EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES (4-5) at NEVADA WOLF PACK (4-4)
GAME #9
Thurs., Dec. 17, 2009 - 7:05 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 (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 Eastern Washington 8-2.
LAST MEETING: Nevada has won the last three meetings between the two teams, most recently turning in a 72-60 win over Eastern Washington on Feb. 20, 1992 in Cheney, Wash.
Following a 92-72 victory over South Dakota State on Saturday, the Nevada Wolf Pack (4-4) opens play in the HOOPTV Las Vegas Classic Thursday night with the Eastern Washington Eagles (4-5). Thursday's game at Lawlor Events Center will tip off at 7:05 p.m. Pacific Time and can be heard on Nevada's flagship radio station, ESPN 630 AM, with Ryan Radtke calling the action. Nevada has won back-to-back games for the first time this season and is in the middle of a four-game homestand. The Wolf Pack has turned in a perfect 4-0 record this year at Lawlor Events Center and has won 84 percent of its home games in the last five-plus years. Following Thursday's game, the Wolf Pack wraps up its season-long homestand with Wagner College on Saturday, Dec. 19, also part of the Las Vegas Classic. Nevada will head to the Orleans in Las Vegas for the final two rounds of the event Dec. 22-23.
Under the direction of first-year head coach David Carter, the Wolf Pack returned 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 54 of its last 66 contests at Lawlor Events Center, including 29 of its last 39 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 4-0 record this year, the Wolf Pack has turned in a 90-17 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.841 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 EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES
Under the direction of third-year head coach Kirk Earlywine (27-42 record in two-plus years at EWU), the Eastern Washington Eagles returned three starters and a total of six letterwinners from last year's 12-18 team. The Eagles finished seventh in the Big Sky Conference last season with a 6-10 conference mark. Eastern Washington has turned in a 4-5 record so far this year, most recently edging Seattle in overtime 100-97 on Saturday. Prior to that, the Eagles had dropped three of four games, including losses to WAC opponents Boise State and Idaho.
Senior center Brandon Moore (6-9, 250) is leading three Eastern Washington players in double figures for scoring with 13.1 points per game. Moore is also the team's top rebounder at 9.9 boards per game. Senior forward Mark Dunn (6-8, 270) is averaging 13.1 points per contest, while senior guard Benny Valentine is adding 11.0 points per game. Freshman guard Glen Dean (5-10, 170) has made a team-high 16 three-pointers and is passing the Eagles in three-point shooting at 48.5 percent (16-33).
IN THE SERIES
Nevada leads the all-time series with Eastern Washington 8-2 and has won the last three games between the two teams, including a 72-60 victory at EWU on Feb. 20, 1992 in the most recent meeting. The Wolf Pack is also 4-1 at Lawlor Events Center against the Eagles.
Nevada holds a 152-105 record against the nine teams that currently make up the Big Sky Conference and spent 13 years from 1979-80 to 1991-92 as a member of that league. Nevada won a pair of regular-season conference championships (1983 & 1985) and two conference tournament titles (1984 & 1985) as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The Wolf Pack took on another Big Sky team, Montana State, in this year's season-opener and turned in a 75-61 victory over the Bobcats on Nov. 14 at Lawlor Events Center.
EASTERN WASHINGTON CONNECTIONS
Nevada head coach David Carter is no stranger to Eastern Washington University, having spent two seasons there as an assistant coach on Steve Aggers' staff from 1995-97. Nevada director of basketball operations Zac Claus lettered in 1997 and 1998 for the Eagles. A two-time Big Sky All-Academic selection, Claus earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Eastern Washington in 1998.
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 again in scoring and rebounding this year. He ranks third in the WAC with 18.1 points per game and second in the conference at 10.5 boards per contest (20th in the nation in rebounding). The Nevada southpaw has notched double-doubles in each of the last seven games, including 16 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's win over South Dakota State. Babbitt is tied for third in the nation with seven double-doubles and is one of only three players in the country to have double-doubles in all or all but one of his games this season.
Babbitt turned in a season-high 27 points to go along with 13 rebounds Nov. 27 at VCU, scoring 23 of his 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting in the second half in Nevada's near comeback. He also turned in 14 points and 10 rebounds Nov. 18 at UNLV, had 14 points and a career-best 17 rebounds Nov. 21 vs. Houston and opened the year with 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting in the team's Nov. 14 win over Montana State.
