University of Nevada Athletics

NEVADA WOLF PACK (17-9, 9-4 WAC) vs. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS (14-12, 9-6 MVC)

GAME NO. 27 - O’REILLY ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 - 3:30 p.m. CT (1:30 p.m. PT) - SIU Arena (9,386) - Carbondale, Ill.

TELEVISION: ESPNU
 Dan McLaughlin (play-by-play), Mike Kelley (analyst) & Sarah Kustok (sidelines).
RADIO:  Wolf Pack Sports Network (ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno)
 Don Marchand (play-by-play)
 Pregame, 3:05 p.m. CT (1:05 p.m. PT)
SERIES HISTORY: Southern Illinois holds a 2-0 record in the all-time series between the two teams.
LAST MEETING: Southern Illinois won the last meeting between the two teams, turning in a 99-45 victory on Dec. 17, 1965 in Carbondale, Ill.

Following an 85-72 victory over Idaho on Saturday that ended a stretch of five games in 10 days, the four-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Nevada Wolf Pack (17-9, 9-4 WAC) takes a break from conference action this week to make its fifth appearance in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. Winners of four of its last five games and nine of its last 12, the Wolf Pack travels to Carbondale, Ill., to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis (14-12, 9-6 MVC) on Saturday, Feb. 23. Saturday’s game will tip off at 3:30 p.m. Central Time (1:30 p.m. Pacific) and will be broadcast to a national television audience by ESPNU. Nevada stands in third place in the WAC standings with a 9-4 league mark but is just one game behind first-place Boise State (10-4). The Wolf Pack heads to Carbondale looking to stay perfect in BracketBusters action after winning its previous four games, while this year marks the first time in five appearances that Nevada is a road team in the event. Following Saturday’s game, Nevada returns to WAC action, playing host to New Mexico State on Thursday, Feb. 28 and Louisiana Tech for Senior Day on Saturday, March 1.
 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 IN THE O’REILLY ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS
This year will mark Nevada’s fifth appearance in the O’Reilly ESPNU 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 the second consecutive year that Nevada will take on an opponent from the Missouri Valley Conference in the BracketBusters and the first time in five appearances that the Wolf Pack is a road team in the event. As part of the BracketBusters agreement, Southern Illinois will play at Nevada in 2008-09.
 Nevada holds a 4-0 record in BracketBusters games (all four played in Reno), including a 79-64 victory over Northern Iowa on Feb. 17, 2007. The Wolf Pack turned in an 88-61 victory over Akron on Feb. 17, 2006, while in 2005, the team earned a 74-64 win over Vermont on Feb. 19, 2005. Nevada edged Toledo 60-58 on Feb. 21, 2004 in the Wolf Pack’s first appearance in the event.
 The WAC has three teams competing in this week’s 14-game, 28-team event 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.

NEVADA IN BRACKETBUSTERS GAMES
(all played at Lawlor Events Center in Reno)
Date Opponent Result
Feb. 21, 2004 Toledo W, 60-58
Feb. 19, 2005 Vermont W, 74-64
Feb. 17, 2006 Akron W, 88-61
Feb. 17, 2007 Northern Iowa W, 79-64

NEVADA TOP WAC TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS
Over the last four-plus seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 123-36 record, the best record of any WAC team during that time (.774 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 65 games, the most in that same time period.

ROAD WARRIORS
Nevada has won 25 of its last 38 games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center, including 21 road wins and four neutral-site victories (dating back to midway through the 2005-06 season). Last year, the team turned in a 14-4 record away from home, including a 10-2 road mark and a 4-2 record in neutral-site games. The Wolf Pack has won nine of its last 17 regular-season road contests and 20 of its last 29 and holds a 6-7 road mark this season. Last year, the team saw an 11-game regular-season road winning streak snapped with a Jan. 20, 2007 loss at New Mexico State. Prior to that, the team had not dropped a road contest since falling at Fresno State on Jan. 18, 2006.
 In the last three-plus seasons since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, the Wolf Pack has tallied a 37-14 record in road contests (.725 winning percentage). That includes a 25-7 record in WAC road games (.781).
 According to a story by ESPN.com’s Kyle Whelliston, the Wolf Pack will travel the third-most miles of any team in the country this season, behind just fellow WAC schools Hawai’i and New Mexico State. The team played four of its first six games away from home and has already logged 13 road contests and 27,714 miles traveled this season, including trips to UCF, Northern Iowa, North Carolina, Hawai’i, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Utah State, Boise State and Idaho. This week’s trip to Southern Illinois will add another 3,944 miles to bring Nevada’s total miles to 31,658 for the season.
 This year began with a season-opening two-game road trip to UCF and UC Irvine and trips to UNLV and Pacific. The team racked up over 5,800 frequent flier miles in five days to open the season, traveling 2,833 miles from Reno to Orlando, 2,496 miles from Orlando to Anaheim for a game two days later and 544 miles from Anaheim back to Reno.
 Last season, Nevada opened the year with four of its first seven games away from home (three road wins and a neutral-site victory), while in 2005-06, the team played 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 to 2006 NCAA runner-up UCLA). That year, Nevada traveled over 10,000 miles in 11 days in a four-game road stand that included trips to Vermont, UNLV, Kansas and Pacific.

