nevada won its third straight WAC regular-season title last season and earned the team’s third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, garnering the league’s automatic NCAA bid after winning the 2006 WAC Tournament.
ROAD WARRIORS
Nevada’s Nov. 15 win at Oregon State marked the team’s sixth consecutive regular-season road win. The Wolf Pack turned in a 10-3 record on the road last season, including a 6-2 WAC mark, and has tallied a 22-5 record in road contests in the last two-plus seasons. This year, Nevada will open the season with four of its first seven games away from Lawlor Events Center, including road games at Oregon State (Nov. 15), Santa Clara (Nov. 25) and Louisiana-Lafayette (Nov. 29) and a neutral-site contest against Cal in the Pete Newell Challenge (Dec. 3).
Last year, Nevada opened the year with five of its first six games away from the friendly confines of the Lawlor Events Center (four road wins and a loss on a neutral floor vs. NCAA runner-up UCLA) and saw streaks of 14 straight road wins and 10 consecutive WAC road victories, which dated back to the 2004-05 season, come to an end.
ABOUT THE SANTA CLARA BRONCOS
Santa Clara has turned in a 2-1 record so far this season, opening the year with victories over Holy Names (83-51) and Utah (83-72) before dropping a 73-48 decision at California on Nov. 20. Under the direction of 15th-year head coach Dick Davey (232-181 record at SCU), the Broncos returned four starters and nine letterwinners from last year’s 13-16 squad. Santa Clara finished in a tie for sixth in the West Coast Conference last season with a 5-9 league mark.
Senior forward Sean Denison (6-11, 245) is leading the Broncos in scoring this season at 16.0 points per game, including 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting in Santa Clara’s win over Utah and 16 in the loss at Cal. Junior forward Mitch Henke (6-7, 220) and sophomore center John Bryant (6-11, 305) are the Broncos’ top rebounders, pulling down 5.3 and 5.0 boards per contest, respectively.
IN THE SERIES
Santa Clara leads the all-time series with Nevada 34-24 and has earned victories in three of the last four games between the two schools. The Broncos won the last meeting, turning a 67-62 victory on Dec. 14, 2002 at Santa Clara. Santa Clara also has won the last eight games in the its own building with Nevada’s last victory at Santa Clara coming in the form of a 72-71 win on Dec. 15, 1980.
LAST TIME OUT
Senior Nick Fazekas had 29 points and 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double in four games, and junior Marcelus Kemp added 23 points to lead the Wolf Pack past UC Irvine 83-64 Tuesday night at Lawlor Events Center.
Senior Kyle Shiloh added 15 points for Nevada, which went on a 10-0 run early in the second half to win its 12th straight at home. The Wolf Pack shot 11-of-19 on 3-pointers, including four by Shiloh, three by Fazekas and two by Kemp. Junior Ramon Sessions added seven points and a season-best seven assists for Nevada. Fazekas shot 8-of-14 from the field Tuesday night, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts, and made 10 of 13 free throws.
The Anteaters trailed 42-36 when Patrick Sanders opened the second half with a pair of free throws, but Shiloh countered with consecutive 3-pointers and lobbed a pass to Fazekas for a dunk. Sessions then stole a pass and fed Kemp for a layup to cap a 10-0 run to give Nevada a 56-42 lead with 16:02 remaining.
Freshman Chad DeCasas made a 3-pointer and four consecutive free throws to cut the lead to 56-43 at 13:41. But Shiloh made another from behind the arc and Sessions converted a three-point play after he was fouled on a fast break to make it 63-45 at 11:36.
McIntosh followed a layup with a pair of free throws to pull to 74-61 at 4:22, but the Anteaters got no closer. Sanders finished the game with 15 points, Adam Templeton 13 and Marcus McIntosh 10 for UC Irvine, which committed 17 turnovers to Nevada's eight.
Fazekas, senior Denis Ikovlev and forward David Ellis hit 3-pointers during a 3-minute span to put Nevada ahead 19-11 in the first half. Ikovlev scored inside off a pass from Fazekas to cap a 9-0 run for a 25-11 lead 8:17 before the half.
