NEVADA WOLF PACK (12-8, 5-2 WAC) at IDAHO VANDALS (10-10, 4-3 WAC)
GAME #21
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 - 7:05 p.m. PT - Cowan Spectrum (7,000) - Moscow, Idaho
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: University of Nevada Sports Network (ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno;
KELK 1240 AM, Elko; KHWG 750 AM, Fallon & KSVL 92.3 FM, Yerington)
Ryan Radtke (play-by-play), pregame show starts at 6:30 p.m. PT
SERIES HISTORY: Nevada leads the all-time series with Idaho 31-23.
LAST MEETING: Idaho won the last meeting between the two teams, turning in a 78-73 win over Nevada on Jan. 3 in Reno, Nev.
Coming off a 72-61 loss Thursday at Utah State, the Nevada Wolf Pack (12-8, 5-2 WAC) continues its road trip, traveling to Moscow, Idaho, on Saturday night to take on the Idaho Vandals (10-10, 4-3 WAC). Saturday’s game will tip off at 7:05 p.m. Pacific Time at Idaho’s Cowan Spectrum and can be heard on Nevada’s radio flagship, ESPN 630 AM, and affiliates throughout the state with Ryan Radtke calling the action. The Wolf Pack saw its season-long five-game winning streak snapped in Thursday’s loss to the Aggies and looks to avenge a defeat to the Vandals in this year’s WAC opener on Jan. 3. The team has won nine of the last 10 meetings with Idaho, including the last three played in Moscow, Idaho. Nevada checks in at second in the WAC standings with a 5-2 record, while Idaho is fourth at 4-3. Following Saturday’s game with the Vandals, Nevada returns home to Lawlor Events Center next week, playing host to Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 5 and New Mexico State on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Mark Fox, the Wolf Pack returned two starters and a total of seven letterwinners from last year’s 21-12 team, including the coaches’ preseason WAC Player of the Year Armon Johnson who started 32 of 33 games last season as a true freshman. This year’s team also features five new faces (a junior college transfer and four true freshmen). Last season, Nevada turned in its fifth consecutive year with at least 20 wins, won its fifth straight WAC regular-season title and earned the team’s six consecutive postseason appearance with an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.
SUITS AND SNEAKERS WEEKEND
Nevada’s coaches will be sporting tennis shoes instead of dress shoes with their suits at Saturday’s game at Idaho as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer “Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend,” a collaborative initiative of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society slated for the weekend of Jan. 30 Feb. 1, 2009. Participating NABC-member coaches across the country will participate by wearing sneakers with their usual game-day attire to demonstrate their support for the Society and the fight against cancer. As well, fans are encouraged to wear sneakers to games to demonstrate their support.
ON THE ROAD
Nevada has won 31 of its last 50 games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center, including 26 road wins and five neutral-site victories (dating back to midway through the 2005-06 season). In 2006-07, 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 14 of its last 27 regular-season road contests and 25 of its last 39 and turned in a 7-9 road mark last season (4-4 this year). In 2006-07, 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 five seasons since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, the Wolf Pack has tallied a 42-20 record in road contests (.677 winning percentage). That includes a 28-9 record in WAC road games (.757).
ABOUT THE IDAHO VANDALS
Idaho brings a 10-10 overall mark into Saturday’s game with Nevada and checks in at fourth in the WAC standings with a 4-3 conference mark. The Vandals have won their last two games, both at home, including a 63-59 victory over in-state rival Boise State on Thursday night. Under the direction of first-year head coach Don Verlin, who came to Idaho after 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Utah State, the Vandals returned one starter and four letterwinners from last year’s 8-21 team and feature seven newcomers on this season’s squad. Idaho finished in a tie for eighth in the WAC last season with a 5-11 league mark.
Junior guard Mac Hopson (6-2-195), a transfer from Washington State, is leading the Vandals and ranked third in the WAC in scoring with 16.8 points per game this season. He is also pacing the conference with 5.9 assists per game and ranks second on the Vandal squad with 5.0 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Kashif Watson (6-4, 190), a transfer from Irvine Valley CC, is second on the team with 11.0 points per game. while junior forward Brandon Wiley (6-6, 225), a transfer from City College of San Francisco, is the team’s top rebounder at 6.1 boards per tilt (12th in the WAC).
