FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (10-11, 3-4 WAC) vs. NEVADA WOLF PACK (12-7, 4-2 WAC)
GAME NO. 20
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 - 7:05 p.m. PT - Lawlor Events Center (11,536) - Reno, Nev.
TELEVISION: Bulldog Sports Network/ESPN FullCourt
Ralph Wood (play-by-play) & Bob Donewald (color)
RADIO: Wolf Pack Sports Network (ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno)
Dan Gustin (play-by-play) & Don Marchand (color)
Pregame, 6:35 p.m. PT
SERIES HISTORY: Nevada leads the all-time series 40-34.
LAST MEETING: Nevada won the last three meetings between the two teams, most recently turning in an 81-68 victory on Feb. 8, 2007 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif.
Following an 83-70 victory at Louisiana Tech last Saturday, the four-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Nevada Wolf Pack (12-7, 4-2 WAC) plays host to the Fresno State Bulldogs (10-11, 3-4) on Thursday at Lawlor Events Center. Thursday night’s game will tip off at 7:05 p.m. Pacific Time and will be televised on ESPN FullCourt. The Wolf Pack won back-to-back games on the road last week and looks to notch its first three-game WAC winning streak of the year. Nevada has won 10 of its last 13 games overall and 14 of its last 15 WAC home tilts. Thursday’s game is Nevada’s only home contest in a stretch of three of four road games. Following Thursday’s game with the Bulldogs, Nevada heads out on the road again to face league-leading Utah State on Saturday, Feb. 2 in Logan Utah.
Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Mark Fox, the Wolf Pack returned one starter and a total of eight letterwinners from last year’s school-record 29-5 team, including 2007 first-team All-WAC selection Marcelus Kemp. This year’s team also features four new faces (one redshirt freshman, a sophomore transfer and a pair of true freshmen). Last season, Nevada set the school single-season record for victories with 29, turned in its fourth consecutive year with at least 25 wins, won its fourth straight WAC regular-season title and earned the team’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
WINNING AT LAWLOR
The Wolf Pack has won 31 of its last 34 contests at Lawlor Events Center, including six of its last seven home games. With its 15-1 home record last year and a 7-2 mark this season, the Wolf Pack has turned in a 67-8 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.893 winning percentage). Nevada’s loss to California on Nov. 28 snapped the team’s 13-game home winning streak. The streak had been the longest active home winning streak in the WAC and the 12th-longest in the nation. Prior to the Cal loss, had not dropped a home contest since falling to UNLV on Dec. 9, 2006.
A Jan. 19 loss to Boise State snapped the Wolf Pack’s 14-game winning streak in WAC home games, including a perfect 8-0 mark one year ago and a 2-0 mark to start this season. That streak had dated back to January of 2006, while counting Nevada’s three wins in the 2006 WAC Tournament, the team had won its last 17 games against WAC opponents in the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center prior to the loss to the Broncos.
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 74.2 percent of its games at Lawlor Events Center since it opened in 1983-84 (268-93 all-time).
NEVADA TOP WAC TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS
Over the last four-plus seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 118-34 record, the best record of any WAC team during that time (.776 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 60 games, the most in that same time period.
ABOUT THE FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS
Fresno State brings a 10-11 overall mark into Thursday night’s game with Nevada and is sixth in the WAC standings with a 3-4 league record this season. The Bulldogs have lost three of their last four league games, most recently downing San Jose State 75-58 on Jan. 26 and falling to Boise State 90-89 in overtime on Jan. 28 (both games in Fresno). Under the direction of third-year head coach Steve Cleveland (47-34 record at FSU), Fresno State returned three starters and eight letterwinners from last year’s 22-10 team. The Bulldogs finished third in the WAC one season ago with a 10-6 league mark.
Senior guard Kevin Bell (5-10, 165) is leading five Bulldogs in double figures for scoring at 17. points per game. He ranks fifth in the WAC in scoring and is second in the league with 6.1 assists per contest. Senior guard Eddie Miller (6-3, 170) and junior guard Dwight O’Neil (6-3, 180) are adding 14.6 and 13.5 points per game, respectively. Tenth in the conference in scoring, Miller has also made a team-high 73 three-pointers and leads the WAC with 3.48 treys per game. Senior forward Hector Hernandez (6-9, 225) is the team’s top rebounder, checking in at fifth in the WAC with 6.8 boards per contest. Fresno State is one of the top defensive teams in the conference this season, ranking in the top three in scoring defense (1st, 67.5 ppg), three-point defense (1st, 33.2 percent) and field goal defense (3rd, 42.8 percent).