Babbitt has had 13 career games with at least 20 points (including two this year) and has led the team in scoring 17 times in his young career (15 times last year and two this season). He has scored in double figures in 39 of 42 career games at Nevada, including all eight 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.
SHAW BRINGS CONSISTENCY
Senior Joey Shaw is turning in one of the most consistent seasons of any member of the Wolf Pack so far this year. He ranks fourth on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and is third on the squad with 6.1 boards per contests. Both marks put him just out of the WAC leaders. Shaw has scored in double figures in six of eight games this season and led the team with a career-high 26 points Nov. 21 vs. Houston. His 17 assists, six steals and six blocked shots also all rank second on the club this year.
Shaw is shooting the ball well and is the only player in the WAC to currently be ranked in the top 15 in field goal percentage (12th at 52.3 percent), three-point percentage (15th at 39.4 percent, 13-33) and free throw percentage (14th at 80.0 percent, 20-25).
JOHNSON JOINS NEVADA'S 1000-POINT CLUB
With a jumper with 12:30 to go in the second half Dec. 5 at Pacific, junior guard Armon scored his 1,000th career point to become the 19th player in school history to reach that milestone. In his two-plus years and 75 games in the Silver and Blue, Johnson has scored 1,040 points (18th all time at Nevada). He also became just the sixth player in Wolf Pack history to turn in 1,000 points and 250 assists in his career. Johnson already has 299 career assists and ranks 10th in the Nevada career record book.
Only Nevada standouts Marcelus Kemp, Pete Padgett, Darryl Owens Kevin Soares and Matt Williams have previously scored at least 1,000 points and dished out 250 or more assists as members of the Wolf Pack.
Johnson has led the Pack in scoring in three of the last four games and checks in at eighth in the WAC in scoring with 16.8 points per game this season. He has turned in a pair of 20-point games this year, including a season-high 22 points in the Nov. 21 win over Houston.
In the last four games, starting with 20 points Nov. 29 at North Carolina, Johnson has averaged 18.5 points per game and shot 57.9 percent from the field (33-57). In the last two games, he has made 69.6 percent of his field goal attempts, including 9-of-12 for 19 points Dec. 8 vs. Fresno Pacific and 7-of-11 for 17 points Saturday vs. South Dakota State.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Nevada leads in the WAC in scoring offense and ranked 27th in the NCAA this season at 81.2 points per game, up from its average of 70.6 ppg last year. While it is still early in the season, the 81.2 points per game would be the most since the 1991-92 Wolf Pack squad averaged 84.0 points per contest.
Four Wolf Pack players are averaging in double figures for scoring this season, and three are ranked in the WAC's top 15. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is leading the team and ranked third in the WAC at 18.1 points per game, while junior Armon Johnson is eighth at 16.8 points per game and senior Brandon Fields ranks 10th at 14.5 points per contest. Senior Joey Shaw is just out of the WAC's top 15 at 12.6 points per game.
The Wolf Pack has had four different players lead the team in scoring in its first eight games this year. Sophomore Luke Babbitt paced the team with 26 points in the season-opening win over Montana State and had a season-high 27 Nov. 27 at VCU, Fields had 22 in a Nov. 18 loss at UNLV and 20 Saturday vs. South Dakota State, Shaw turned in his career-best 26 in the Nov. 14 win over Houston and Johnson paced the Pack in three straight games with 20 points Nov. 29 at then No. 11/12 North Carolina, 18 Dec. 5 at Pacific and 19 Dec. 8 vs. Fresno Pacific.
The Wolf Pack has had at least four players in double figures for scoring in seven of its eight games this year, including the Nov. 21 win over Houston where five Wolf Pack players reached double figures, including Shaw who led the team with a career-best 26 points. Fields added 24, while Johnson had 22 and Kraemer scored a career-best 19 in that contest, which also marked the first time that Nevada had three players score at least 20 points in the same game since the Wolf Pack turned in an 85-72 win at Idaho on Feb. 16, 2008. Marcelus Kemp scored 32 in that game, while Fields had 21 and JaVale McGee added 20.
