HOUSTON COUGARS (1-0) at NEVADA WOLF PACK (1-1)
GAME #3
Sat., Nov. 21, 2009 - 8:05 p.m. PT - Lawlor Events Center (11,536) - Reno, Nev.
TELEVISION: Live internet streaming at www.nevadawolfpack.com (subscription fee)
RADIO: University of Nevada Sports Network (Fox Sports 1450 AM, Reno;
KELK 1240 AM, Elko; KHWG 750 AM, Fallon & KSVL 92.3 FM, Yerington)
Don Marchand (play-by-play) & Len Stevens (color), pregame show starts at 7:30 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: Houston leads the all-time series 7-1.
LAST MEETING: Houston has won the last four meetings between the two teams, including an 80-79 victory on March 18, 2008 in Reno in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.
Coming off an 88-75 loss at UNLV on Wednesday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack (1-1) returns home to take on the Houston Cougars (1-0) on Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center. Saturday's game will tip off at 8:05 p.m. and can be heard on Fox Sports Radio 1450 AM with Don Marchand and former Wolf Pack head coach Len Stevens calling the action. Nevada heads into the game looking to rebound from its first loss of the season and faces Houston for the first time since falling to the Cougars in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational in 2008. Saturday's game is also the lone home game in a stretch of four of five away from Lawlor Events Center for the Wolf Pack. Following Saturday's game, the Wolf Pack heads to the East Coast for a two-game swing at VCU on Nov. 27 and at North Carolina on Nov. 29.
Under the direction of first-year head coach David Carter, the Wolf Pack returns three starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year's 21-13 team, including the preseason WAC Player of the Year in sophomore forward Luke Babbitt who led the team in scoring and rebounding last season as a true freshman and preseason first-team All-WAC selection junior guard Armon Johnson who was second on the team in scoring and paced the Wolf Pack in assists last year. This season's team also features three seniors in guards Brandon Fields and Ray Kraemer and forward Joey Shaw as well as five new faces. Last season, Nevada turned in its sixth consecutive year with at least 20 wins and earned the team's seventh consecutive postseason appearance with an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational.
WINNING AT LAWLOR
The Wolf Pack has won 51 of its last 63 contests at Lawlor Events Center, including 26 of its last 36 home games dating back to the start of the 2007-08 season. Including a 13-3 mark in 2007-08, a 13-8 mark in 2008-09 and a 1-0 record this year, the Wolf Pack has turned in an 87-17 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.837 winning percentage).
Nevada has also captured 25 of its last 29 WAC regular-season home games and 30 of its last 36 home games against WAC opponents counting the 2006 and 2009 WAC Tournaments. A Jan. 19, 2008 loss to Boise State snapped the Wolf Pack's 14-game winning streak in WAC home games, including a perfect 8-0 mark in 2006-07 and a 2-0 mark to start the 2007-08 season (finished 7-1). That 14-game win streak had dated back to January of 2006. Nevada's losses to Louisiana Tech on Feb. 5 and New Mexico State on Feb. 7, 2009 marked its first back-to-back WAC home losses since falling to Louisiana Tech and SMU in January of 2002.
ABOUT THE HOUSTON COUGARS
Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Tom Penders (103-61 record at UH), the Houston Cougars return three starters and six letterwinners from last year's 21-12 College Basketball Invitational team. Houston finished in a tie for fourth in the Conference USA standings last season with a 10-6 league mark. The Cougars opened the 2009-10 season with a 92-60 victory over Nicholls State on Tuesday, Nov. 17 in Houston.
Houston returned its top two scorers from one year ago in senior guards Aubrey Coleman (6-4, 200) and Kelvin Lewis (6-4, 190). Coleman paced the team and ranked third in Conference USA last year with 19.4 points per game, while Lewis was fourth in the league at 18.0 points per contest. Coleman led the team with 33 points on 12-of-25 shooting in the team's season-opening game. Lewis is also the team's top returning rebounder after pulling down 8.2 boards per game (second on the team). Junior forward Maurice McNeil (6-9, 215), a transfer from San Jacinto JC, paced the Cougars with 14 rebounds in the team's win over Nicholls State to open this year.
IN THE SERIES
Houston leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 7-1 advantage. The Cougars have won the last four games in the series, most recently turning in an 80-79 victory over Nevada in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational on March 18, 2008 in Reno. Houston has won all four meetings between the two teams played in Reno, while Nevada's lone win in the series came in the form of a 77-73 victory on Nov. 27, 1978 in Houston. The game with the Cougars is the first in a home-and-home series with the date of the Wolf Pack's game in Houston to be determined.