IN THE SERIES
Nevada leads the series with Idaho 31-23 and has won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two former members of the Big West Conference. Idaho turned in a 78-73 victory over Nevada in the first meeting of this season on Jan. 3 in Reno. Last year, the Wolf Pack won both games last season, turning in a 69-61 victory on Jan. 17, 2008 in Reno and an 85-72 decision on Feb. 16, 2008 in Moscow, Idaho. Nevada has won the last three games played between the two teams in Moscow, including last year’s 85-72 victory.
LAST TIME OUT VS. IDAHO
Mac Hopson and Luciano de Souza each scored 16 points as Idaho turned back Nevada 78-73 on Jan. 3 in the WAC opener for both teams. Kashif Watson added 13 points as Idaho snapped a nine-game losing streak to Nevada. The Wolf Pack was led by junior Brandon Fields' 19 points, while sophomore Malik Cooke added a career-best 17 points.
Idaho trailed 65-62 with 2:48 to play after a three-point play by Cooke. Hopson then drove the lane for a bucket and Watson hit a pair of free throws and a short jumper in the lane for a 66-65 Idaho lead with 1:53 to go. De Souza had a dunk for a 71-65 Idaho lead with 31 seconds to play.
Idaho led 35-33 at halftime. De Souza led Idaho with 11 points at halftime on the strength of three 3-pointers. Marvin Jefferson scored eight points inside and De Souza hit a 3-pointer as the Vandals jumped out to a 15-3 lead six minutes into the game. Fields scored 10 of Nevada's first 14 points to keep the game close early.
LAST TIME OUT
Tai Wesley scored 22 points, 17 of them in the second half, to lead Utah State past Nevada 72-61 Thursday night in Logan, Utah.
The Wolf Pack was paced by sophomore Armon Johnson with 18 points. Freshman Luke Babbitt added 17 and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds. Junior Brandon Fields had 11 points for Nevada.
After trailing by four points at halftime, Utah State took its first lead of the game, 36-34, when Wesley scored the first six points of the second half. Wesley would eventually score the first 11 points for the Aggies, though the Wolf Pack would again briefly take the lead.
Later in the half, Stavon Williams hit eight consecutive points to help Utah State to a 60-45 lead with 5:35 to play. The Aggies made 11 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.
BABBITT OPENS ROOKIE CAMPAIGN STRONG
Winner of two WAC Player-of-the-Week awards this season, freshman Luke Babbitt has opened his first season in the Silver and Blue in strong fashion, leading the team in scoring and rebounding. With a career-high 22 points Dec. 31 vs. North Carolina, Jan. 8 at New Mexico State and again Jan. 17 vs. Fresno State, he has regained the team scoring lead. The McDonald’s High School All-American is averaging 16.0 points per game and ranks fifth in the WAC and sixth among the nation’s freshmen in scoring. Babbitt is also leading the Pack in both categories in conference play (16.9 ppg, 4th in the WAC and 8.6 rpg, 2nd in the WAC).
He has turned five 20-point games this season, surpassing a pair of 20-point efforts (at Montana State and vs. Oregon State) with his three 22-point efforts, and has led the team in scoring in 10 of 20 games, including five of the last nine. He has been in double figures for scoring in all but two contests this year, most recently adding 17 Thursday at Utah State, and hit the game-winning three-pointer as time expired for 15 points in the Jan. 10 win at Louisiana Tech.
Babbitt checks in at third in the WAC with 7.7 rebounds per contest. He has led the Wolf Pack in rebounding 12 times this season (including five of the last six games), most recently pulling down a career-best 13 boards Jan. 17 vs. Fresno State and adding a game-high seven rebounds Thursday at Utah State. He turned in his first career double-double in his collegiate debut, tallying 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds Nov. 15 at Montana State. He has a team-leading four double-doubles this season, most recently turning in 22 points and 13 rebounds Jan. 17 vs. Fresno State.
Babbitt has a chance to become the first Wolf Pack freshman to lead the team in scoring since Terrance Green paced the squad with 13.9 points per game in 1999-2000. He could also become the first freshman to pace the Wolf Pack in rebounding since Nick Fazekas averaged 7.6 boards per game in 2003-04. Since 1972-73, Nevada has never had a freshman lead the team in both categories, while the Wolf Pack has had just two rookies lead the team in scoring (Green & Edgar Jones in 1975-75) and two pace the squad in rebounding (Fazekas and Pete Padgett in 1972-73) in that span.