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
Southern Illinois has turned in a 14-12 overall record and is third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 9-6 league mark. The Salukis have won their last two games and three of their last four, including a 65-62 upset of then No. 15 Drake on  Feb. 13 and a 74-67 overtime victory at Wichita State on Feb. 16. SIU will take on Northern Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 20 before playing host to Nevada on Saturday afternoon. Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Chris Lowery (92-38 record at SIU), Southern Illinois returned three starters from last year’s 29-6 NCAA Sweet Sixteen team. The Salukis have won six consecutive MVC Championships and have advanced to each of the last six NCAA Tournaments. Southern Illinois has also won 89 of its last 92 home games at SIU Arena since the start of the 2001-02 season.
 Senior forward Randal Falker (6-7, 235) is leading three Southern Illinois players in double figures for scoring at 12.7 points per game. He is also the team’s top rebounder, pulling down an average of 7.1 boards per contest and is shooting a team-best 54.1 percent from the field. Senior forward Matt Shaw (6-7, 235) is second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 11.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while junior guard Bryan Mullins (6-2, 190) is adding 11.0 points per contest. Shaw is shooting a team-best 45.1 percent from three-point land (41-91).
 
IN THE SERIES
Southern Illinois holds a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series with Nevada, while this year marks the first meeting between the two schools since the 1965-66 season. The Salukis turned in a 66-58 victory over Nevada in 1945-46 and followed that up with a 99-45 win on Dec. 17, 1965 in Carbondale, Ill.
 The Wolf Pack holds a 7-12 all-time record against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference and has won its last four meetings with teams from that league. Most recently, Nevada turned in a 77-71 overtime win over Creighton on March 16, 2007 in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament and notched a 55-52 victory at Northern Iowa on Dec. 22, 2007 in a rematch of last year’s BracketBusters contest.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS CONNECTIONS
Nevada second-year assistant coach Doug Novsek lettered at Southern Illinois from 1983-87 and served as a team captain for two seasons. He earned his bachelor’s degree in management at SIU in 1987. A native of Lawrenceville, Ill., Novsek scored 814 points in 87 career games for the Salukis and still holds the school’s career record for three-point percentage, making 47.3 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc (87-184).

LAST TIME OUT
Senior Marcelus Kemp scored 32 points and sophomore Brandon Fields added 21 as Nevada defeated Idaho 85-72 on Saturday night at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho.
 After a close first half, Nevada pulled away thanks to a substantial advantage from the free throw line. The Wolf Pack went 32-for-35 from the stripe, while the Vandals were 8-for-16. Kemp made 15-of-16 free throw attempts, while Fields made all 13 of his attempts.
 After Idaho took a 52-51 lead on a layup by Jordan Brooks with 11:56 to play, sophomore JaVale McGee knocked down his career-best third three-pointer to put Nevada up for good. Fields made a pair of free throws and Kemp converted on a three-point play to give the Wolf Pack a 59-52 lead just over three minutes later, and the Vandals would never get closer than four points the rest of the way.
 Despite Nevada's poor 11-for-27 shooting from the floor during the first half, Kemp kept the Wolf Pack ahead 35-33 at halftime, scoring 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
 McGee added 10 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting. He matched his career best with 20 points in the game. Jordan Brooks led Idaho with 14 points.