IN THE SERIES
Nevada holds a 40-34 advantage in the series with Fresno State, including wins in each of the last three games between the two teams and nine of the last 12. The Wolf Pack won both meetings last season, turning in an 85-75 victory on Jan. 18, 2007 in Reno and an 81-68 win on Feb. 8, 2007 in Fresno. Fresno State holds a slim 19-18 advantage in games played in Fresno, while Nevada has won three of the last four road contests in the series.
LAST TIME OUT
Senior David Ellis was 7-for-7 from the field for a career-best 14 points and Nevada's big men wore Louisiana Tech down in the second half for an 83-70 victory Saturday in Ruston, La.
Nevada hit a season-high 61 percent of its shots from the field and held Louisiana Tech to 38 percent shooting.
Louisiana Tech held a slim lead for much of the first half -- the biggest lead 18-14 with 11:48 left in the half -- until a 6-1 run put Nevada ahead. The teams traded baskets until a layup by sophomore Ray Kraemer started a 17-8 run to put the Wolf Pack ahead 42-31 at halftime.
Led by 7-footers Ellis and sophomore JaVale McGee, Nevada pulled away in the second half, leading by as many as 19 points. McGee and freshman Armon Johnson had 12 points each and senior Marcelus Kemp added 11.
Kyle Gibson led all scorers with 18 points, including 10 of 12 free throw attempts. JC Clark had 15 points and Drew Washington added 11.
KEMP PACING TEAM IN SCORING
A preseason candidate for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy, senior guard Marcelus Kemp is leading the team and ranked second in the WAC in scoring at 18.9 points per game (52nd in the NCAA). He has turned in at least 20 points in seven of the last 15 games, including a season-high 29 Jan. 12 at Hawai’i and 23 Jan. 19 vs. Boise State. He also had 19 points in two other games in that stretch. After leading the team in scoring in 17 games last season, including five of the final six, the sixth-year senior has paced the Wolf Pack in scoring in 11 of 19 games this season, including nine of the last 15. He turned in a team-high 26 points with a season-best four three-pointers Nov. 28 vs. California and notched his second career double-double with a game-best 20 points and a career-high-tying 12 rebounds Dec. 1 at Pacific. He also turned in 28 points in a Dec. 19 win over Colorado State (22 in the second half).
Kemp holds the team lead and ranks 10th in the WAC with 36 three-pointers made this year (1.89 per game). With four three-pointers Jan. 19 vs. the Broncos, he moved into sole possession of second place on the Nevada career list and now has 193 three-pointers made. He stands just 16 three-pointers behind Nevada’s career leader in the category, Terrence Green (209 treys, 1999-2003).
With his 11 points Saturday at Louisiana Tech, Kemp turned in his 29th consecutive game in double figures for scoring (all 19 this year) and the 81st of his career. Dating back to the latter part of the 2005-06 season, Kemp’s sophomore year, he has scored in double figures in 60 of the last 62 games. With 1,639 career points, he has moved past Ric Herrin who had 1,512 points in his career from 1989-93 for sixth place on Nevada’s all-time list and stands just three points out of the Nevada career top five for scoring.
DEALING WITH REJECTION
Sophomore JaVale McGee and the Wolf Pack continue to lead the WAC in blocked shots per game. McGee is averaging a league-best 3.05 blocks per game, 1.5 blocks per game ahead of New Mexico State’s Martin Iti (1.55), and is 10th in the NCAA in the category. He swatted a career-best seven shots Dec. 22 at Northern Iowa and has blocked six in two other games this season (Nov. 18 vs. Cal and Nov. 11 at UCF). He added five blocks Dec. 12 vs. San Diego and has had four in four of the last eight games (North Carolina, Cal State Stanislaus, Idaho, NMSU). McGee has blocked at least one shot in 18 of 19 games this season (14 with two or more). With 88 career blocks in just 52 games (1.69 per game), McGee has already climbed into seventh on the Nevada career list and needs just one more swat to tie Kevinn Pinkney (2001-05, 89 in 110 games) for sixth. McGee has also already moved into second on the Nevada single-season list with 58 and has broken Nick Fazekas’ mark for the single-season mark by a Wolf Pack sophomore (51 in 2004-05). Last season, McGee ranked second on the team and ninth in the WAC with 0.9 blocked shots per game. He finished with 30 blocks on the year and had swatted a previous career best with four vs. Idaho on Jan. 6, 2007.