WIPING THE GLASS
The Wolf Pack has outrebounded each of its last nine opponents, including a 35-33 advantage Thursday over Utah State. Nevada is now 9-4 on the year when outrebounding its opponents. On Jan. 8 at New Mexico State, Nevada was down 27-17 in the rebounding battle at the half but outboardedthe Aggies 34-16 in the final 25 minutes on Jan. 8 (51-43 in the game). The 51 rebounds were one shy of the team's season high of 52 Dec. 9 vs. Sonoma State. In addition to a team-leading and career high-tying 12 rebounds from freshman Luke Babbitt, sophomore Malik Cooke and junior Joey Shaw each tied their career bests with 10 and eight rebounds, respectively, Jan. 8 vs. the Aggies.
As a team, Nevada ranks second in the WAC in rebounding offense with 37.8 boards per game and offensive rebounding with 12.60 offensive boards per contest. In WAC games, Nevada is pulling down a league-best 40.4 rebounds per game.
Freshman Luke Babbitt is the team’s top rebounder, checking in at third in the WAC with 7.7 boards per game. He pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds Jan. 17 vs. Fresno State and has tallied 12 in two other games this year (at Montana State and at New Mexico State). Sophomore Malik Cooke ranks second on the team and 11th in the WAC with 6.3 rebounds per contest, while Cooke is Nevada’s best offensive rebounder this season, checking in at second in the WAC with 3.00 offensive rebounds per game this year. Cooke turned in his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 10 rebounds Jan. 22 vs. Hawai’i and has matched his career best with 10 rebounds two other times this season.
SUCCESS AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Nevada ranks third in the WAC and 56th in the nation in free throw percentage this season, knocking down 72.6 percent of its attempts from the line (358-493). Nevada made a season-high 87.5 percent of its free throws in its Dec. 14 win over Southern Illinois (21-24), besting its previous high of 87.1 percent Dec. 9 vs. Sonoma State (27-31). The team has been over 80 percent at the line three times this year, most recently knocking down 81.3 percent of its attempts Jan. 22 vs. Hawai’i (26-32).
Freshman Luke Babbitt is shooting 82.4 percent from the line (84-102) to rank fourth in the WAC, including all eight of his attempts Dec. 14 vs. Southern Illinois and Dec. 27 vs. Idaho State. Junior Ray Kraemer has made 21-of-22 of his free throw attempts on the year (.955) and would lead the WAC, while junior Joey Shaw is shooting 78.0 percent (32-41) which would rank eighth, but both players fall short of the league’s 2.0 minimum per game. Sophomore Armon Johnson checks in at ninth in the WAC at 75.5 percent (71-94).
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Including four games this year (4-0 record), Nevada has won 56 of its last 58 games when holding its opponent to 60 points or less, including a 13-1 record in 2005-06, a 6-1 mark in 2006-07 and a 6-0 record in 2007-08. As a team, Nevada ranks second in the WAC in field goal percentage defense and is third in scoring defense, allowing its opponents to shoot 41.1 percent from the field and score 65.3 points per game.
Nevada held Sonoma State to a season-low 39 points on Dec. 9, while Southern Illinois came into its Dec. 14 game with the Wolf Pack ranked 14th in the nation in three-point percentage at 42.1 percent but was held to just 26.7 percent (4-15). New Mexico State came into the Jan. 8 game ranked first in the WAC and seventh in the nation in three-point shooting at 41.0 percent but was held to just 12.5 percent by the Wolf Pack (1-8).
FOX TIED FOR THIRD IN ALL-TIME WINS AT NEVADA
With Nevada’s 74-63 win over Hawai’i on Jan. 22, Nevada head coach Mark Fox moved into a tie for third on the Wolf Pack’s all-time wins list with Sonny Allen (114-89 record in seven seasons from 1980-87). Fox holds a 114-38 career record in his five seasons at the helm of the Wolf Pack program (.750 winning percentage). He is the first coach in school history to lead his squad to four consecutive 20-win seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances, while his winning percentage ranks first among all of Nevada’s head coaches.