The Wolf Pack holds a 34-36 record against the 15 teams that currently make up Conference USA, including four former members of the Western Athletic Conference (Rice 10-6, SMU 8-6, Tulsa 5-7 and UTEP 7-6).
HOUSTON CONNECTION
Nevada senior Brandon Fields and Houston senior Kelvin Lewis were high school teammates for one year as juniors at North Crowley High School in Fort Worth, Texas. They also played on the same AAU team growing up. After that junior season, Fields returned to Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas, where he graduated in 2006.
BABBITT PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF LAST YEAR
Sophomore forward Luke Babbitt has just picked up where he left off last season, leading the Wolf Pack with his team-leading seventh career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's loss at UNLV. He opened the year with 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting in the team's Nov. 14 win over Montana State. That marked his 12th career game with at least 20 points and the 16th time in his career that he has paced the team in scoring (15 times last year). He has scored in double figures in 33 of 36 career games at Nevada, including both contests this year. The preseason WAC Player of the Year, Babbitt has been named to the preseason watch lists for the 2009-10 John R. Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. Both awards are annually presented to the top player in college basketball.
Babbitt, a 6-9, 225-pound forward from Reno, Nev., was named the 2009 WAC Freshman of the Year last season after leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.9 points and 7.4 boards per game. An all-district selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the United States Basketball Writers Association, he ranked second among the nation's freshmen in scoring behind just Liberty's Seth Curry who averaged 20.2 points per game last year. Babbitt finished third in the WAC in scoring and rebounding and led the league in free throw shooting. Babbitt also set nearly every Wolf Pack freshman single-season record, including scoring with 573 total points.
The Naismith watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2009-10 college basketball season. In late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors will compile a mid-season team of the Top 30 players in the nation. In March, the voting academy will vote to narrow the list to the four finalists, while the Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four in Indianapolis, Ind.
In late December, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round during the NCAA Tournament. The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Wooden Award winners, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.
This year marks the fourth time in five seasons that Nevada has had a player on the preseason list for the Wooden Award with Marcelus Kemp making the list in 2007-08 and Nick Fazekas in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Fazekas was named to the final ballot for the Wooden Award in each of those years and in 2006-07, he was named one of 10 Wooden Award All-Americans and finished eighth in the final voting for the award.
CARTER WINS HIS HEAD COACHING DEBUT
Nevada's Nov. 14 win over Montana State gave Nevada head coach David Carter his first career coaching victory and he is now 1-1 in his first year as the Wolf Pack's mentor. He becomes the eighth head coach in school history to win his first game, joining recent head coaches Trent Johnson and Mark Fox who also won their Wolf Pack coaching debuts.
After spending 10 years as an assistant on the Wolf Pack bench, including the last five as Nevada's associate head coach, Carter was named the 17th head coach in the history of the Nevada men's basketball program on April 3, 2009, just one day after fifth-year head coach Mark Fox announced that he was leaving Nevada after five seasons for the University of Georgia. Carter has been an integral part of Nevada's five WAC regular-season championships and seven postseason appearances, including four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-07. Carter was also recognized as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation, making FOXSports.com's list of the top 10 Mid-Major Assistant Coaches in 2007-08 and being named the best assistant coach in the Western Athletic Conference in Street's & Smith's 2004-05 College Basketball National Preview.
LAST TIME OUT
UNLV's Oscar Bellfield had a game-high 22 points Wednesday night and the Rebels overcame a double-digit second-half deficit in an 88-75 victory over Nevada.
The Rebels trailed 54-42 with 14 minutes to play, but scored 11 unanswered points as part of a 23-4 outburst to take a 65-58 lead with 8:12 left.
Freshman Justin Hawkins finished with 13 points, including a driving layup with 9:56 remaining to give the Rebels the lead for good in their fourth straight win over the Wolf Pack.
Nevada built a 10-point lead in the first half. But after going ahead by 12 in the second half, the Wolf Pack scored just 11 points in the next 10 minutes to fall behind 75-65 with 4 minutes to play.
Senior Brandon Fields scored 22 points to lead Nevada. Junior Armon Johnson had 16 points and sophomore Luke Babbitt had 14 and a game-high 10 rebounds.
