Idaho at Nevada
January 3, 2009
Game Notes:
- With the 78-73 loss to Idaho on Saturday night, Nevada fell to 7-7 overall on the season and 0-1 in WAC play. The Wolf Pack lost its WAC season opener for the third time in the last seven years and is 4-5 in WAC season openers since joining the league in 2000-01.
- Nevada is now 5-4 at home this year. The team lost just its second WAC regular-season home game in the last 22 tries and for just the sixth time in the last 23 overall games at Lawlor Events Center. The team is now 78-13 at home since the start of the 2003-04 season.
- The team also saw its nine-game winning streak against the Vandals snapped.
- Junior Brandon Fields led the team in scoring with 19 points, marking the second time this season that he has paced the team after doing so three times last year.
- Sophomore Malik Cooke added a career-high 17 points, the second time in three games that he has turned in a career best. He had 15 points Dec. 27 against Idaho State. 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.
- Junior Joey Shaw matched his career best and led the team with eight rebounds, while Cooke added seven boards.
- Nevada outrebounded Idaho 36-31 and is now 4-3 when outrebounding its opponents this season. The team has outrebounded each of its last three opponents.
- Nevada continues WAC play next week, traveling to New Mexico State on Thursday, Jan. 8 and to Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Jan. 10. The New Mexico State game will be televised locally by KAME-TV 21 and regionally by Comcast SportsNet California, while both contests can be heard on Nevada’s radio flagship, ESPN 630 AM, and its radio affiliates throughout the state with Ryan Radtke calling the action.
Nevada Quotes
Senior guard Lyndale Burleson
On the game:
“They made some tough shots tonight. We defended all right, not our best. They’re a good team.”
“They just came out and played hard. We came back and battled, but they came out with the W.”
“They just wanted it more than us.”
Junior guard Brandon Fields
On the game:
“We made a lot of mental mistakes, everybody on the team.”
On starting conference play with a loss:
“We knew this was conference play and wanted to start strong. They’re a good team and wanted it more than us.”
Head Coach Mark Fox
On the game:
“I don’t want to take anything away from Idaho. They outplayed us. I’m extremely disappointed in the job I’ve done with this team.”
“It was a college game and we’re a high school team right now. This is a college team and we’re not playing like one. We played with no determination, didn’t defend and didn’t execute offensively.”
On his team:
“We didn’t start well. I don’t care about coming back. We didn’t play well at all ever.”
On starting WAC play with a loss:
“We lost our opening game last year on the road, which I warned them about. We’ve got to grow up and we’re going to. We understand the process, but are we going to be tough enough to handle it?”
On Idaho:
“Don (Verlin) has done a good job. Their personnel is better. They have a different culture.”
Idaho Quotes
Idaho head coach Don Verlin
On the game:
“For a young basketball team that we have, that’s about as good as we can play.”
“The thing I was most happy with was we battled every possession. We didn’t have a lot of lost possessions tonight.”
On the free throw shooting:
“It’s probably one of the areas I’ve been most disappointed in. We’ve been working like crazy. Our guys stepped and made them tonight. It’s the difference in the game.”
On Nevada guard Brandon Fields:
“He scared the heck out of me going into the game because of how good he is. But I thought we got him to make some tough shots. I thought we got him to rely on the three-point line a little bit too much. I thought that played in our favor.”