JOHNSON TURNS IT ON
Sophomore Armon Johnson is now second on the team and eighth in the WAC with 14.5 points per contest. The preseason WAC Player of the Year has paced the team in scoring six times this year, including 25 points in a Jan. 15 win over Boise State and a career-high 33 points on Dec. 20 at California. Most recently, he led the squad with 18 in Thursday’s loss at Utah State. In the last 15 games, Johnson has turned in 15.9 points per game (239 points).
Johnson has had a knack for big second halves this year, including 27 of his career-high 33 points in the second half at Cal, 14 of 20 in the second half and overtime Jan. 8 at New Mexico State and 16 of 25 in the final 20 minutes Jan. 15 vs. Boise State. Against the Bears, he scored Nevada's first seven points of the half and 13 of its last 15 in the game. Johnson also scored 13 of his points in the second half Dec. 31 vs. top-ranked North Carolina, 14 of his in the second half Dec. 2 at Colorado State and 14 of 16 in the final 20 minutes Dec. 14 vs. Southern Illinois.
Johnson is also leading the team in assists for the second year in a row. He ranks sixth in the WAC with 4.20 assists per game this year and is fourth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.87, 84 assists and just 45 turnovers). He turned in seven assists with no turnovers in the Dec. 17 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff as well as the Jan. 10 win at La Tech and has had just one turnover in seven other games this season (most recently five assists and one turnover Jan. 15 vs. Boise State). He dished out a career-high 11 assists in the Nov. 22 win over Oregon State. He also added 11 points vs. the Beavers for his first career double-double and the Wolf Pack’s first points-assists double-double since Ramon Sessions had 11 points and 10 assists in an 84-66 victory over Boise State on Jan. 15, 2005.
WOLF PACK NEWS & NOTES
- The Wolf Pack tied its season-best three-point outing Thursday at Utah State, knocking down 50 percent of its three-pointers in the game (7-14), including a perfect 3-for-3 effort by freshman Luke Babbitt. The team also made 50 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc Dec. 9 vs. Sonoma State (6-12). Nevada tied its season high with nine three-pointers made and shot 47.4 percent from three-point land in its. Jan. 10 win at Louisiana Tech (9-19). Against the Bulldogs, Nevada got a career-high three treys from Babbitt (3-3), including the game-winner as time expired, while junior Brandon Fields made a season-best three (3-6) and senior Lyndale Burleson tied his career best with three (3-4).
- Nevada also turned in its best first-half shooting effort (50.0 percent, 13-26) but shot just 31.3 percent in the second half (10-32) and ended up at 39.7 percent for the game on Thursday.
- The Wolf Pack made a season-low 14 trips to the free throw line on Thursday. The team also had season lows for free throws made (eight) and percentage (.571) in the contest vs. the Aggies.
- Freshman Dario Hunt blocked a career-best five shots in Nevada’s Jan. 8 win at New Mexico State, besting his previous mark of four Dec. 31 vs. then top-ranked North Carolina. He is second in the WAC with 1.90 blocks per game overall and 2.29 blocks per league game. He has blocked at least one shot in 17 of 20 games this year, including 14 with two or more (most recently two Jan. 29 at Utah State). Hunt already has 38 blocked shots this season, which is just six shy of the school freshman record of 44 set by Nick Fazekas in 2003-04. As a team, Nevada is second in the WAC and 48th in the nation with 4.65 blocked shots per game with a season high of 12 Dec. 9 vs. Sonoma State.
- In WAC play, Nevada leads the conference in rebounding offense and ranks second in scoring offense, averaging 70.9 points and 40.4 rebounds per league game. Those numbers are up from 69.8 ppg and 37.8 rpg in all contests. The Wolf Pack also paces the WAC in field goal percentage defense (.406), offensive rebounds (14.43) and defensive rebounds (26.0) in conference play.
- Junior Brandon Fields has led the team in scoring four times this season, most recently tying freshman Luke Babbitt for the squad lead with 19 points in a Jan. 22 win over Hawai’i. He paced the team in scoring three times all of last year. Fields scored a game- and season-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line Dec. 17 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff and had 19 Jan. 3 vs. Idaho. Fields has turned in 11.8 points per game in the last 11 contests (130), up from his average of 9.5 points per game this season (fourth on the team and first among players coming off the bench).
