Idaho State at Nevada
December 27, 2008
Game Notes:
- With the 68-63 win over Idaho State, Nevada improved to 7-5 overall on the season and 5-2 at home this year. The Wolf Pack won its fourth consecutive home game and won for the 17th time in 21 games at Lawlor Events Center. The team is now 78-11 at home since the start of the 2003-04 season.
- Freshman Luke Babbitt led the team in scoring for the sixth time this season with 16 points.
- Sophomore Malik Cooke added a career-high 15 points, while junior Brandon Fields had 12.
- Babbitt and freshman Dario Hunt paced the team with six rebounds apiece. That marked the sixth time this year that Babbitt has led the team in the category and the first time for Hunt.
- Nevada outrebounded Idaho State 37-30 and improved to 4-1 on the year when outrebounding its opponent.
- Senior Lyndale Burleson tied his career high with three steals. He also added three assists with no turnovers. Sophomore Armon Johnson led the team with four assists.
- The Wolf Pack tied season lows with three three-pointers made and just one block. The team also held Idaho State to a season-low one three three-pointer and 11.1 percent shooting from three-point land (1-11).
- Nevada returns to action on Wednesday night, playing host to the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. Wednesday’s game at Lawlor Events Center will tip off at 7:05 p.m. It will be televised nationally by ESPN2 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 poor shooting in the game:
“That’s just the way some games go. Idaho State played good defense. Give them credit. Some games are the grind it out type games. It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win.”
Junior Brandon Fields
On his game:
“I struggled at the beginning with shooting, so I had to be more aggressive and try to get to the free throw line. I had a smaller guard on me, so I had to capitalize.”
On seeing the lead evaporate in the second half:
“When we see our lead go away, we just say to ourselves that we need to lock in on defense, get a stop and rebound.”
Sophomore Malik Cooke
On his aggressiveness:
“I just wanted to do what the team needed me to do.”
Head Coach Mark Fox
On the game:
“Idaho State is a great group. Give them a lot of credit. I was disappointed in a lot of ways in how we played. You’ve got to give Idaho State credit. They are a scrappy group.”
On getting to the free throw line:
“It was key. That is something we’re trying to do. It was key in the second half when we got in the bonus. We’ve got to play better than that.”
On the play of Malik Cooke:
“He is playing more like Malik. He got off to a good start. He got to the offensive glass, which is something he does well but hadn’t been doing. It was good to see him get back.”
On the offense:
“Our shot selection was poor. We were untrusting of each other in the first half, not selfish per se, but untrusting of each other. Give Idaho State credit because they got the game where they wanted it.”
On the game:
“We were lucky that we won when we didn’t play well. That is no disrespect to Idaho State... Hopefully we can learn those lessons in a win, not a loss.”
Idaho State Quotes
Idaho State Head Coach Joe O’Brien
On the game:
“I liked my basketball team in the second half. We dug a hole as deep as 14 points and we got busy. We’ve done this on several occasions. But the first half was offensive rebounds for Nevada and then it was turnovers by ISU. If we can do what we did in the first half in the second half on the defensive boards and take care of the basketball, we might have not been on a tied basketball game.”
On his team’s performance:
“I went to Amorrow [Morgan] and told him when you play well and don’t force issues, when you make good decisions, and play well, and get everybody involved, we’re a pretty good basketball team. At least you are in the game.”
On Matt Stucki:
“There’s no question, we count on Amorrow [Morgan] and Matt a lot. Matt got into foul trouble tonight. That third foul killed us. It was unfortunate because when those two are together that gives us the opportunity to do a lot of things.”