As a team, Nevada paces the conference and ranks 10th in the nation with an average of 6.42 blocks per game, including a season-best 11 in its Jan. 17 win over Idaho and 10 in the Dec. 19 win over Colorado State. Senior Demarshay Johnson is second on the team and fourth in the league in the category with 1.16 blocks per game, including a career-high six swats in the Dec. 19 victory over Colorado State.
NEVADA SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS LIST
Player, Year G Blks
1. Edgar Jones, 1977-78 27 96
2. JaVale McGee, 2007-08 19 58*
3. Greg Palm, 1981-82 28 55
4. Nick Fazekas, 2004-05 32 51
5. Nick Fazekas, 2005-06 33 49
6. Nick Fazekas, 2006-07 32 48
Greg Palm, 1980-81 26 48
* Nevada single-season record for blocks by a sophomore
LIGHTING IT UP
Nevada scored a season-high 104 points in its Dec. 31 victory over Cal State Stanislaus and has turned in nine of its highest scoring outputs of the year in its last 13 games. That win over the Warriors also marked the first time that the team has topped the century mark since turning in a 101-76 win over Rice on Jan. 24, 2004 in Reno. On Jan. 24 at New Mexico State, the Wolf Pack scored 87 points, its second-highest scoring output of the year, while Saturday’s 83-70 win at Louisiana Tech was the team’s sixth 80-point effort of the season.
After averaging 67.5 points in the first six contests of the year, the Wolf Pack has averaged 77.2 points per game in its last 13 (1003 points), including 87 points Jan. 24 at NMSU and 86 points in its Dec. 16 win vs. UCF. Nevada has now moved into third place in the WAC statistics in scoring at 74.1 points per game.
FINDING THEIR TOUCH
Nevada has shot the ball well recently, making 48.6 percent of its attempts from the field in its last 13 outings (353-726). The team has turned in seven 50-percent shooting efforts this season and holds a 7-0 mark in those contests, most recently knocking down a season-high 61.2 percent of its attempts Saturday at Louisiana Tech (30-49) and 56.4 percent Jan. 26 at New Mexico State (31-55). Nevada also turned in its best three-point night of the year in that game at New Mexico State, making 53.3 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc (8-15). Prior to the last 13 games, Nevada had shot just 37.2 percent from the field in its previous two, while the team now ranks third in the league in field goal percentage this season (47.4 percent).
After leading the WAC and ranking 10th in the nation in three-point shooting at 40.6 percent last year, the Wolf Pack has struggled to find its touch from beyond the arc so far this season. After making a season-high 53.3 percent of its three-point attempts Jan. 24 at NMSU, Nevada has moved into fifth in the WAC at 34.6 percent from three-point land this season (103-305). The Wolf Pack knocked down a season-best nine three-pointers Jan. 19 vs. Boise State and had eight Nov. 28 vs. Cal and again at NMSU. The team has made at least seven three-pointers in eight of its last 15 games (Pacific, Montana State, San Diego, UCF and Hawai’i are the others).
SPREADING IT AROUND
Four members of the Wolf Pack are averaging in doubles figures for scoring this year, led by senior guard Marcelus Kemp who ranks second in the WAC and 52nd in the nation at 18.9 points per game. Kemp has led the team in scoring in 11 of 19 games this year, including nine of the last 15. Freshman Armon Johnson and sophomore JaVale McGee are tied for second on the team and 13th in the WAC with 12.6 points per game, while sophomore Brandon Fields is turning in 12.2 points per contest. McGee scored a career-high 20 Nov. 19 at UC Irvine, while Fields turned in a career-best 22 Dec. 16 vs. UCF. Johnson has matched his career high with 23 points twice (Dec. 27 at then top-ranked North Carolina and Jan. 17 vs. Idaho).