Sanders converted a three-point play, then made a 3. Darren Fells added another to pull the Anteaters to 35-28 at 2:11 Kemp was fouled while scoring on a double pump inside and made the free throw for a 38-28 advantage, but Chuma Awaji's 3-pointer at the buzzer cut Nevada's lead to 42-34 at halftime.
GOOD STARTS
Nevada has turned in a 4-0 record to start the 2006-07 season, while with the team’s Nov. 18 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Nevada won its first three games for the third consecutive season. The Wolf Pack won its first three games in 2004-05, while last year, the team started the season with six consecutive victories and won 10 of its first 11 contests.
IN THE RANKINGS
Nevada has been featured in the national top 25 in the majority of the preseason polls again this year, climbing three spots in both rankings this week (21st in the Nov. 20 Associated Press poll and 20th in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ rankings.
The Wolf Pack appeared at 24th in the preseason Associated Press poll, released on Nov. 6, and checked in at 25th in the first ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll, released on Oct. 27. That marks the second consecutive season Nevada has been ranked in the preseason by both of the major polls after checking in at 22nd (AP) and 25th (coaches) prior to the 2005-06 season. The Wolf Pack spent 11 weeks ranked in one of the two major national polls in 2005-06 and ended up ranked 20th in the final Associated Press poll of the year. In addition, Nevada has been picked to win the WAC and featured in the top 25 in the majority of the other preseason publications, including Lindy’s (19th), Street & Smith’s (20th), Sporting News (23rd), Collegehoopsnet.com (23rd) and CBS SportsLine (23rd).
FABULOUS FAZEKAS
The 2005 and 2006 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, senior forward Nick Fazekas returns for his senior year poised to finish his career as one of the most decorated players in school history. He is the preseason favorite to win his third consecutive WAC Player-of-the-Year honor and could become just the second player in league history to be named the WAC Player of the Year three times in his career (Utah's Keith Van Horn is the other).
A preseason first-team All-American by Athlon and Street & Smith's and one of 50 players on the preseason watch list for the prestigious John Wooden Award, Fazekas heads into his senior year ranked in the Nevada career top 10 in just about every statistical category. The honorable-mention 2006-07 preseason Associated Press All-American scored 20 points in a Nov. 18 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff to become Nevada’s all-time leading scorer. He broke Edgar Jones’ 27-year-old record (1,877 points, 1975-79) and now has 1,909 career points, which also ranks 18th on the WAC’s career scoring lists. Fazekas has already set Nevada's career record for blocked shots with 149, overtaking Jones who had 142 in his career, and ranks in the Wolf Pack career top five for rebounding (third-959), field goals made (second-689) and free throws made (tied for second-437).
Fazekas has turned in double-doubles in each of the first four games of the 2006-07 season. He scored 29 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes in the season opener against Alaska-Anchorage and then 19 points and matched his career bests with 18 rebounds Nov. 15 at Oregon State. He pulled down 17 rebounds to go along with his 20 points in just 21 minutes vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff and added 29 points and 14 rebounds Saturday vs. UC Irvine. Currently, Fazekas leads the WAC in scoring (22.7 points per game), rebounding (15.0 boards per game) and field goal percentage (65.5 percent, 36-55).
Fazekas turned in one of the finest seasons in school history in 2005-06. A third-team 2006 AP All-America selection, he led the WAC and ranked 16th in the nation in scoring with 21.8 points per game after pacing the conference with 20.7 points per game in 2004-05. With 721 points on the year, he also broke the school single-season scoring record, passing Ken Green’s 697 points in 1982-83. Fazekas finished first on the squad, second in the conference and 15th in the NCAA in rebounding with 10.4 boards per contest. He was one of 21 players in NCAA Division I basketball to average a double-double on the year. He knocked down 52.9 percent of his field goal attempts (268-507), which was good for fourth in the WAC, and finished second in the league and 41st in the nation in free throw shooting at 84.6 percent (154-182). Fazekas added a team-best 49 blocked shots (third in the WAC at 1.48 per game).
In addition to winning the 2006 WAC Player of the Year Award and being named to the All-WAC first team, both for the second straight year, Fazekas was one of 22 finalists on the national ballot for the 2006 John R. Wooden Award and was a finalist for the Adolph Rupp Award. He was recognized on several All-America teams in addition to his AP honor, including ESPN.com (second team), collegeinsider.com, Rivals.com (third team) and Collegehoopsnet.com (third team). Fazekas was named the 2006 United States Basketball Writers Association District VIII Player of the Year and earned National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 13 first-team accolades.
