UTAH STATE AGGIES (18-6, 8-1 WAC) vs. NEVADA WOLF PACK (15-8, 7-3 WAC)
GAME NO. 24
Monday, Feb. 11, 2008 - 7:05 p.m. PT - Lawlor Events Center (11,536) - Reno, Nev.
TELEVISION: Live video streaming at www.nevadawolfpack.com (subscription basis)
RADIO: Wolf Pack Sports Network (ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno)
Dan Gustin (play-by-play) & Don Marchand (color analyst)
Pregame, 6:35 p.m. PT
SERIES HISTORY: Utah State leads the series 25-11.
LAST MEETING: Utah State has won the last three meetings between the two teams, most recently turning in a 77-63 victory on Feb. 2 in Logan, Utah.
Following an 88-68 victory over Hawai’i on Saturday, the four-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Nevada Wolf Pack (15-8, 7-3 WAC) plays host to league-leading Utah State on Monday night at Lawlor Events Center. Nevada’s third game in five days and part of a stretch of five contests in 10 days for the Wolf Pack, Monday night’s game will tip off at 7:05 p.m. The contest with the Aggies was originally scheduled for Jan. 5 and was to be Nevada’s WAC opener, but winter storms in Reno that weekend forced the game to be rescheduled for this week. Winners of 13 of its last 17 games and five of its last six, Nevada is fourth in the WAC standings with a 7-3 league mark. The Wolf Pack takes on the Aggies for the second time in 10 days and heads into Monday’s game looking to snap a streak of three consecutive losses to Utah State. The Wolf Pack has won nine of its last 10 games at Lawlor Events Center and 17 of its last 18 WAC regular-season home games. Following Monday’s game with Utah State, Nevada returns to the road later this week with games at Boise State on Thursday, Feb. 14 and at Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 16.
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.
NEVADA TOP WAC TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS
Over the last four-plus seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 121-35 record, the best record of any WAC team during that time (.776 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 63 games, the most in that same time period.
WINNING AT LAWLOR
The Wolf Pack has won 34 of its last 37 contests at Lawlor Events Center, including nine of its last 10 home games. With its 15-1 home record last year and a 10-2 mark this season, the Wolf Pack has turned in a 70-8 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.897 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.
Nevada has now won 17 of its last 18 WAC home games. 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 (now 4-1). That 14-game win 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 74.5 percent of its games at Lawlor Events Center since it opened in 1983-84 (271-93 all-time).
ABOUT THE UTAH STATE AGGIES
Utah State has turned in an 18-6 overall record and is leading the WAC with a 8-1 league mark this season. Under the direction of 10th-year head coach Stew Morrill (231-81 record at USU), the Aggies have won their last three games and 13 of their last 14, including a 77-72 win at Fresno State on Feb. 7 and a 78-73 home victory over San Jose State on Feb. 9. Utah State has turned in a perfect 14-0 record at home and is 4-6 away from Logan (3-5 road record) this season. The Aggies returned three starters and four letterwinners from last year's 23-12 team that finished fourth in the WAC with a 9-7 mark.
Senior guard Jaycee Carroll (6-2, 175), the preseason WAC Player of the Year, leads the conference in scoring at 21.3 points per game. He also paces the WAC in free throw shooting and is second in three-point percent, making 92.0 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe (92-100) and 50.7 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc (77-152). Junior forward Gary Wilkinson (6-9, 204), a transfer from Salt Lake Community College, is second on the team and 13th in the WAC with 13.3 points per game and is the team's leading rebounder at 6.3 boards per contest (eighth in the WAC). Carroll is second on the team and ninth in the league with an average of 6.2 rebounds per game.
IN THE SERIES
Utah State holds a 25-11 advantage in the all-time series between the two former members of the Big West Conference. The Aggies have won the last three meetings between the teams, including a 77-63 victory on Feb. 2 in Logan, Utah, in this year’s first matchup. Last year, Nevada turned in a 79-62 victory over Utah State on Jan. 27, 2007 in Reno, while Utah State got a 79-77 overtime win on March 1 in Logan. The Aggies also turned in a 79-77 victory on March 9 in the semifinals of the 2007 WAC Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M. Those two losses snapped Nevada's three-game winning streak in the series. The Wolf Pack has won the last two games between the teams played in Reno.
LAST TIME OUT VS. UTAH STATE
Jaycee Carroll scored 24 points and Gary Wilkinson added a career-high 23 to lead Utah State past Nevada 77-63 on Feb. 2 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
Tai Wesley also scored 14, while Wilkinson pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds for the Aggies. The Wolf Pack was led by senior Marcelus Kemp with 16 points and sophomore JaVale McGee who scored 15 and nabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore Brandon Fields added 13 points.