KEMP NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nevada senior guard Marcelus Kemp has been named the WAC Player of the Week for Feb. 11-17. This is the second WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior this season and the third for the Wolf Pack this year.
 Kemp, a senior from Seattle, Wash., averaged 29.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in Nevada’s games against Utah State, Boise State and Idaho last week. He had just two turnovers all week. The senior shot 49.0 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from three-point range and 91.4 percent from the free throw line last week. Kemp scored a career-high 35 points on 9-of-17 shooting (4-of-8 from three-point land) in Nevada’s win over Utah State. The 35 points was the most scored in a single game this season.  He also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out a season-high six assists with no turnovers against Utah State.
 He turned in 22 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the loss at Boise State, adding his second 30-point effort of the season in Saturday’s win at Idaho, scoring 32 points on 8-of-14 shooting (.571 percent). The guard made 15-of-16 free throw attempts in the victory over the Vandals.
 Sophomore guard Brandon Fields was named the WAC Player of the Week for Dec. 10-16. This marked the first WAC Player of the Week honor for the sophomore. Fields, a sophomore from Arlington, Texas, turned in career highs for scoring in both of Nevada’s wins that week. He averaged 19.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game in wins against San Diego and Central Florida. He shot 50 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three-point land on the week. Fields also made 85.7 percent of his free throw attempts. He scored a then career-best 17 points in a Dec. 12 victory over San Diego. He made three three-pointers in the game and blocked a career-best two shots against the Toreros. Fields bested that career mark with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting Dec. 16 against Central Florida, matching his career best with four three-pointers against the Knights.
 Kemp won Nevada’s first WAC honor of the season, being named the WAC Player of the Week for Nov. 12-18. It marked the third career WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior from Seattle, Wash. Kemp averaged 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game in Nevada’s wins over UC Irvine and Santa Clara. He shot 60 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point land. He turned in 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting, six rebounds and two steals in Nevada’s win at UC Irvine on Nov. 13. He also scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting in the Wolf Pack’s victory over Santa Clara on Nov. 17, making 3-of-6 three-point attempts against the Broncos.

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 20.4 points per game (T30th in the NCAA). He has turned in at least 20 points in 12 of the last 22 games, including a career-best 35 Feb. 11 vs. Utah State and 32 Feb. 16 at Idaho. 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 17 of 26 games this season, including 15 of the last 22. He turned in a team-high 26 points with 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 54 three-pointers made this year (2.08 per game). With two three-pointers Feb. 14 at Boise State, he became Nevada’s career leader for three-pointers made, passing Terrance Green (209 treys, 1999-2003), and now has made 211 career three-pointers. Kemp knocked down 5-of-6 three-pointers Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i, tying his career high for treys made in a game, and has made at least three three-pointers in 10 games this season.
 With his 32 points Saturday at Idaho, Kemp turned in his 36th consecutive game in double figures for scoring (all 26 this year) and the 88th 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 67 of the last 69 games. With 1,811 career points, he has also climbed into third place on the Nevada career scoring list, moving past Alex Boyd (1,731 points, 1967-70), and stands 66 points behind Edgar Jones (1,877 points, 1976-79) for second on the list.

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 tied for 30th in the nation at 20.4 points per game. Kemp has led the team in scoring in 17 of 26 games this year, including 15 of the last 22. Sophomore JaVale McGee is second on the team and 13th in the WAC with 13.2 points per game, while sophomore Brandon Fields and freshman Armon Johnson trail just behind at 12.7 and 11.7 points per contest, respectively. McGee has scored a career-high 20 points four times this year, most recently Feb. 16 at Idaho, while Fields turned in a career-best 22 Dec. 16 vs. UCF and had 21 Feb. 16 at Idaho. 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 12 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.

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 2.77 blocks per game, 1.29 blocks per game ahead of New Mexico State’s Martin Iti (1.48), and is tied for 13th in the NCAA in the category. He swatted a career-best seven shots Dec. 22 at Northern Iowa and has blocked six in three other games this season (Nov. 11 at UCF, Nov. 18 vs. Cal and most recently Feb. 11 vs. Utah State). He added five blocks Dec. 12 vs. San Diego and has had four in five other games (at North Carolina, Cal State Stanislaus, Idaho, at NMSU, at Idaho). McGee has blocked at least one shot in 22 of 26 games this season (18 with two or more). With 102 career blocks in just 60 games (1.70 per game), McGee has already climbed into sixth on the Nevada career list and needs just one more block to move into the top five and tie Greg Palm (103 blocks, 1981-82). McGee has also already moved into second on the Nevada single-season list with 72 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 11th in the nation with an average of 5.85 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 1.12 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 Feb. 9 with 88 points vs. Hawai’i. The Wolf Pack has turned in 14 of its highest scoring outputs of the year in its last 20 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 10 80-point efforts this season and has reached that 80-point mark in four of the last five games and seven of the last 10, including 85 points in its Feb. 11 win over Utah State and in its Feb. 16 victory at Idaho.
 After averaging 67.5 points in the first six contests of the year, the Wolf Pack has averaged 77.8 points per game in its last 20 (1555 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 75.4 points per game.

