Southern Illinois at Nevada
December 14, 2008
Game Notes:
- With the 62-48 win over Southern Illinois on Sunday afternoon, Nevada improved to 5-4 on the year and 3-2 at home. The Wolf Pack also won back-to-back games for the first time this year.
- Nevada won for the 15th time in its last 19 home games and is now 76-11 at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season.
- The Wolf Pack trailed 27-24 at the half but outscored the Salukis 38-21 in the second half. The team shot 52.6 percent in the final 20 minutes (10-19).
- Sophomore Armon Johnson led the Wolf Pack with 16 points, including 14 points in the second half. It marked the third time this year that he has led the team in scoring and the third time in the last four games. He ended up 7-of-12 from the field in the game and tied his career best with three steals.
- Freshman Luke Babbitt added 15 points, while sophomore Malik Cooke had 10. Babbitt has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.
- Nevada made a season-high 87.5 percent of its free throws in the game (21-24), besting its previous high of 87.1 percent Tuesday vs. Sonoma State. In the last two games, the Wolf Pack has shot 87.3 percent (48-55) from the free throw line.
- After holding Sonoma State to a season-low 39 points on Tuesday, Nevada held Southern Illinois to 48 points.
- Nevada wraps up its four-game homestand on Wednesday with Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Wednesday’s game at Lawlor Events Center will tip off at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on Nevada’s radio flagship, ESPN 630 AM, and its radio affiliates throughout the state.
Nevada Quotes
Freshman Luke Babbitt
On the second-half defense:
“That is one of the many thing we need to work on. We improved tonight.”
Junior Brandon Fields
On his game:
“I’m feeling a lot better and am shooting better. I’m focusing on the little things in practice and that’s carrying over to the game.”
On the team’s shooting in the second half:
“We just locked in. The second half has been a struggle. We just took our team shots and knocked them down.”
Sophomore Malik Cooke
On the team’s rebounding in the second half:
“We just came out and boxed out. We just played tough. That’s what it comes down to.”
Head Coach Mark Fox
On the game:
“It was exactly what we thought it would be. It was a hard fought competitive game. I have a lot of respect for SIU and what Chris has done. That was a very good basketball game.”
On the difference in his team:
“The only change is that we have more experience than we did a week ago. We made no adjustments at halftime or in the game. This team is still learning offense.”
On Nevada’s free throw shooting:
“We have a good shooting team. We haven’t shot well from the field or three-point land this year, but that’s (free throw shooting) something we’ve been consistent on. We have a lot of kids who can shoot the ball and knock them down.”
On the difference in Nevada’s defense tonight:
“Defensively we were able to stay in the stance longer and establish the help side more effectively. We just played a lot smarter defensively.”
On his team:
“I’m proud of our team today. They’ve been put in a situation much like Southern Illinois. When you’re young and you have expectations, there is perceived pressure. They’ve kept fighting forward.”
Southern Illinois Quotes
Head Coach Chris Lowery
On the game:
“We didn’t play good enough. We played OK defensively, but we had 18 turnovers. They don’t pressure, they play good defense. We did everything we needed to do but finish plays.”
On the second half:
“When you have a chance to win the game, go do it. We can’t make mistakes or make misses when you have an opportunity.”
On Nevada:
“Give them credit. They played at home with a lot of energy. [Nevada head coach] Mark Fox had them ready to play. I thought we did a good job on Johnson in the first half.”
Senior Forward Tony Boyle
On his performance:
“[Nevada] is definitely good shot blockers. I should have done things differently. It was definitely hard and I had to battle through. I would have to take my moves against theirs.”
On the team’s perforfance:
“I think we rebounded well enough. But after we rebounded, we didn’t convert to smart shots. We need to turn them into better shots.”
On the team:
“We’ve got a lot of young guys with some advantages. They are bigger but make mistakes. We’ve just got to overcome our mistakes.”