WOLF PACK SHOOTING THE BALL WELL
Nevada has shot the ball well from the field so far this year, ranking among the WAC’s leaders in both field goal and three-point percentage. The Wolf Pack leads the league in three-point percentage, knocking down 48.6 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc (36-74), and is second in the WAC in field goal percentage at 50.4 percent (118-234). Last year, Nevada shot 45.6 percent from the field and made 36.0 percent of its three-point attempts.
Nevada has bested the 50-percent shooting mark in three of its four games this year, including a season-high 51.8 percentage Nov. 18 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The team has made at least seven three-pointers in each game so far this year, knocking down a season-high 11 treys and turning in a season-best 57.9 shooting effort from beyond the arc Tuesday vs. UC Irvine.
KEMP ON A ROLL
Marcelus Kemp is a great shooter who can get on a roll, and that is just what the junior guard has done so far this season. Kemp has made 60.0 percent of his three-point attempts this season (15-25), good for first in the WAC statistics, and tied his career best with five three-pointers made in each of Nevada’s first two victories. He is second on the team and third in the WAC in scoring at 21.0 points per game, turning in a season-high 29 points, including 5-of-6 three-pointers, Nov. 15 at Oregon State. Most recently, Kemp scored 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting with two three-pointers in Tuesday’s victory over UC Irvine.
Last season, Kemp finished second on the team and 11th in the WAC with 15.0 points per contest. He led the team with 52 treys made and shot 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.
TOUGH DEFENSE
So far this season, Nevada is holding its opponents to league lows with just 59.0 points and 26.5 rebounds per game, including a season-low 45 points and 24 rebounds Nov. 15 by Oregon State. That marked the fewest points since the Wolf Pack held Idaho to just 44 in a 70-44 victory on Jan. 12, 2006, while Nevada has now won 42 of its last 43 games when holding its opponent to 60 points or less, including a 13-1 record last season.
Nevada is also allowing teams to shoot just 37.1 percent from the field (third in the league) and 36.4 percent from three-point land (tied for fourth in the WAC). Oregon State made just 29.0 percent of its attempts and 14. 3 percent of its three-point attempts on Nov. 15.
The Wolf Pack led the WAC in field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense, ranked second in scoring defense and ended up third in rebounding defense in 2005-06. Nevada held teams to just 63.7 points per game, including a season-low 44 Jan. 12 by Idaho, and 34.1 rebounds per contest. The Wolf Pack allowed teams to shoot just 30.4 percent from beyond the arc and 40.1 percent from the field. The team also ranked 28th in the nation in field goal percentage defense. Nevada held 20 of its 33 opponents under 40 percent from the field in 2005-06, including a season-low 29.6 percent Jan. 12 by Idaho.
WINNING AT LAWLOR
Nevada is riding a 12-game home winning streak dating back to last year and has turned in a 48-5 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.906 winning percentage). In 2005-06, the Wolf Pack turned in a 17-1 record at Lawlor Events Center, setting the school record for home victories in a single season. That bested the 15 victories the team turned in during the 2003-04 season. The Wolf Pack also turned in the second-best home winning percentage in school history in 2005-06 (.944), second only to the perfect 15-0 record the team turned in during that 2003-04 campaign. The Wolf Pack has won 73.4 percent of its games at Lawlor Events Center since it opened in 1983-84 (251-91 all-time).
Nevada was listed as having the best home-court advantage in the WAC in this year’s Street & Smith’s Basketball Preview.
PACK PICKED TO WIN WAC BY COACHES AND MEDIA
The Wolf Pack has been picked to win the Western Athletic Conference in 2006-07, while senior forward Nick Fazekas was named the Preseason WAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season by the league’s coaches and media. Nevada received seven first-place votes and 63 points in the poll of the league’s nine head coaches, while the team received 199 points and 17 of 23 first-place votes in the media poll. The coaches and media also picked All-WAC teams with Fazekas being named to the first team by both groups and junior forward Marcelus Kemp earning second-team honors from the league’s coaches.
