NEVADA WOLF PACK (2-3) at PACIFIC TIGERS (5-1)
GAME #6
Sat., Dec. 5, 2009 - 7 p.m. PT - Alex G. Spanos Center (6,150) - Stockton, Calif.
TELEVISION: KAME-TV 21
Bob Akamian (play-by-play) & Len Stevens (color)
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: Pacific leads the all-time series with Nevada 50-44.
LAST MEETING: Pacific has won the last two meetings between the two teams, including a 67-59 victory on Nov. 26, 2008 in Reno.
Following a narrow 80-73 loss at No. 11/12 North Carolina on Sunday, the Nevada Wolf Pack (2-3) wraps up its three-game roadstand on Saturday night, traveling to Stockton, Calif., to take on the Pacific Tigers (5-1). Saturday's game at Pacific's Alex G. Spanos Center will tip off at 7 p.m. Pacific Time and will be televised locally by KAME-TV 21 with Bob Akamian and former Wolf Pack head coach Len Stevens calling the action. It can also be heard on Nevada's flagship radio station, ESPN 630 AM, with Ryan Radtke calling the action. Nevada heads to Pacific looking to snap a two-game losing streak and get its first road win of the year after a pair of close road losses at VCU and North Carolina last week. The trip to Stockton also ends a stretch of four of five games away from home for the Silver and Blue. Following Saturday's game, the Wolf Pack returns home for a season-long four-game homestand, starting with Fresno Pacific on Dec. 8.
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.
ROAD WARRIORS
On Saturday at Pacific, Nevada will play the third of three consecutive road games and end a stretch of four of five games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center. The stretch included tough losses at UNLV on Nov. 18, VCU on Nov. 27 and No. 11/12 North Carolina on Nov. 29. During its current three-game road stretch, Nevada will rack up 5,731 travel miles. The Wolf Pack traveled 2,661 miles from Reno to Richmond, Va., to take on VCU on Friday, Nov. 27 and then bused 165 miles to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on North Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 29. Then Nevada flew the 2,639 miles from North Carolina back to Reno and will make the 266-mile round trip bus ride to Pacific on Saturday, Dec. 5.
ON THE ROAD
Nevada has won 35 of its last 58 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 35 regular-season road contests and 29 of its last 46. Nevada turned in an 8-5 road mark last season (6-2 in WAC play) and is 0-3 so far this season. 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 46-24 record in road contests (.657 winning percentage). That includes a 32-10 record in WAC road games (.762).
ABOUT THE PACIFIC TIGERS
Under the direction of 22nd-year head coach Bob Thomason (369-264 record in 21-plus years at Pacific), the Pacific Tigers returned three starters and five letterwinners from last year's 21-13 team. The Tigers tied for second in the Big West Conference with a 10-6 league mark one year ago. Pacific has opened the 2009-10 season with a 5-1 record, most recently winning at Fresno State on Tuesday night 70-58. The Tigers split a pair of games last week, downing San Diego State 71-63 on Nov. 25 and falling at San Jose State 59-55 on Nov. 28.
Junior guard Terrell Smith (6-4, 205) is leading Pacific in scoring this season at 12.0 points per game. He is also shooting 52.6 percent from the field, including a blistering 53.8 clip from the three-point line (7-13). Junior forward Sam Willard (6-9, 210) is second on the squad in scoring at 10.7 points per game and is pacing the Tigers in rebounding with 7.7 rebounds per tilt.
IN THE SERIES
Saturday night's game will mark the 95th overall meeting on the hardwood between the Wolf Pack and Tigers in a series dating back to 1914. Nevada has played its past Big West Conference foe in each of the last seven years, while the 94 previous meetings are also the most for Nevada against any opponent. Pacific holds a 50-44 advantage in the all-time series and has captured the last two meetings between the two teams, including a 67-59 victory on Nov. 26, 2008 in Reno and a 70-66 win over Nevada on Dec. 1, 2007 in Stockton. The Tigers have won 15 of the last 16 meetings between the two teams in Stockton with Nevada's lone victory there in that stretch coming in the form of a 77-70 win on Dec. 3, 2005.
