UTAH STATE AGGIES (11-6, 1-2 WAC) vs. NEVADA WOLF PACK (10-6, 2-1 WAC)
GAME #17
Wed., Jan. 13, 2010 - 8:05 p.m. PT - Lawlor Events Center (11,536) - Reno, Nev.
TELEVISION: ESPN2 & ESPN360.com
Todd Harris (play-by-play) & Adrian Branch (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) & Len Stevens (color), pregame show starts at 7:30 p.m. PT
SERIES HISTORY: Utah State leads the all-time series with Nevada 27-13.
LAST MEETING: Utah State won the last meeting between the two teams, turning in a 72-62 victory in the WAC Tournament championship game on March 14, 2009 in Reno.
Following a 96-67 victory over San Jose State on Saturday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack (10-6, 2-1 WAC) continues its three-game Western Athletic Conference homestand on Wednesday night, playing host to Utah State (11-6, 1-2). Wednesday's game at Lawlor Events Center will tip off at 8:05 p.m. Pacific Time and will be televised nationally by ESPN2 with Todd Harris and Adrian Branch calling the action. It can also be heard on Nevada's flagship radio station, ESPN 630 AM, with Ryan Radtke and former Wolf Pack head coach Len Stevens calling the action. After opening WAC play with a loss at La Tech, the Wolf Pack has won its last two conference games and has won eight of its last 10 contests overall. Nevada looks to improve on its perfect 8-0 home record this season and win for the 28th time in its last 33 WAC regular-season home games when the Aggies visit Lawlor Events Center Wednesday. Following Wednesday's game, the Wolf Pack will end its three-game homestand on Saturday night, playing host to the Idaho Vandals at 7:05 p.m. Pacific Time.
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.
BABBITT NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Luke Babbitt has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 4-10. The honor marks the third career WAC Player of the Week award for Babbitt.
Babbitt helped the Wolf Pack to a 2-0 record last week with wins over New Mexico State and San Jose State. Babbitt turned in 26 points with 11 rebounds in a 77-67 victory at New Mexico State on Jan. 4. He made 10-of-14 shots from the field, including all three of his three-point attempts. Babbitt tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 96-67 win against San Jose State for his league-leading 11th double-double of the season. He also matched his career high with four assists and added a pair of steals. Babbitt connected on a perfect 11-of-11 shots at the free throw line against the Spartans.
On the week, Babbitt averaged 23.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 58.3 percent from the field (14-24) and hit 87.5 percent of his free throw attempts (14-16).
Babbitt became the second Wolf Pack player to win the WAC's weekly award this season after senior Joey Shaw was named the Verizon Wireless WAC Player of the Week for Nov. 16-22. The honor marked the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Shaw.
Shaw averaged 20.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game that week. He shot 61.9 percent from the field (13-of-21), 50 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-6), and 92.3 percent from the free throw line (12-of-13).
On Nov. 18 at UNLV, Shaw tallied 15 points and tied a career high with nine rebounds. Shaw then led Nevada with a career-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the Nov. 21 victory over Houston. He also tied his career mark with nine rebounds.
WINNING AT LAWLOR
The Wolf Pack has won 66 of its last 79 contests at Lawlor Events Center, dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season. Including an 8-0 record this year, the Wolf Pack has turned in a 94-17 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.847 winning percentage).
Nevada has also captured 27 of its last 32 WAC regular-season home games (.844) and 32 of its last 38 home games against WAC opponents (.842) counting the 2006 and 2009 WAC Tournaments (dating back to the 2005-06 season). 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 and New Mexico State last season marked its first back-to-back WAC home losses since falling to Louisiana Tech and SMU in January of 2002.
ABOUT THE UTAH STATE AGGIES
Under the direction of 12th-year head coach Stew Morrill (278-97 record in 11-plus years at USU), the Utah State Aggies returned four starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year's 30-5 team. The Aggies captured the WAC regular-season title last season with a 14-2 conference mark. Utah State holds an 11-6 overall mark and a 1-2 WAC record this season. The Aggies opened the WAC season losses at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech but notched their first WAC victory with a 98-54 rout of Hawai'i on Monday in Logan, Utah.