After trailing by double digits most of the first half, the Wolf Pack brought the score to 49-41 with 16:45 to play on a Kemp free throw. But the Aggies answered behind inside play from Wilkinson and two 3-point shots from reserve guard Tyler Newbold and stretched the lead to 17 points, 71-54, with four minutes to play.
In the first half, USU burst out to a 13-2 lead, behind an 11-0 run and eight points from Wilkinson. Carroll dropped in 17 points and shot 6-for-11 from the field in the half, as the Aggies held a 47-36 edge at halftime.
USU shot 68 percent from the field in the first half, while Nevada shot 43 percent, 39 percent for the game.
LAST TIME OUT
Senior Marcelus Kemp scored 25 points and sophomore JaVale McGee matched his career high with 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Nevada over Hawaii 88-68 in a Western Athletic Conference game on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center.
Sophomore Brandon Fields added 17 points for the Wolf Pack. Matt Gibson scored 23 points, Bill Amis 16 and Jared Dillinger 11 for the Warriors.
Kemp had 20 points in the first half, including a three-pointer with 14:25 to play that gave Nevada a 10-9 lead. The Wolf Pack did not trail again in the game. Kemp also scored the final six points of the half with a pair of treys and two free throws to give Nevada a 44-33 lead at the half.
The Wolf Pack stretched its lead to 24 midway through the second half as McGee and Kemp fueled a 14-4 run to make it 73-49 with 6:49 left. McGee scored 5 points, including two dunks and Kemp had 5 points, including a 25-foot 3-pointer to cap the run.
Hawaii cut the lead to 12 at 76-64 with 2:37 left on a layup by Gibson, but Nevada closed with a 12-4 run, capped by a pair of three-pointers by sophomore Ray Kraemer.
The Wolf Pack shot a season-high 61.2 percent from the field, including 11 of 17 on 3-pointers and held the Warriors to 44.1 percent shooting, including 4 of 17 on 3-pointers.
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 19.2 points per game (47th in the NCAA). He has turned in at least 20 points in nine of the last 19 games, including a season-high 29 Jan. 12 at Hawai’i, 28 Jan. 31 vs. Fresno State and 25 Saturday vs. Hawai’i. 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 14 of 23 games this season, including 12 of the last 19. 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 ninth in the WAC with 47 three-pointers made this year (2.04 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 204 three-pointers made. He stands just five three-pointers behind Nevada’s career leader in the category, Terrance Green (209 treys, 1999-2003). Kemp knocked down 5-of-6 three-pointers on Saturday vs. Hawai’i, tying his career high for treys made in a game.
With his 25 points Saturday vs. Hawai’i, Kemp turned in his 33rd consecutive game in double figures for scoring (all 23 this year) and the 85th 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 64 of the last 66 games. With 1,722 career points, he has moved into fourth place on the Nevada career scoring list. With 28 points on Jan. 31 vs. Fresno State, he moved past both Pete Padgett (1,642 points, 1972-76) and Terrance Green (1,646 points, 1999-03) on the all-time scoring list and now needs nine points to catch Alex Boyd (1,731 points, 1967-70) for third place on the list.
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 2.70 blocks per game, 1.20 blocks per game ahead of New Mexico State’s Martin Iti (1.50), and is 12th 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 other games (North Carolina, Cal State Stanislaus, Idaho, NMSU). McGee has blocked at least one shot in 20 of 23 games this season (16 with two or more). With 92 career blocks in just 57 games (1.61 per game), McGee has already climbed into sixth on the Nevada career list, moving past Kevinn Pinkney (2001-05, 89 in 110 games) for that spot. McGee has also already moved into second on the Nevada single-season list with 62 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 5.91 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 1.13 blocks per game, including a career-high six swats in the Dec. 19 victory over Colorado State.
LIGHTING IT UP
Nevada scored a season-high 104 points in its Dec. 31 victory over Cal State Stanislaus and added its second-best scoring effort of the season on Saturday with 88 points vs. Hawai’i. The Wolf Pack has turned in 12 of its highest scoring outputs of the year in its last 17 games. That Dec. 31 win over the Warriors 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. Nevada has turned in eight 80-point efforts this season and has reached that 80-point mark in five of the last seven games.
After averaging 67.5 points in the first six contests of the year, the Wolf Pack has averaged 77.5 points per game in its last 17 (1317 points), including 88 points Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i, 87 Jan. 24 at NMSU and 86 in its Dec. 16 win vs. UCF. Nevada has now moved into third place in the WAC statistics in scoring at 74.9 points per game.