ARMON JOHNSON ONE OF LEAGUE’S TOP FRESHMEN
True freshman Armon Johnson is turning in one of the finest seasons of any freshman in the WAC this season. He is pacing the Wolf Pack and ranked seventh in the WAC with 3.58 assists per game, while the graduate of Reno’s Hug High School is seventh in the league with a 1.63 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also ranks among the WAC leaders in free throw percentage, checking in at 10th at 78.0 percent. Johnson has averaged 4.9 assists per game in the last seven games (34), including a career-best seven in the Feb. 9 win over Hawai’i.
 Fourth on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game, Johnson has turned in 16 double-figures efforts this season, including four 20-point contests. 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 13.7 points per game over the last 14 contests (192 points), up from his season average of 11.7 ppg.

FINDING THEIR TOUCH
Nevada has shot the ball well recently, making 48.1 percent of its attempts from the field in its last 20 outings (546-1135). The team has turned in 10 50-percent shooting efforts this season, including five of the last nine 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 Feb. 9 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 Feb. 9 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 fourth in the WAC and 32nd in the nation in field goal percentage this season (47.6 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 fourth in the WAC at 36.6 percent from three-point land this season (155-423). 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 four other games (Cal, at NMSU, San Jose State, Utah State) and has knocked down at least seven three-pointers in 12 games this year.

FIELDS FROM DOWNTOWN
The Dec. 17 WAC Player of the Week, sophomore Brandon Fields is shooting 38.3 percent from three-point land this season (44-115). He is second on the team with 44 three-pointers made this year, 10 behind senior Marcelus Kemp. Fields has knocked down at least one three-pointer in 21 of 26 games this year (12 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 and had 21 in the Feb. 16 win at Idaho.
  
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.

PACK NEWS & NOTES

- The Wolf Pack averaged just 6.7 turnovers per game in its three games last week, down from a season average of 13.9 miscues per game. Nevada turned the ball over a then season-low four times in its Feb. 11 win over Utah State and then bested that with just three turnovers in its Feb. 16 victory at Idaho.

- Nevada has shot 89.3 percent from the free throw line in the last two games (50-56). The team tied its season high in free throw percentage at 85.7 percent (18-21) on Feb. 14 at Boise State and then bested that mark with a 91.4 percent effort on Feb. 16 at Idaho (32-35).

- Sophomore JaVale McGee has made 4-of-5 three-point attempts in the last two games, including a career-best 3-of-3 effort in the team’s Feb. 16 victory at Idaho.

- The Wolf Pack has topped the 80-point mark in seven of its last 10 games and is 9-1 this year when scoring 80 or more points. Nevada also just missed 80 points with 79 scored Jan. 31 against the Bulldogs.

- 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 98-27 record (.784 winning percentage) since becoming Nevada's head coach in 2004-05.

- The Wolf Pack ranks third in the WAC in free throw percentage at 71.1 percent and turned in its season high at 91.4 percent Feb. 16 at Idaho (32-35). Nevada also shot a then season-high 85.7 percent from the charity stripe Jan. 12 at Hawai’i and Feb. 14 at Boise State. 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 19th in the NCAA at 87.4 percent. Sophomore Brandon Fields ranks fifth in the WAC at 85.7 percent, including a 13-of-13 effort Feb. 16 at Idaho, while freshman Armon Johnson is 10th at 78.0 percent. Nevada has turned in eight 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 80 of his last 87 free throw attempts (92.0 percent). He has made all of his attempts in seven of the last 14 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, while on Feb. 11 vs. Utah State, he made 13-of-14 from the charity stripe and went 15-of-16 from the line on Feb. 16 at Idaho.

- Including its 33-28 advantage over Hawai’i on Feb. 9, the Wolf Pack has outrebounded 12 of its 26 opponents this season (11-1 record in those games) and tied two others. Nevada has climbed to second in the WAC in rebounding offense (36.4 rpg) and fourth in rebounding margin (+2.8) 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 4-8 this year when getting outrebounded.

- Sophomore JaVale McGee leads the team and ranks second in the WAC with 7.5 rebounds per contest. He led the WAC for several weeks earlier this year. 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 16 games this season, including 12 of the last 19. Most recently, he led the team with a game-high 10 rebounds Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i and had nine on Feb. 16 at Idaho. Senior Marcelus Kemp is second on the team at 5.2 rebounds per game.