Nevada's 112 points in its Nov. 21 win over Houston marked the most for the Wolf Pack since the team turned in a 117-88 win over Northwestern State on Dec. 19, 1991. The team's 61 points in the first half also mark the most points in a half since Nevada scored what is believed to be a school-record 71 points in the second half of a 117-88 win over Northwestern State on Dec. 19, 1991.
Nevada has averaged 90.5 points per game in its last two contests, including its second-highest point total of the year in Saturday's 92-72 victory over South Dakota State. The Wolf Pack has also turned in its top two margins of victory in its last two contests, downing Fresno Pacific by a season-high 22, 89-67, on Dec. 8 and notching another 20-point victory in Saturday's contest.
ASSISTS MACHINE
Junior guard Armon Johnson is leading the Wolf Pack in assists for the third consecutive season and ranks first in the WAC and 44th in the nation this year with 5.38 assists per game this year. The leftie dished out a career-best 12 assists Nov. 21 vs. Houston for his second career double-double. He also had 11 points and 11 assists in last year's win over Oregon State, which marked Nevada's first points-assists double-double since Ramon Sessions had his lone career double-double in 2004-05 vs. Boise State (11 points and 10 assists). His 12 assists win over Houston are the most by a WAC player so far this season, while Johnson also checks in at eighth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.39).
With his seven assists in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific, Johnson entered the Nevada career chart for assists. He currently ranks 10th with 299 career assists, moving past Kyle Shiloh who dished out 293 assists in his career from 2004-07.
SHOOTING TOUCH
Nevada continues to rank among the WAC leaders in field goal and three-point percentage, knocking down 47.5 percent of its field goal attempts (second in the WAC) and 33.1 percent of its three-point attempts (47-142, sixth in the league). Those numbers compare to the team's 42.7 overall percentage and 30.6 three-point percentage last season. Nevada ranked seventh in the WAC and 267th out of 303 Division I teams in three-point shooting last season.
The Wolf Pack has shot over 50 percent in four of its eight games this season and is a perfect 4-0 in those games. Nevada shot a sizzling season-high 60.9 percent in its Nov. 21 victory over Houston. That marked the team's first 60-percent effort since a 62.3-percent shooting night at San Jose State on Feb. 12, 2009. The Wolf Pack has made a season-high 50 percent of its three-point attempts twice this year (6-of-12 at UNLV and 11-of-22 vs. Houston). The 11 three-pointers made vs. the Cougars marked the most for Nevada since it made 11 in a Feb. 9, 2008 win over Hawai'i.
Senior Joey Shaw is ranked 12th in the WAC in field goal percentage at 52.3 percent and also checks in at 15th in three-point percentage (.394, 13-33). Senior Ray Kraemer checks in at third in the WAC in three-point percentage at 50.0 percent, knocking down 14-of-28 long-range attempts. Kraemer made a career-best four three-pointers in the Nov. 21 win over Houston, going 7-of-9 overall from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point land. He also went 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line in Nevada's season-opening win over Montana State and again Dec. 8 vs. Fresno Pacific. Senior Brandon Fields also tied his career high with four three-pointers made Nov. 21 vs. the Cougars. Kraemer (8th, 1.74) and Shaw (T9th, 1.63) are also ranked among the conference leaders in three-pointers made per game. Shaw made 3-of-4 three-point attempts Dec. 8 vs. Fresno Pacific.
HUNT HAS BREAKOUT WEEKEND
Sophomore forward Dario Hunt had the best weekend of his young Wolf Pack career, averaging 11.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in Nevada's East Coast swing to VCU and North Carolina. He turned in his first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds Nov. 27 at VCU (both career highs). Two nights later, he set another career high for scoring with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and nearly missed his second career double-double with nine rebounds Nov. 29 at No. 11/12 North Carolina. Hunt is averaging 5.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game (tied for ninth in the WAC), up from 3.6 points and 4.4 boards per game last season.
CARTER WINS HIS HEAD COACHING DEBUT
Nevada's Nov. 14 win over Montana State gave Nevada head coach David Carter his first career victory, and he is now 4-4 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
Senior Brandon Fields scored 20 points to lead Nevada past South Dakota State 92-72 Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center.