The Wolf Pack was a member of the Big West Conference from 1992-2000 and holds a 157-97 all-time record against the teams that currently make up the league.
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 19.2 points per game and is the conference's leading rebounder at 10.8 boards per contest (19th in the nation in rebounding). The Nevada southpaw has notched double-doubles in each of the last four games, including 15 points and 11 rebounds for his 10th career double-double in Sunday's loss at No. 11/12 North Carolina. Babbitt is tied for fifth in the nation with four double-doubles and is one of only eight players in the country to have double-doubles in all or all but one of their games so far 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 36 of 39 career games at Nevada, including all five 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.
JOHNSON LOOKS TO JOIN NEVADA'S 1000-POINT CLUB
Junior guard Armon Johnson heads into Saturday's game with Pacific looking to become the 19th player in school history to join the prestigious 1,000-point club. In his two-plus years and 72 games in the Silver and Blue, Johnson has scored 986 points and needs just 14 more points to reach that career milestone. If he reaches that mark, he will also become just the sixth player in Wolf Pack history to turn in 1,000 points and 250 assists in his career. Johnson already has 283 career assists and needs just 10 more to enter the Nevada top 10 in that category.
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.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Nevada is leading the WAC in scoring offense and ranked 25th in the NCAA this season at 82.2 points per game. Four Wolf Pack players are averaging in double figures for scoring this season, and all four are ranked in the WAC's top 15. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is leading the team and ranked third in the WAC at 19.2 points per game, while senior Brandon Fields is seventh at 16.2 points per contest followed by junior Armon Johnson at 16.0 points per game (eighth) and senior Joey Shaw at 14.2 points per contest (13th).
The Wolf Pack has had four different players lead the team in scoring in its first five 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, Shaw turned in his career-best 26 in the Nov. 14 win over Houston and Johnson paced the Pack for the first time this year and the 17th time in his career with 20 points Nov. 29 at No. 11/12 North Carolina.
The Wolf Pack has had at least four players in double figures for scoring in all five of its 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.
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. 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 5.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game (seventh in the WAC), up from 3.6 points and 4.4 boards per game last season.
SHOOTING TOUCH
Nevada continues to rank among the WAC leaders in field goal and three-point percentage, knocking down 45.2 percent of its field goal attempts (fifth in the WAC) and 34.8 percent of its three-point attempts (31-89, third 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 two of its five games this season, including a sizzling 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 also made 50 percent of its three-point attempts in two of its last three games (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 Ray Kraemer is leading the team in field goal percentage at 56.5 percent so far this season and would rank eighth in the WAC in field goal percentage (61.1) but falls two field goals made shy of the WAC minimum to be included. He also is tied for fourth in the WAC in three-point percentage at 50.0 percent, knocking down 9-of-18 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, and went 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line in Nevada's season-opening win over Montana State. Senior Brandon Fields also tied his career high with four three-pointers made Nov. 21 vs. the Cougars.
Senior Joey Shaw is also shooting the ball well for the Wolf Pack this year. He ranks 12th in the WAC in field goal percentage (.523) and just out of the WAC rankings in three-point percentage (.381, 8-21), while Kraemer (8th, 1.80), Fields and Shaw (both T11th, 1.60) are all ranked among the conference leaders in three-pointers made per game.
ASSISTS MACHINE
Junior guard Armon Johnson is leading the Wolf Pack in assists for the third consecutive season and is tops in the WAC and 44th in the nation this year with 5.40 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). Johnson also checks in at sixth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42).
Johnson needs just 10 more assists to enter Nevada's top 10 for career assists. He currently has 283 career assists and is chasing Kyle Shiloh who dished out 293 assists in his career from 2004-07 to rank 10th on the Nevada career charts.
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 2-3 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
Deon Thompson scored a career-high 23 points and No. 11/12 North Carolina beat pesky Nevada 80-73 on Sunday night to give coach Roy Williams his 600th career victory.