- 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).

- Sophomore Ray Kraemer has knocked down eight of his 11 three-point attempts in the last eight games (72.7 percent), 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 Feb. 9 vs. Hawai’i. Kraemer has averaged 4.1 points per game (33) and made 68.8 percent of his field goal attempts (11-16) in the eight contests. On the season, Kraemer is averaging 1.9 points per game and shooting 47.6 percent from three-point land (10-21).

- 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 4.8 rebounds per game in the last eight contests (38), up from his average of 2.7 boards per game. Cooke turned in six points, one shy of his career best, and pulled down five rebounds Feb. 14 at Boise State.

- Sophomore Brandon Fields is averaging 12.7 points per game this season, up from 2.0 points per game last season (+10.7), while fellow sophomore JaVale McGee is averaging 13.2 points per contest, up from 3.4 ppg last season (+9.8).

- 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 6.5 points per game and third at 4.4 rebounds per contest.

- Nevada opened the year with a 2-4 record for the first time since the 2002-03 season (now 17-9). 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 starting lineup has featured two sophomores and one freshman (McGee, Fields and Johnson) in the other 18 games (11-7 record).

- 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 20-6 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.

CLOSE LOSSES
Six of Nevada’s nine losses this season have come by an average of just 6.0 points per game (36 points), while three of them - a 63-60 loss at UCF on Nov. 11, a 70-66 defeat Dec. 1 at Pacific and a 62-60 loss at San Jose State on Jan. 10 - were decided by four points or less. Last year, Nevada’s five losses came by an average of just 6.8 points per game. In his three-plus years as Nevada’s head coach, Mark Fox’s squads have only lost nine games by a margin in double figures.

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 98-27 career record in his three-plus seasons at the helm of the Wolf Pack program (.784 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.

NEVADA IN WAC OPENERS
Following its Jan. 10 loss at San Jose State, Nevada now holds a 4-4 record in Western Athletic Conference openers since joining the league in 2000-01. The Wolf Pack has won four of its last six WAC openers, including an 81-55 victory over Idaho last year on Jan. 6, 2007 in Reno. Although the team was originally set to open WAC play at home on Jan. 5 vs. Utah State, that game was postponed due to inclement weather in Reno, and the Wolf Pack was forced to open conference play on the road for the sixth time in eight years as a member of the WAC. On Saturday at Hawai’i, Nevada will look to avoid going 0-2 in WAC play for the first time since opening the 2002-03 league campaign with a pair of losses. That year, Nevada dropped a 79-75 decision at Rice on Jan. 2, 2003 and fell at Tulsa 63-60 on Jan. 4, 2003.
 Last season, Nevada won its first five WAC games and 14 of its first 15 en route to a 14-2 mark and its fourth consecutive WAC regular-season title. In 2005-06, the team opened league play with a 3-3 mark but won its final 10 WAC games to finish with a 13-3 conference mark and its third consecutive WAC championship. In 2004-05, Nevada opened WAC play with four straight victories and won seven of its first eight league games en route to a WAC-record 16-2 overall mark and sole possession of the WAC championship. The team also won a share of the league title in 2003-04, tying for first with UTEP with a 13-5 mark.

WINNING AT LAWLOR
The Wolf Pack has won 35 of its last 38 contests at Lawlor Events Center, including 10 of its last 11 home games. With its 15-1 home record last year and a 11-2 mark this season, the Wolf Pack has turned in a 71-8 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.899 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 18 of its last 19 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 5-1). 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 (272-93 all-time).

PACK PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN WAC BY COACHES AND MEDIA
Nevada was picked to finish third in the Western Athletic Conference in 2007-08 by the league’s coaches and media, while seniors Marcelus Kemp and Demarshay Johnson were named to the All-WAC teams.
 The Wolf Pack received one first-place vote and 53 points in the poll of the league’s nine head coaches, while the team garnered 239 points with seven first-place votes in the media poll. The coaches and media also picked All-WAC teams with Kemp being named to the first team by both groups and Johnson earning second-team honors from the league’s coaches.