WHO’S BACK
The Wolf Pack returns four starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year’s 27-6 team, including four of the team’s top five scorers, three of its top five rebounders and five of its top six assists leaders from one season ago. Returning starters include senior Nick Fazekas, senior guard Kyle Shiloh and junior guards Marcelus Kemp and Ramon Sessions. Other returning letterwinners include senior forward Denis Ikovlev, junior center David Ellis, junior guard Curry Lynch and sophomore guard Lyndale Burleson. Senior forward Demarshay Johnson returns but is academically ineligible for the first semester and may redshirt.
NEVADA NEWCOMERS
Nevada’s roster features six faces in five true freshmen and one redshirt freshman. Freshman guard Brandon Fields (6-4, 185) comes to Nevada after earning all-state and all-region honors at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas, while freshman forward Tyrone Hanson (6-6, 195) helped Bridgton (Maine) Academy to the New England Class A Prep Championship. Hanson is originally from New York City where he lettered all four years at St. Mary's High School. Originally from San Diego, Calif., freshman forward Matt LaGrone (6-8, 215) played basketball and football at McQueen High School in Reno last season and ranked third in the state in rebounding. A native of Flint, Mich., freshman forward JaVale McGee (6-11, 225) was the sixth-ranked player in the city of Chicago and earned second-team all-state honors at Hales Franciscan High School last year. His mother, Pamela, was a Kodak All-American who won NCAA titles at USC in 1983 and 1984, while his father, George Montgomery, played college basketball at Illinois and was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers. Redshirt freshman forward Richie Phillips (6-7, 220) will get his chance this year after redshirting in his first year at Nevada. He was a teammate of sophomore Lyndale Burleson at Franklin High School in Seattle, where he averaged 14 points and nine rebounds as a senior. Freshman forward Adam Carp (6-7, 188) is a walk-on who comes to Nevada from Clayton Valley High School in Clayton, Calif., and will redshirt this year.
NEVADA IN SEASON OPENERS
Including a Nov. 10 victory over Alaska-Anchorage, Nevada has now won its last four season openers and 12 of the last 13, dating back to the 1994-95 season. The Wolf Pack now holds a 52-42 all-time record in season openers. Last year, Nevada turned in an 82-74 win over Sacramento State on Nov. 19, 2005 at Lawlor Events Center. In 2004-05, Nevada downed Colorado-Colorado Springs 88-33 on Nov. 20, 2004 to give Mark Fox his first win as a collegiate head coach. Last year, the Wolf Pack opened the season with six consecutive victories, hitting the road for four of the first six games of the campaign.
NEVADA NOTCHES THIRD STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
Including last season’s 27-6 record, Nevada has won at least 25 games in each of the last three seasons (25-9 in 2003-04, 25-7 in 2004-05, 27-6 in 2005-06). The Wolf Pack’s 27 victories last year marked the second-most wins in school history, just one shy of the single-season record. Head coach Jake Lawlor's 1945-46 squad turned in a school-record 28 victories (28-5 overall record that year). In addition to being the team’s third consecutive 20-win campaign, last season also marked the eighth in school history.
EARLY SIGNEES
Malik Cooke of Charlotte, N.C., and Armon Johnson of Reno, Nev., have signed national letters of intent to study and play basketball at the University of Nevada beginning in 2007-08, third-year head coach Mark Fox announced on Nov. 10.
A 6-5, 190-pound forward, Cooke is an all-state and all-league selection at Christ School in Arden, N.C. He averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds last year, while as a sophomore in 2004-05, he helped lead his team to a state title. He earned team MVP honors in 2005-06 after leading the Greenies to an 18-14 record, a tie for second place in the conference and a berth in the North Carolina state tournament.
Johnson is a 6-3, 190-pound guard out of Hug High School in Reno. Last season, he was named the Northern 4A Region Co-Player of the Year. He led the Northern Region in scoring at 30.4 points per game to go along with 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game. A first-team all-state selection, Johnson led the Hug Hawks to the Sierra League championship and the Class 4A state semifinals last season.