Junior Armon Johnson scored 17 points and sophomore Luke Babbitt added 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Wolf Pack remained unbeaten at home this season.
Garrett Callahan and Nate Wolters each scored 15 points to lead South Dakota State. Garrett Callahan hit three of five three-pointers for nine points.
Nevada, which has now won its last two games, took a 49-31 lead at the half. Fields scored 13 points and senior Joey Shaw had 10 of their points in the first. Fields scored 11 points in a span of 3:30 as Nevada took a 36-14 lead with 7:15 to go in the opening half.
South Dakota State's Griffan Callahan hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the first half for his only six points of the game.
WOLF PACK NOTES
- All 11 of the Wolf Pack players who saw action in Saturday's win over South Dakota State scored at least two points, including freshman Keith Fuetsch who scored the first four points of his career. Ten of 11 players scored in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific.
- The Wolf Pack has gotten two of its three highest bench scoring outputs in the last two games, including a season-high 26 bench points in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific and 22 in Saturday's victory over South Dakota State. Nevada also got 23 bench points in its Nov. 21 victory over Houston.
- Freshman Marko Cukic has continued to improve in the last three games, averaging 6.0 points and 4.7 rebounds and making 6-of-8 field goal attempts during that stretch. He turned in season highs with six points on 3-of-3 shooting and five rebounds Dec. 5 at Pacific and bested those marks in Saturday's win over Fresno Pacific with seven points and six boards.
- Nevada continues to lead the WAC in rebounding with 42.4 boards per contest and features five players averaging 3.9 rebounds or better this season, including two ranked in the WAC's top 10. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is second in the WAC with 10.5 rebounds per game, while sophomore Dario Hunt checks in at tied for ninth in the WAC at 7.6 boards per contest. Senior Joey Shaw is just out of the WAC rankings at 6.1 boards per contest, followed by senior Brandon Fields and junior Armon Johnson are also pulling down 4.5 and 3.9 rebounds per game, respectively. Four Wolf Pack players set or tied career bests for rebounding in the season-high 57-rebound performance vs. Houston, including a career-high 17 by Babbitt, a career best-tying nine by Shaw and Hunt (since broken) and a career high-matching seven by Johnson. Fields also matched his career best with nine rebounds in Nov. 27 at VCU.
- Nevada has outrebounded five of its last six opponents after being outrebounded in its first two games. The team turned in a 50-45 advantage Nov. 27 over VCU and outrebounded Houston 57-27 on Nov. 21 in Reno. The 57 boards marked a season high for the Wolf Pack. The Wolf Pack outrebounded South Dakota State 43-36 on Saturday, improving to 3-2 this year when outrebounding its opponents.
- The Wolf Pack is pacing the WAC and ranked 34th in the nation with 5.50 blocked shots per game after leading the conference in the category with 4.79 per tilt last season. The WAC's leader last year, sophomore Dario Hunt is again leading the league in blocked shots this year with 2.50 per game (32nd in the NCAA), including five in the season opener vs. Montana State and three in three of the last four games. He has blocked at least one shot in 36 of 42 career games (all eight this season) and has turned in 27 career games with more than one block, including four with five or more. Hunt has 87 blocks in his career (in 42 games, 2.07 per game), which already ranks eighth on the Nevada career list. Hunt's 67 blocks last season set the school freshman record and ranked third in the Nevada single-season record book.
- Sophomore Luke Babbitt and senior Joey Shaw are ranked among the WAC's top 15 in free throw shooting. Babbitt is third in the WAC and ranks 31st in the nation at 90.6 percent from the line this year (29-32), including a 10-of-10 effort Nov. 18 at UNLV. Shaw is at 80.0 percent (20-25) on the year, good for 14th in the WAC. Babbitt led the WAC in free throw percentage and ranked 24th in the country last year as a freshman at 86.4 percent.
UP NEXT
Following Thursday's game with Eastern Washington, the Wolf Pack will continue play in the HOOPTV Las Vegas Classic, playing host to Wagner College on Saturday, Dec. 19 at Lawlor Events Center. Nevada will then travel to the Orleans in Las Vegas to finish the tournament with BYU on Tuesday, Dec. 22 and either Nebraska or Tulsa on Wednesday, Dec. 23.