FINDING THEIR TOUCH
Nevada has shot the ball well recently, making 49.0 percent of its attempts from the field in its last 17 outings (470-959). The team has turned in 10 50-percent shooting efforts this season, including five of the last six games. The Wolf Pack holds a 10-0 mark in those contests, most recently matching its season high for field goal percentage with a 61.2 percent effort Saturday vs. Hawai’i (30-49). The team also shot 61.2 percent in its Jan. 26 victory at Louisiana Tech (30-49). Nevada has also turned in its three best three-point nights of the year recently, including a season-high 64.7 percent Saturday vs. Hawai’i (11-17), 61.5 percent Jan. 31 vs. Fresno State (8-13) and 53.3 percent of its attempts (8-15) Jan. 24 at New Mexico State. Nevada now ranks third in the league in field goal percentage this season (48.2 percent).
After leading the WAC and ranking 10th in the nation in three-point shooting at 40.6 percent last year, the Wolf Pack struggled to find its touch from beyond the arc early this season. However, Nevada has now moved into third in the WAC at 36.8 percent from three-point land this season (136-370). In addition to turning in its best percentage of the season on Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i, the Wolf Pack knocked down a season-best 11 three-pointers in that game, besting its previous high of nine Jan. 19 vs. Boise State. Nevada has made eight in three other games (vs. Cal, at NMSU, vs. San Jose State) and has knocked down at least seven three-pointers in 11 games this year.
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 47th in the nation at 19.2 points per game. Kemp has led the team in scoring in 14 of 23 games this year, including 12 of the last 19. Sophomore JaVale McGee is second on the team and 12th in the WAC with 13.4 points per game, while sophomore Brandon Fields (15th in the WAC) and freshman Armon Johnson trail just behind at 12.6 and 11.6 points per contest, respectively. McGee has scored a career-high 20 points three times this year, most recently Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i, 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 and vs. San Jose State on Feb. 7. The team has seen at least four players in double figures in a total of 11 games this year.
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 Jan. 26 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.
On Feb. 7 vs. San Jose State, the Wolf Pack bench turned in 30 points, including a career-best 11 by sophomore Ray Kraemer on 4-of-5 shooting (3-of-3 from three-point land) and a season-high 10 by junior Lyndale Burleson.
FIELDS FROM DOWNTOWN
The Dec. 17 WAC Player of the Week, sophomore Brandon Fields is ranked 10th in the WAC in three-point percentage at 40.2 percent (41-102). He is second on the team with 41 three-pointers made this year, six behind senior Marcelus Kemp. Fields has knocked down at least one three-pointer in 19 of 23 games this year (11 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). He added 17 points Jan. 31 vs. Fresno State and again Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Nevada has seen three different players turn in its eight double-doubles this season, led by sophomore JaVale McGee who has six. Most recently, McGee matched his career best with 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i, while he turned in 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds Feb. 2 at Utah State. He also had 10 points and 12 rebounds Jan. 12 at Hawai’i, 18 points and 11 rebounds Dec. 31 against Cal State Stanislaus and 15 points and a career-best 18 rebounds Dec. 16 vs. UCF. He 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.
NEVADA TO TAKE ON SOUTHERN ILLINOIS IN BRACKETBUSTERS
Nevada will travel to Carbondale, Ill., to take on Southern Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 23 in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. The game time and network televising the Wolf Pack’s game with the Salukis will be announced on Monday, Feb. 11.
ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360 and ESPN Classic will combine to televise the 14-game, 28-team event on Feb. 22-24.
This year will mark Nevada’s fifth appearance in the sixth annual BracketBusters, an event which was created in 2003 in conjunction with the Western Athletic Conference, ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences to match potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other. This year will mark second consecutive year that Nevada will take on an opponent from the Missouri Valley Conference and the first time in five appearances that the Wolf Pack is a road team in the event. Last season, Nevada turned in a 79-64 victory over Northern Iowa on Feb. 17, 2007 in Reno.
As part of the BracketBusters agreement, Southern Illinois, which has won 87 of its last 92 home games dating back to the 2001-02 season, will play at Nevada in 2008-09.
The WAC will have three teams competing in this year’s O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters with all three games set for Saturday, Feb. 23. In addition to Nevada’s game at Southern Illinois, Utah State will play host to UC Santa Barbara and Boise State will take on Siena. The other six WAC teams not selected to compete in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters will play non-conference opponents on that weekend.
PACK NEWS & NOTES
- Nevada has dished out a season-high 24 assists in each of the last two games and has been led by freshman Armon Johnson in each of those victories. Johnson tied his then career best with six assists Thursday vs. San Jose State and bested that mark with seven assists Saturday vs. Hawai’i. Johnson is leading the team and ranked seventh in the WAC with 3.48 assists per game, while he has averaged 5.3 assists per game in the last four games (21).
- In addition to Johnson’s seven assists vs. the Spartans, junior Lyndale Burleson dished out a season-high five assists, while sophomore Brandon Fields had four with no turnovers.
