RENO, Nev. The 2008-09 University of Nevada men's basketball schedule will feature contests with seven opponents that earned postseason invitations last year, fifth-year head coach Mark Fox announced Wednesday.
“I think we’ve created a non-league schedule that will allow us to have a very strong strength of schedule. We will certainly have some big challenges and some great teams coming to visit Lawlor Events Center this season,” Fox said.
Following an exhibition game against San Francisco State on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Lawlor Events Center, the five-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Wolf Pack will open the regular season with a pair of road games. Nevada will travel to Bozeman, Mont., to take on Montana State on Saturday, Nov. 15 and to San Diego, Calif., for a game against 2008 NCAA Tournament participant San Diego on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
Nevada will play its next two games at Lawlor Events Center, taking on Oregon State in its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 22 and Pacific on Wednesday, Nov. 26. After a two-game road trip that includes stops at Portland (Nov. 29) and Colorado State (Dec. 2), the Wolf Pack will return home to play host to UNLV on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Lawlor Events Center for the annual in-state rivalry game.
The UNLV game begins a four-game homestand for the Wolf Pack, which will include games with Sonoma State on Dec. 9, Southern Illinois (jn a return of last year’s BracketBuster) on Dec. 14 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 17. The team then travels to Berkeley, Calif., to take on the California Bears on Saturday, Dec. 20 and returns to Reno on Saturday, Dec. 27 to take on Idaho State.
Nevada will wrap up its non-conference slate on Wednesday, Dec. 31 when North Carolina visits Lawlor Events Center for a nationally televised game. Already the top-ranked team in the nation in the summer polls, the Tar Heels advanced to the NCAA Final Four last season.
Nevada opens Western Athletic Conference action at home, playing host to Idaho on Saturday, Jan. 3 in Reno before hitting the road for games at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech. Boise State, Fresno State and Hawai’i also visit Nevada in the month of January, while the Wolf Pack travels to Utah State and Idaho.
The month of February will see the Wolf Pack play host to Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State and Utah State, while the team heads to San Jose State, Hawai’i and Fresno State. The Wolf Pack will step out of conference action on Saturday, Feb. 21 to participate in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. Nevada will play at home in this year’s event with its opponent to be announced in February.
Nevada will wrap up the regular season with a home game against San Jose State on March 5 and a road contest at Boise State on March 7. The team will then return home for the 2009 WAC Tournament on March 10-14 at Lawlor Events Center. The winner of the WAC Tournament will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Season tickets renewals for the 2008-09 edition of Wolf Pack basketball will be sent out later this summer, and new season tickets will go on sale in September. Fans interested in purchasing new season tickets should contact Meredith Montoya (mmontoya@unr.edu or 775-682-6905).