WOLF PACK NOTES
- Sophomore Luke Babbitt is leading the team and ranked second in the WAC in scoring at 20.0 points per game this year, while senior Brandon Fields is tied for fourth in the league at 18.0 points per contest. Four members of the Wolf Pack are averaging double figures for scoring, including junior Armon Johnson (15.0 ppg) and senior Joey Shaw (10.0 ppg).
- Fields led the team with a season-high 22 points Wednesday at UNLV. That marked the first time he has led the team in scoring this season after doing it seven times last year. It was also his seventh career game with 20 or more points.
- Nevada has knocked down 43.8 percent of its three-point attempts (14-32) to lead the WAC in the category after its first two games of the year. Last season, Nevada ranked seventh in the WAC in three-point shooting at just 30.6 percent. Junior Armon Johnson is leading the conference at 66.7 percent (2-3), while senior Ray Kraemer is tied for fifth at 57.1 percent (4-7). Kraemer tied his career high with three three-pointers made and went 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line in Nevada's season-opening win over Montana State.
- The Wolf Pack is also pacing the WAC with 6.5 blocked shots per game after leading the conference in the category with 4.79 per tilt last season. Sophomore Dario Hunt is once again pacing the WAC in blocked shots with 3.5 per game, including five in the season opener vs. Montana State. That marked his 23rd career game with more than one block and his fourth career contest with five or more. Hunt has 74 blocks in his career (in 36 games, 2.06 per game), which already ranks tied for ninth on the Nevada career list with Sam Mosley (74 in 57 games from 1982-83). Hunt's 67 blocks last season set the school freshman record and ranked third in the Nevada single-season record book.
- Senior Joey Shaw and junior Armon Johnson are leading the team and ranked tied for fifth in the WAC with 3.5 assists per game apiece. Shaw led the team with a career-best four assists in the Nov. 14 win over Montana State, while his assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.5 (seven assists to only two turnovers) ranks second in the WAC.
- Shaw also paces the WAC in free throw shooting, making all seven of his attempts from the charity stripe this season. Sophomore Luke Babbitt has made 92.9 percent of his free throw attempts this season (13-14), including 10-of-10 Nov. 18 at UNLV. Babbitt led the WAC in free throw percentage and ranked 24th in the country last year as a freshman at 86.4 percent.
- Nevada is shooting 45.5 percent from the field on the year, including a season-best 52.8 percent in the win over Montana State (72.0 percent in the first half of that game).
- The Wolf Pack has been outrebounded in each of its first two games and is being outrebounded 39.0 to 34.5 boards per game this year (-4.5 margin). Last season, Nevada was only outrebounded nine times with a 4-5 record in those games and led the league in rebounding offense at 36.5 boards per game.
NEVADA IN SEASON OPENERS
Including a 75-61 win over Montana State on Nov. 14, Nevada has now won six of its last six regular-season openers and 14 of the last 16 dating back to the 1994-95 season. Last year, the Wolf Pack opened the season with a 72-63 victory at Montana State on Nov. 15, 2008. In 2007-08, Nevada had a streak of four consecutive season-opening wins snapped with a 63-60 loss at Central Florida on Nov. 11, 2007. Prior to that, the Wolf Pack had had not opened the year with a loss since falling at San Diego 77-75 on Nov. 23, 2002 to start the 2002-03 campaign. The Wolf Pack holds a 53-43 all-time record in season openers.
This year marked the first time in three seasons that Nevada opened the year at home. Last year, the Wolf Pack started the season with a two-game road trip to Montana State and San Diego, while in 2007-08, the Wolf Pack crisscrossed the country to open the year, traveling more than 5,800 miles with games at UCF (Nov. 11) and UC Irvine (Nov. 13).
In 2006-07, Nevada turned in an 85-62 victory over Alaska-Anchorage on Nov. 10, 2006 at Lawlor Events Center. In 2005-06, Nevada started the year with an 82-74 win over Sacramento State on Nov. 19, 2005 at Lawlor Events Center, while the team downed Colorado-Colorado Springs 88-33 on Nov. 20, 2004 to give then head coach Mark Fox his first victory.
ON THE ROAD
Nevada has won 35 of its last 56 games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center, including 30 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 18 of its last 33 regular-season road contests and 29 of its last 45 and turned in an 8-5 road mark last season (6-2 in WAC play). 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 six seasons since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, the Wolf Pack has tallied a 46-22 record in road contests (.676 winning percentage). That includes a 32-10 record in WAC road games (.762).