- Sophomore Ray Kraemer has knocked down all seven of his three-point attempts in the last four games, including 2-of-2 Jan. 31 vs. Fresno State, a career-best 3-of-3 Feb. 7 vs. San Jose State and 2-of-2 Saturday vs. Hawai’i. Kraemer has averaged 6.0 points per game (30) and made 90.9 percent of his field goal attempts (10-11) in the five contests. On the season, Kraemer is averaging 2.0 points per game and shooting 50.0 percent from three-point land (9-18).
- Freshman Malik Cooke pulled down a career-best and team-high 10 rebounds Feb. 7 vs. San Jose State. That marked the second time this year that the Charlotte, N.C., native has led the team in rebounding. He also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds in the team’s Jan. 26 win at Louisiana Tech. Cooke has averaged 5.6 rebounds per game in the last five contests (28), up from his average of 2.7 boards per game.
- The Feb. 7 win over San Jose State marked the 95th win of fourth-year head coach Mark Fox’s career. He is ranked fourth place on Nevada’s list for all-time coaching victories. Fox now holds a 96-26 record (.787 winning percentage) since becoming Nevada's head coach in 2004-05.
- In the last two games, senior Marcelus Kemp has shot 68.2 percent from the field (15-22) and 70.0 percent from beyond the arc (7-10). He was 6-of-10 from the field Thursday vs. San Jose State (2-of-4 three-pointers) and made 9-of-12 shots Saturday vs. Hawai’i (5-of-6 treys).
- The Wolf Pack defense held San Jose State to 46 points on Feb. 7, a season low for a Wolf Pack opponent. Nevada has won 50 of its last 52 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 4-0 record this season. San Jose State also shot just 30.4 percent from the field (17-56), a season low for a Wolf Pack opponent.
- Nevada has faced six first-year head coaches seven times this season and has turned in a 7-0 mark, downing Santa Clara (Kerry Keating), San Diego (Bill Grier), Colorado State (Tim Miles), Hawai’i twice (Bob Nash), New Mexico State (Marvin Menzies) and Louisiana Tech (Kerry Rupp).
- Nevada has topped the 80-point mark in five of its last seven games and is 7-1 this year when scoring 80 or more points. Nevada just missed 80 points with 79 scored Jan. 31 against the Bulldogs.
- True freshman Armon Johnson 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 13.9 points per game over the last 11 contests (153 points), up from his season average of 11.6 ppg.
- Sophomore Brandon Fields is averaging 12.6 points per game this season, up from 2.0 points per game last season (+10.6), while fellow sophomore JaVale McGee is averaging 13.4 points per contest, up from 3.4 ppg last season (+10.0).
- The Wolf Pack ranks fifth in the WAC in free throw percentage at 70.3 percent and shot a season-high 85.7 percent from the charity stripe Jan. 12 at Hawai’i (18-21). The team features three players ranked in the top 10 in the WAC in the category, including senior Marcelus Kemp who is third in the conference and 31st in the NCAA at 86.1 percent. Sophomore Brandon Fields ranks seventh in the WAC at 81.0 percent, while freshman Armon Johnson is ninth at 76.8 percent. 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 48 of his last 52 free throw attempts. He has made all of his attempts in seven of the last 11 games, including 6-of-6 Dec. 31 vs. Cal State Stanislaus and 8-of-8 Jan. 12 at Hawai’i. He has been perfect from the line in 12 games this year.
- Including its 33-28 advantage over Hawai’i on Saturday, the Wolf Pack has outrebounded 12 of its 23 opponents this season (11-1 record in those games) and tied one other. Nevada has climbed to second in the WAC in rebounding offense (37.0 rpg) and rebounding margin (+3.5) 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 3-7 this year when getting outrebounded.
- After averaging 8.3 rebounds per game in the last 14 games (116 rebounds), sophomore JaVale McGee has jumped from ninth to the top of the WAC with 7.8 rebounds per contest. After leading the WAC for several weeks, he now checks in at second. 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 15 games this season, including 11 of the last 16. Most recently, he led the team with a game-high 10 rebounds Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i. Senior Marcelus Kemp is second on the team at 5.3 rebounds per game.
- Senior Demarshay Johnson has made his return to the starting lineup 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 Jan. 24 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 7.1 points per game and third at 4.6 rebounds per contest.
- Nevada opened the year with a 2-4 record for the first time since the 2002-03 season (now 15-8). 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 featured just one senior (Marcelus Kemp), three sophomores (Matt LaGrone, JaVale McGee, Brandon Fields) and one true freshman (Armon Johnson). Nevada 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 96-26 career record in his three-plus seasons at the helm of the Wolf Pack program (.787 winning percentage) and is already fourth in all-time wins at Nevada. 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.
UP NEXT
Following Monday’s game with Utah State, Nevada returns to the road later this week, traveling to Boise State on Thursday, Feb. 14 and to Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 16. The following week, the Wolf Pack will travel to Carbondale, Ill., to take on Southern Illinois in the 2008 O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters on Saturday, Feb. 23.