Nevada saw all five of its starters score in double figures for the first time this year on Dec. 12 vs. the Toreros, while it had five players in double figures again Dec. 31 vs. Cal State Stanislaus. The team has seen at least four players in double figures in a total of nine games this year (UC Irvine, Montana State, UCF, Hawai’i, Idaho, Boise State, NMSU and La Tech).
Nevada got a season-high 35 points from its bench in its Dec. 31 win over Cal State Stanislaus, including a season-best 19 points from senior Demarshay Johnson. The Wolf Pack bench added 24 in the Dec. 8 win over Montana State, including a season-high seven by senior David Ellis and five from sophomore Ray Kraemer, the first points of Kraemer’s Wolf Pack career. Dec. 12 against San Diego, sophomore Matt LaGrone tallied a career-best 12 points, while true freshman Malik Cooke added a career-high seven, including his first career three-pointer. On Saturday at Louisiana Tech, senior David Ellis scored a career-best 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting to lead the team and pace a 31-point effort from the Wolf Pack bench.
FIELDS FROM DOWNTOWN
The Dec. 17 WAC Player of the Week, sophomore Brandon Fields is leading the team in three-point percentage at 38.8 percent (33-85). He is second on the team with 33 three-pointers made this year, three behind senior Marcelus Kemp. Fields has knocked down at least one three-pointer in 16 of 19 games this year (nine with two or more). He made just three three-pointers and shot just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc all of last season (3-11).
Fields turned in career highs for scoring in back-to-back games against San Diego on Dec. 12 and UCF on Dec. 16, including 17 points in the win over the Toreros and a career-best 22 in the victory over the Knights, while Jan. 24 at New Mexico State, he missed his career high by just one point, leading the team with 21 points. Fields notched career highs for three-pointers made in back-to-back games against Cal and Pacific. He made a then career-best 3-of-6 treys Nov. 28 vs. Cal and then bested that mark Dec. 1 at Pacific, knocking down a career-high four three-pointers (4-of-8). He knocked down another trio of three-pointers Dec. 12 vs. San Diego and has matched his career high with four three-pointers in two other games (Dec. 16 vs. UCF and Jan. 19 vs. Boise State).
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Nevada has seen three different players turn in its six double-doubles this season, led by sophomore JaVale McGee who has four. Most recently, McGee turned in 10 points and 12 rebounds Jan. 12 at Hawai’i. He had 18 points and 11 rebounds Dec. 31 against Cal State Stanislaus, turned in 15 points and a career-best 18 rebounds Dec. 16 vs. UCF and nabbed his first career double-double Nov. 24 at UNLV, matching his career best with 20 points and pulling down a then career-high 13 rebounds. McGee has just missed two other double-doubles with 19 points and nine rebounds Nov. 28 vs. Cal and 11 points and nine rebounds Dec. 19 vs. Colorado State. Senior Marcelus Kemp tallied his second career double-double with 20 points and a career-high-tying 12 rebounds Dec. 1 at Pacific, while senior Demarshay Johnson turned in his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 11 boards Nov. 13 at UC Irvine.
UTAH STATE GAME RESCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, FEB. 11
Nevada has rescheduled its game with Utah State University for Monday, Feb. 11.
The game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 5, was postponed due to high winds and snowfall in the Reno area over the weekend. The Utah State men's basketball team was unable to travel to Reno the day prior to the game due to the weather conditions. Tip-off for the Feb. 11 game is set for 7:05 p.m. at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
The Wolf Pack will play three games that week, taking on the Aggies on Monday evening and traveling to Boise State on Thursday, Feb. 14 and to Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Fans who already purchased tickets for the Utah State game should use their existing tickets for the rescheduled game. Fans with questions should call or visit the Wolf Pack Ticket Office at Legacy Hall at 775-348-PACK (7225).
PACK NEWS & NOTES
- Senior David Ellis led the team in scoring with a career-best 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting Saturday at Louisiana Tech. That marked the first time that Ellis has led the team in scoring.
- The Wolf Pack shot 58.7 percent from the field in last week’s wins at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech (61-104), including a season-high 61.2 percent from the field against the Bulldogs.
- The team has also topped the 80-point mark in each of its last three games and is 5-1 this year when scoring 80 or more points.