FOUR-TIME WAC CHAMPIONS
With a 14-2 mark in conference action, Nevada captured sole possession of the 2007 Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship, besting second-place New Mexico State by three games. That marked the third straight season that Nevada has won the title outright and the fourth consecutive year that the team has won a share of the regular-season conference crown. Nevada turned in a 13-3 mark to win the title last season, while the Wolf Pack won the regular-season crown with a WAC-record 16-2 conference mark in 2004-05. In 2003-04, Nevada tied for first with UTEP with a 13-5 record in WAC play.

WOLF PACK ONE OF TWO SCHOOLS WITH FOUR STRAIGHT LEAGUE TITLES, NCAA BIDS
Last year, Nevada became one of just two schools in the country to win four consecutive regular-season conference titles and appear in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments (2004-07). The four-time Western Athletic Conference regular-season champion Wolf Pack joins just Gonzaga, which has won at least a share of the last five West Coast Conference regular-season crowns, on that list. A total of 15 schools appeared in the last four NCAA Tournaments, including Arizona, Boston College, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Nevada, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Southern Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin.

NEVADA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
With its trip to New Orleans in 2007, Nevada made its sixth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance (second at-large selection) and its fourth consecutive trip to the "Big Dance." Last year marked the third time in four years that the Wolf Pack advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, while the team holds a 4-6 overall record in NCAA Tournament games (2-3 under Mark Fox).
 Last season, the Wolf Pack downed No. 24 Creighton 77-71 in overtime in the first round before falling to fifth-ranked Memphis in the second. In 2006, Nevada fell to Montana in the NCAA first round, while in 2005, Nevada advanced to the NCAA second round, defeating Texas before falling to eventual national runner-up Illinois in Indianapolis, Ind. In 2004, Nevada made the school's first trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, knocking off Michigan State and Gonzaga in the first and second rounds in Seattle, Wash., before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Georgia Tech in the regional semifinals in St. Louis, Mo.

WOLF PACK INKS TOP 25 CLASS IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Luke Babbitt of Reno, Nev., London Giles of Dallas, Texas, and Mark McLaughlin of Kenmore, Wash., have signed national letters of intent to study and play basketball at the University of Nevada beginning in 2008-09, fourth-year head coach Mark Fox announced on Nov. 14.
 Nevada’s fall signing class is listed among the best in the nation. Rivals.com has the Wolf Pack’s recruiting class ranked 22nd in the nation, while Scout.com lists the Wolf Pack 23rd in the country. Rivals.com also listed the best signing player at each position for each conference, and Giles was listed as the best point guard coming into the Western Athletic Conference, McLaughlin as the best shooting guard and Babbitt as the best power forward.
 A 6-8, 220-pound power forward, Babbitt comes to Nevada from Galena High School in Reno. Last year, he was named the 2007 Northern 4A Region Co-Player of the Year with current Wolf Pack freshman Armon Johnson. He averaged 27.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game and led Galena to the 2007 Nevada state championship last season. Babbitt was voted No. 3 on the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s prestigious “Best of the West” team and is listed as the 24th-best player in the country by Scout.com.
 Giles is a 6-3, 180-pound guard out of Kimball High School in Dallas, Texas. He was named the District 14 4A Newcomer of the Year last season after leading his team to a 23-10 record. Giles averaged 10.5 points and 6.3 assists per game as a junior and is listed as the 14th-best player in the state of Texas by TexasHoops.com.
 McLaughlin is a 6-5, 175-pound guard from Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Wash. He was the second-leading scorer in King County 4A last year with 24 points per game. McLaughlin is listed among the top 100 players in the country by the national recruiting services, including the 16th-best shooting guard in the country by Scout.com, and also checked in at No. 14 on this year’s Long Beach Press-Telegram’s “Best in the West” team.
 
WAC TOURNAMENT TO RETURN TO RENO IN 2009 & 2010
The University of Nevada has been selected to host the 2009 and 2010 Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournaments.
 The university and the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority (RSCVA) will play host to the tournaments at the 11,536-seat Lawlor Events Center, located on the university campus in Reno. The 2009 tournament will be played March 10-14, and the 2010 tournament will run from March 9-13.
 That will mark the third and fourth times that Nevada will serve as host to the WAC’s basketball tournaments with the event being held in Reno in 2005 and 2006. As a member of the Big West Conference, Nevada also served as the host of the conference tournament five years from 1996-2000.
 
UP NEXT
Following Saturday’s game at Southern Illinois, Nevada will return to WAC action next week, playing host to New Mexico State on Thursday, Feb. 28 and Louisiana Tech for Senior Day on Saturday, March 1. The Wolf Pack ends the regular season on Saturday, March 8, traveling to Fresno State.