- Junior Ray Kraemer scored seven points in just five minutes Jan. 22 in the win over Hawai’i, making his only field goal attempt (a three-pointer) and knocking down all four of his free throw attempts.
- Nevada is also leading the WAC in turnover margin at +2.1 and ranked 28th in the country with just 12.2 turnovers per game. Senior Lyndale Burleson has the best assist-to-turnover ratio on the squad at 2.40 (36 assists and just 15 turnovers) and would rank second in the WAC but falls short of the minimum of 3.0 assists per game. Burleson has not turned the ball over in 10 of 20 contests this season.
- The Wolf Pack is getting 66.2 percent of its scoring (924 points) and 63.1 percent of its rebounding (478 rebounds) from its freshmen and sophomores this season.
- The Wolf Pack rallied from second-half deficits in each of its last two road wins and is now 3-5 on the year when trailing at the half. Nevada trailed 40-31 at halftime Jan. 8 at New Mexico State before downing the Aggies in overtime. On Jan. 10 at Louisiana Tech, Nevada was down 35-24 at the half and trailed 45-30 with 16:36 to play in the game before rallying for the victory.
- The Wolf Pack bench is averaging 21.9 points per game this season (437 points), and Nevada holds a 9-3 record when its bench outscores its opponent’s. In the last 13 games, the reserves have turned in 24.5 points per contest (319). Juniors Brandon Fields and Joey Shaw are Nevada’s leading scorers off the bench this year, averaging 9.5 and 7.3 points per game to rank fourth and fifth on the team, respectively. Nevada got a season-high 48 points from its bench in its Dec. 17 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, including 21 points from Fields, nine from Shaw and a career-best eight from freshman London Giles.
- Sophomore Malik Cooke added a career-high 17 points Jan. 3 vs. the Vandals, the second time in three games that he had turned in a career best in scoring. He had a then career-high 15 points Dec. 27 against Idaho State and followed that up with 13 points Dec. 31 vs. North Carolina. Cooke made 6-of-10 attempts from the field, matching his career high with two three-pointers made, and went 3-of-3 from the free throw line in vs. the Vandals. With 10.8 points per game in the last nine contests (97 points), he has moved into third on the team in scoring with 9.6 points per contest.
- Cooke set a career best with six steals Dec. 6 vs. UNLV and is second in the WAC with 1.80 steals per game. The Wolf Pack turned in a season-high 12 steals in its Nov. 22 win over Oregon State with four by junior Joey Shaw and three apiece by freshman Luke Babbitt and Cooke, and matched that with 12 in the Dec. 17 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Cooke also added four steals Dec. 31 vs. No. 1 North Carolina and again Jan. 22 vs. Hawai’i. As a team, Nevada leads the WAC with 7.45 steals per contest.
- Nevada made a season-high 53.4 percent of its attempts from the field Dec. 9 vs. Sonoma State, besting its previous high of 51.7 percent from the field Dec. 2 at Colorado State. Nevada also turned in a season high from three-point land vs. Sonoma State (.500, 6-12).
- All 12 players scored for Nevada en route to the team’s season-high 95 points Dec. 9 vs. Sonoma State, led by freshman Luke Babbitt who had 16 on 6-of-10 shooting. Nevada also notched season bests for field goal percentage (.534), field goals made (31), three-point percentage (.500), free throws made (27) and attempted (31), free throw percentage (.871, 27-31 - since broken), rebounds (52), assists (24) and blocked shots (12) vs. the Seawolves.
- The Wolf Pack opened the year with a 2-3 record for the second consecutive season (now 12-8). Last year, Nevada turned in a 2-4 mark to start the year but won its next five games and finished the season with a 21-10 mark and a share of its fifth consecutive WAC regular-season championship. In 2003-04, Nevada also opened the year with a 2-3 mark. That year, the Wolf Pack opened the season with a win over Vermont before falling at then top-ranked Connecticut (both in the Preseason NIT). Nevada then turned in a 74-62 win at UNLV and dropped games at Portland and Pacific 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.
UP NEXT
Following Saturday’s game at Idaho, Nevada returns home next week to play host to Lousiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 5 and New Mexico State on Saturday, Feb. 7