- True freshman Armon Johnson has scored at least 20 points in three of the last four games and has turned in four 20-point contests this season. He matched his career best with 23 points Jan. 17 vs. Idaho and turned in 20 points Jan. 19 vs. Boise State and Jan. 24 at New Mexico State. Johnson has turned in 16.6 points per game over the last eight contests (133 points), up from his season average of 12.6 ppg.
- Sophomore Brandon Fields led the team with 21 points Jan. 24 at New Mexico State, marking just the second time this season that he has led the team in scoring. He also paced the team with 17 points in the Dec. 12 victory over San Diego.
- Fields is averaging 12.2 points per game this season, up from 2.1 points per game last season (+10.1), while fellow sophomore JaVale McGee is averaging 12.6 points per contest, up from 3.3 ppg last season (+9.3).
- Nevada’s Jan. 17 victory over Idaho gave fourth-year head coach Mark Fox the 91st win of his career and moved him into a tie for fourth place on the team’s all-time wins list with Len Stevens (91-79 from 1987-93), while his 92nd win Jan. 24 at New Mexico State gave him sole possesion of fourth place on that list. Fox now holds a 93-25 record (.788 winning percentage) since becoming Nevada's head coach in 2004-05.
- Nevada has faced six first-year head coaches this season and has turned in a 6-0 mark, downing Santa Clara (Kerry Keating), San Diego (Bill Grier), Colorado State (Tim Miles), Hawai’i (Bob Nash), New Mexico State (Marvin Menzies) and Louisiana Tech (Kerry Rupp).
- The Wolf Pack ranks third in the WAC in free throw percentage at 71.0 percent and shot a season-high 85.7 percent from the charity stripe Jan. 12 at Hawai’i (18-21). Senior Marcelus Kemp is third in the WAC and 29th in the NCAA at 86.5 percent, including 11-of-13 in Nevada’s Dec. 19 win over Colorado State and 8-of-8 Jan. 12 at Hawai’i, while true freshman Armon Johnson ranks ninth in the WAC at 76.4 percent, including 10-of-12 Jan. 17 vs. Idaho. Nevada has turned in six 80-percent efforts from the free throw line this season.
- Kemp missed a free throw in the first half Jan. 17 against Idaho, ending a stretch of 22 consecutive made free throw attempts, dating back to the second half of the Dec. 22 game at Northern Iowa. Kemp has now converted on 38 of his last 40 free throw attempts. He has made all of his attempts in five of the last seven games, including 4-of-4 Dec. 27 at top-ranked North Carolina, 6-of-6 Dec. 31 vs. Cal State Stanislaus, 8-of-8 Jan. 12 at Hawai’i and 4-of-4 at New Mexico State and at La Tech (he did not attempt any free throws at San Jose State). He has been perfect from the line in 10 games this year.
- Including its 37-25 advantage over Louisiana Tech on Jan. 26, the Wolf Pack has now outrebounded 10 of its 19 opponents this season (9-1 record in those games) and tied one other. Nevada has climbed to second in the WAC in rebounding offense (37.6 rpg) and rebounding margin (+4.1) this year. The team pulled down a season-high 57 rebounds and turned in its season best for rebounding margin (+31) Dec. 31 vs. Cal State Stanislaus, outrebounding the Warriors 57-26. Last season, Nevada beat its opponents on the boards in 27 of 34 games (24-3 record) and led the league in rebounding margin (+6.5). Nevada is 2-6 this year when getting outrebounded.
- After averaging 8.0 rebounds per game in the last 11 games (88 rebounds), sophomore JaVale McGee has jumped from ninth to the top four in the WAC with 7.6 rebounds per contest. After leading the WAC for several weeks, he now checks in at fourth. McGee pulled down a career-best 18 rebounds Dec. 16 vs. UCF, which marked the most for the Pack since Nick Fazekas had 18 rebounds in Nevada’s Jan. 27, 2007 win over Utah State. McGee has led the team in rebounding in 12 games this season, including eight of the last 12. Most recently, he pulled down a game-best 12 boards Jan. 12 at Hawai’i and led the team with six rebounds Jan. 19 vs. Boise State. Senior Marcelus Kemp is second on the team at 5.7 rebounds per game.