Ed Davis added 16 points, 15 rebounds and a pair of momentum-changing blocked shots late for the Tar Heels, who warmed up down the stretch with an 11-3 spurt and hit 4-of-7 free throws in the final minute to dodge Nevada's upset bid.
Junior Armon Johnson scored 20 points on 10-of-20 shooting and sophomore Luke Babbitt added 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Nevada. The Wolf Pack shot 41 percent and held the Tar Heels without a field goal for five minutes before missing 10 of their final 14 shots.
For a while, that landmark victory for Williams seemed like anything but a certainty against a Wolf Pack team playing the second game of a three-game 5,731-mile road swing.
Larry Drew II finished with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists, and hit two 3-pointers 45 seconds apart during the burst that gave the Tar Heels just enough breathing room to avoid the Wolf Pack's upset bid.
Thompson started the decisive burst with a layup through traffic that put North Carolina up 62-61. That also ended the 5-minute string of offensive futility in which the Tar Heels missed eight consecutive shots and their only points came on a pair of free throws by Drew.
Will Graves put North Carolina ahead to stay with a stickback with about 6 1/2 minutes remaining, Drew followed that with 3s from the left wing and right corner and Thompson capped the run with a turnaround jumper with 3 1/2 minutes left that gave him a career scoring high and made it 74-67. The Wolf Pack didn't get closer than five the rest of the way.
Sophomore Dario Hunt scored 12 points before fouling out in the final moments and senior Joey Shaw added 11 with three three-pointers for Nevada.
WOLF PACK NOTES
- Nevada had come into last week's road trip shooting a blistering 51.4 percent, including a season-high 60.9 percent Nov. 21 vs. Houston, but managed just 38.2 percent in road games at VCU and No. 11/12 North Carolina. That included a season-low 35.4 percent effort Nov. 27 at VCU (7.1 percent from beyond the arc, 1-14). The team also shot just 17.1 percent from three-point land in its two road losses (6-35) after hitting at a 46.3 percent clip from long range in its first three contests.
- The Wolf Pack turned the ball over a season-low seven times in each of its last two games, down from its season average of 14.2 turnovers per contest.
- Nevada is leading the WAC in rebounding with 43.6 boards per contest and features five players averaging 4.5 rebounds or better this season, including three ranked in the WAC's top 15. Sophomore Luke Babbitt paces the WAC with 10.8 rebounds per game, while sophomore Dario Hunt checks in at seventh in the WAC at 8.8 boards per contest, followed by senior Joey Shaw (13th at 7.2 rpg). Senior Brandon Fields and junior Armon Johnson are also pulling down 5.0 and 4.6 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 two of its last three 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 17 rebounds by Babbitt and the 12 assists by Johnson in the Nov. 21 win over Houston are the most by WAC players so far this season.
- The Wolf Pack is pacing the WAC and ranked 44th in the nation with 5.2 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 ranks third in blocked shots this year with 2.40 per game (42nd in the NCAA), including five in the season opener vs. Montana State and three Sunday at No. 11/12 North Carolina. He has blocked at least one shot in 33 of 39 career games (all five this season) and has turned in 24 career games with more than one block, including four with five or more. Hunt has 80 blocks in his career (in 39 games, 2.05 per game), which already ranks ninth 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, senior Joey Shaw and junior Armon Johnson are ranked among the WAC's top 10 in free throw shooting. Babbitt ranks fifth in the WAC and is shooting 90.9 percent from the line this year (20-22), including a 10-of-10 effort Nov. 18 at UNLV. Shaw is at 85.0 percent (17-20) on the year, good for 11th in the WAC, while Johnson is tied for 15th at 80.0 percent (12-15). Babbitt led the WAC in free throw percentage and ranked 24th in the country last year as a freshman at 86.4 percent.
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 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 at Pacific, the Wolf Pack will return to the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center for the first time in 17 days to start a season-long four game homestand with Fresno Pacific on Tuesday, Dec. 8. That season-long homestand will also include games against South Dakota State on Dec. 12 and the opening rounds of the Las Vegas Classic when the Wolf Pack will play host to Eastern Washington (Dec. 17) and Wagner (Dec. 19).