WHO'S BACK
The Wolf Pack returns three starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year's 21-13 team, including 2009 WAC Freshman of the Year Luke Babbitt and fellow first-team All-WAC and all-district selection Armon Johnson. Babbitt set nearly every Nevada freshman record and became the first rookie in school history to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding, turning in 16.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last season. Johnson finished second on the team with 15.5 points per game and led the squad in assists for the second consecutive season with 4.3 per game (fifth in the WAC). Also returning are senior guards Brandon Fields and Ray Kraemer, senior forward Joey Shaw, junior forward Adam Carp, sophomore forward Dario Hunt and sophomore guard London Giles. Fields started 32 of 33 games in 2007-08 and was the team's leading scorer off the bench last year at 9.4 points per game. Fields and Shaw shared the team's Sixth Man Award last year with Shaw adding 7.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest, while Hunt led the WAC with 2.0 blocked shots per game last season.
WOLF PACK NEWCOMERS
Nevada's roster features five new faces in freshmen Marko Cukic, Keith Fuetsch and Patrick Nyeko and sophomore transfers Keith Olson and Malik Story. Originally from Belgrade, Serbia, Cukic comes to Nevada after spending last season training at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Fuetsch was an all-league selection in three sports at Bishop Manogue High School in Reno, while Nyeko earned all-region honors and helped his team to a fourth-place finish in the state championships at Seattle (Wash.) Preparatory School. Olson, a Gardnerville, Nev., native, transferred to Nevada from Northern Arizona, while Story comes to Nevada after starting his collegiate career at Indiana University. Per NCAA transfer rules, Olson will sit out the first semester, while Story will redshirt the 2009-10 season.
WOLF PACK PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN WAC
Nevada has been picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference by both the league's coaches and media, while sophomore forward Luke Babbitt has been named the preseason WAC Player of the Year by both groups. Babbitt and junior guard Armon Johnson were also named first-team All-WAC by both the media and the coaches in the preseason polls.
The Wolf Pack received 53 points, including one first-place vote, from the coaches and had 269 points and 12 first-place nods from the league's media.
NEVADA ONE OF TOP WAC TEAMS OVER LAST SIX YEARS
Over the last six seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 149-53 record, the second-most wins of any WAC team during that time (.738 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 79 games, the most in that same time period.
NEVADA NOTCHES SIXTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
With its WAC Tournament quarterfinals win over San Jose State on March 12, 2009, Nevada notched its sixth consecutive season with at least 20 wins. It also marked the 11th 20-win season in school history and the fifth for Mark Fox, who is the only coach in school history to lead more than one team to at least 20 victories. Nevada won at least 25 games in four of those six 20-win seasons (25-9 in 2003-04, 25-7 in 2004-05, 27-6 in 2005-06 and a school-record 29-5 in 2006-07). Nevada has also turned in a school-record eight consecutive winning seasons dating back to the 2001-02 campaign (three under former Pack head coach Trent Johnson and five under Fox). The previous long stretch was six from 1986-87 to 1991-92.
WOLF PACK CONTINUES STRING OF POSTSEASON BIDS
The Wolf Pack earned its seventh consecutive postseason invitation in 2008-09, appearing in the College Basketball Invitational for the second straight year. The Wolf Pack's string of seven postseason appearances dates back to a 2003 National Invitation Tournament bid followed by four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-07. In 2007-08, Nevada drew a tough opening-round matchup with Houston in the CBI and fell to the Cougars 80-79 at Lawlor Events Center on March 18, 2008, while last season, the team dropped another close one, falling to UTEP 79-77 on March 17 in Reno.
TIMEOUT LUNCHEONS
The remaining University of Nevada's Time-Out Luncheons with first-year Wolf Pack head men's basketball coach David Carter are set for Tuesday, Dec. 1, Wednesday, Jan. 6 and Monday, Feb. 1.
The luncheons will take place monthly at the Silver Legacy. Doors open at 11:30 a.m., and the cost is $16 per person at the door.
The luncheons will feature a gourmet buffet prepared by the Silver Legacy, and the program includes game recaps and previews by Carter as well as appearances by other Wolf Pack coaches and staff. The room will be announced on the day of the luncheon.
For more information, call the Wolf Pack Athletics Department at 775-784-6900.
UP NEXT
Following Saturday's game with Houston, the Wolf Pack heads to the East Coast for games at VCU (Nov. 27) and North Carolina (Nov. 29). The VCU game marks the return of last year's BracketBusters game in Reno, while the UNC contest ends a two-for-one series between the Wolf Pack and the Tar Heels. The team will end its road stretch with a Dec. 5 contest at Pacific..