- The Wolf Pack defense held Northern Iowa to a season-low 52 points in its Dec. 22 victory, season lows both for a Wolf Pack opponent and the Panthers this year. Nevada has won 49 of its last 51 games when holding its opponent to 60 points or less, including a 13-1 record in 2005-06, a 6-1 mark last year and a 3-0 record this season.
- Senior Demarshay Johnson made his return to the starting lineup last weekend and responded by leading the team with a career high-tying 11 rebounds Jan. 17 vs. Idaho and turning in 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting Jan. 19 vs. Boise State. He also added nine points and six rebounds Thursday at New Mexico State. Johnson started the first six games of the year but then embraced his role off the bench in the next nine before returning to the starting lineup Jan. 17 vs. the Vandals. He is fifth on the team with 7.4 points per game and third at 4.8 rebounds per contest.
- Nevada opened the year with a 2-4 record for the first time since the 2002-03 season (now 12-7). That season, Nevada played five of its first seven games on the road and turned in a 2-5 mark before winning its next three contests. The 2002-03 team finished with an 18-14 record and made a trip to the postseason NIT, the first of five consecutive postseason appearances for the Wolf Pack (one NIT bid and four NCAA appearances). In 2003-04, Nevada opened the year with a 2-3 mark before reeling off wins in its next five games and seven of its next eight. The Wolf Pack finished with a 25-9 record that season, winning its first of four WAC regular-season championships and making the first NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in school history.
- Nevada’s starting lineup in eight games this year has featured just one senior (Marcelus Kemp), three sophomores (Matt LaGrone, JaVale McGee, Brandon Fields) and one true freshman (Armon Johnson). Nevada has turned in a 6-2 record in those games.
- The Dec. 8 victory over Montana State snapped the Wolf Pack’s first three-game losing streak since dropping five straight contests at the end of the 2000-01 season. The Nov. 28 loss to Cal marked Nevada’s first back-to-back losses in the same season since 2005-06. The Wolf Pack lost its second-round NCAA game to Memphis last year and opened this season with a 63-60 loss at UCF on Nov. 11, but the team had not dropped back-to-back losses in the same season since falling to Fresno State and Utah State in January of 2006. Head coach Mark Fox’s squads have dropped back-to-back games just five times in his three-plus seasons and hold a 19-6 record following a loss in his tenure.
- Sophomore forward JaVale McGee, sophomore guard Brandon Fields and true freshman guard Armon Johnson all made their first career starts for the Wolf Pack on Nov. 11 at UCF. Johnson marked the first Wolf Pack true freshman to start a game since Ramon Sessions started 31 of 32 games in 2004-05. Sessions was named the WAC Freshman of the Year that season.
FOX FOURTH ON NEVADA CAREER WINS LIST
Fourth-year head coach Mark Fox is the first coach in school history to lead his squad to three consecutive 20-win and NCAA Tournament seasons. He holds a 93-25 career record in his three-plus seasons at the helm of the Wolf Pack program (.788 winning percentage) and is already fourth in all-time wins at Nevada with 93. His 81 wins after his first three seasons were tied with Gonzaga's Mark Few for the most victories in Division I history by a coach through three seasons (81-18 record in his first three seasons).
Fox has been named the Don Haskins Coach of the Year in each of his first three seasons as Nevada’s head coach to become the first coach in WAC history to earn the honor in three consecutive years. Last year, he was also one of 15 finalists for the 2007 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award and was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 13 Coach of the Year.
TIME-OUT LUNCHEONS
Fourth-year Wolf Pack head men’s basketball coach Mark Fox will appear at Nevada’s Time-Out Luncheons monthly at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno.
This year’s final luncheon will take place on Monday, Feb. 4. Doors open at 11:30 a.m., and the cost is $13 per person at the door.
The luncheons feature a gourmet buffet prepared by the Silver Legacy, and the program includes game recaps and previews by Fox as well as appearances by other Wolf Pack coaches and staff.
UP NEXT
Following Thursday’s game with Fresno State, Nevada travels to Utah State on Saturday, Feb. 2. The team then returns to Reno to begin the second half of the WAC schedule, playing host to San Jose State on Thursday, Feb. 7 and Hawai’i on Saturday, Feb. 9.