NEWS AND NOTES
- Over the last four-plus seasons, Nevada has turned in a 100-36 overall mark (.735), which is tied for the most wins and is the second-best winning percentage of any WAC team during that time (second only to Utah State’s 99-31 record, .762). In conference games, the Wolf Pack has won 53 games, which is the most among league schools in that same time period. The next closest team is Fresno State, which has won 40 league contests.
- Senior Kyle Shiloh made 4-of-7 three-pointers and turned in 15 points (both season highs for him) in Tuesday night’s victory over UC Irvine. Shiloh turned in the second-best three-point shooting season in school history last year, making 46.6 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc (48-103).
- The team is outrebounding its opponents by a WAC-best average of 19.5 boards per contest, including a 54-24 advantage over Oregon State on Nov. 15. Nevada also ranks in the top five in the WAC in all five rebounding categories so far this season: offense (2nd-41.5 rpg), defense (T1st-26.5), margin (1st-19.5), offensive (3rd-12.75) and defensive rebounds (2nd-28.75).
- The Wolf Pack is also scoring 81.2 points per game, good for second in the WAC, and is leading the conference in scoring margin at 22.2 points per contest.
- The Wolf Pack’s 2006-07 schedule features 16 games and contests with four schools that received NCAA Tournament bids one year ago (Cal, Pacific, Gonzaga and Utah State). The team will play in three special events this year: the Dec. 3 Pete Newell Challenge vs. California, the Battle in Seattle vs. Gonzaga on Dec. 30 and the ESPN BracketBusters on Feb. 17.
- Nevada has won 18 of its last 19 contests, dating back to an 82-79 victory at Boise State on Jan. 26, 2006.
- With 20 assists so far this year, including a season-high seven in Tuesday’s victory over UC Irvine, junior Ramon Sessions has moved into seventh place in the Nevada career record books with 339 assists in just 67 career games (5.1 assists per game). On the preseason watch list for the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, Sessions is pacing the Wolf Pack and tied for third in the WAC with 5.0 assists per game. Sessions led the team in assists in each of his first two years at Nevada. Last year, he ranked second in the WAC with 4.9 assists per game last year.
- Nevada has three players ranked in the top five in the WAC in assist-to-turnover and is also leading the league in the category as a team. Sophomore Lyndale Burleson is pacing the WAC at 3.75 (15 assists with just four turnovers), while senior Kyle Shiloh is third (3.40) and junior Ramon Sessions is fifth (2.50). As a team, Nevada has a 1.26 assist-to-turnover ratio (78 assists to 62 turnovers).
- Senior Kyle Shiloh is leading the WAC with an average of 2.75 steals per game so far this year. He had a season-best four steals in the season opener vs. Alaska-Anchorage and matched that Nov. 18 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Shiloh is also second on the team and fifth in the WAC in assists with 4.25 dishes per game.
- Senior Denis Ikovlev has started each of the first four games of this year (his first career starts) and is averaging 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. He turned in nine points and five rebounds (both career highs) Nov. 10 against Alaska-Anchorage and adding five points and a career best-tying five boards Nov. 15 at Oregon State. Ikovlev has made a three-pointer in each of the first four games this year.
- Third-year head coach Mark Fox is the first coach in school history to lead his squad to back-to-back 20-win seasons. He holds a 56-13 career record in his three seasons at the helm of the Wolf Pack program. Fox has been named the Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year in each of his first two seasons as Nevada’s head coach.
- Five Nevada players made their Wolf Pack regular-season collegiate debuts in the team’s Nov. 10 season opener vs. Alaska-Anchorage, including true freshmen Brandon Fields, Tyrone Hanson, Matt LaGrone and JaVale McGee and redshirt freshman Richie Phillips.
- 2005-06 marked the third straight year that the Wolf Pack took on the eventual national champion or runner-up at some point during the year (UCLA in the Wooden Classic). In 2003-04, the team faced eventual NCAA champion UConn during the regular season and fell to national runner-up Georgia Tech in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, while in 2004-05, Nevada fell to NCAA runner-up Illinois in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
Following Saturday’s game at Santa Clara, the Wolf Pack will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday, Nov. 29. Nevada then heads to the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., to take on California in the Pete Newell Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 3. The Wolf Pack returns to Reno on Saturday, Dec. 9, playing host to in-state rival UNLV to start a three-game homestand.