Junior forward Tai Wesley (6-7, 240) leads Utah State in scoring and rebounding this season, turning in 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. In the WAC statistics, he ranks 14th in scoring and 10th in rebounding. Senior guard Jared Quayle (6-1, 180) is adding 11.6 points per game, while Salt Lake CC transfer and junior forward Nate Bendall (6-8, 245) is chipping in with 11.3 points and 6.4 boards per contest (12th in the WAC in rebounding). As a team, Utah State paces the WAC in scoring defense and rebounding defense, allowing its opponents just 60.8 points and 29.5 rebounds per game.
IN THE SERIES
Utah State holds a 27-13 advantage in the all-time series between the two former members of the Big West Conference. The two teams split last year's two regular-season meetings with Utah State turning in a 72-61 victory on Jan. 29 in Logan, Utah, and Nevada earning an 84-71 win on Feb. 28 in Reno, while the Aggies captured a 72-62 victory over the Wolf Pack in the championship game of the WAC Tournament on March 14, 2009 in Reno. Nevada has won four of the last five games played in Reno, including the last four regular-season home meetings.
LAST TIME OUT
Junior Armon Johnson had 23 points and sophomore Luke Babbitt 20 points and 10 rebounds for his league-leading 11th double-double of the season to pace Nevada over San Jose State 96-67 on Saturday night.
Seniors Brandon Fields added 19 points and Joey Shaw 11 for the Wolf Pack, while Adrian Oliver had 20 points, C.J. Webster 15 and Chris Oakes 13 for the Spartans.
Nevada led by double digits for the entire second half. San Jose State was able to cut the lead to 10 points at 60-50 with 14:45 left in the game, but the Wolf Pack answered with a 15-6 run over the next six minutes to put the game away.
Nevada never trailed in the game, going ahead by double digits at 20-8 on a three-pointer by senior Ray Kraemer with 13:08 left in the first half. The Spartans could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the game.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Nevada leads the WAC in scoring offense and ranks 14th in the NCAA this season at 82.6 points per game, up from its average of 70.6 ppg last year. 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 20.4 points per game (18th in the NCAA), while junior Armon Johnson is seventh at 16.8 points per game and senior Brandon Fields ranks 11th at 14.6 points per contest. Senior Joey Shaw is just out of the WAC's top 15 at 11.1 points per game.
Nevada has turned in three of its top four scoring efforts of the season recently with 104 points in its Dec. 22 loss to BYU, 99 points in the following day's victory over Tulsa and 96 in Saturday's 96-67 win over San Jose State. The team has averaged 87.5 points per game in its last six games (525) and 85.3 ppg in its last 10 contests (853). This season marks the first time since 1997-98 that the team has topped the century mark twice in the same year, while its two 100-point efforts are the top two scoring efforts in the WAC so far this season. The Pack's 96 points Saturday vs. SJSU were also the most for Nevada in a WAC game since the team's 98-85 win over New Mexico State on Feb. 28, 2008 in Reno.
Nevada's season-high 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.
The Wolf Pack has had four different players lead the team in scoring this year. Sophomore Luke Babbitt has paced the Wolf Pack in scoring a team-best eight times this year, including six of the last eight games. Most recently, he turned in 24 points in the Dec. 23 win over Tulsa, 22 Dec. 28 vs. Portland, 24 Jan. 2 at La Tech and 26 Jan. 4 at New Mexico State. Babbitt also scored a season-best 29 points to pace the team Dec. 17 vs. Eastern Washington. Junior Armon Johnson has led the team in scoring five times, including a season-high 30 points Dec. 22 vs. BYU (also a team season high) and 23 in Saturday's win over San Jose State. Johnson also 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. Senior Brandon Fields had 22 in a Nov. 18 loss at UNLV and 20 Dec. 12 vs. South Dakota State, while senior Joey Shaw turned in his career-best 26 in the Nov. 14 win over Houston.
Nevada has had at least four players in double figures for scoring in 13 of its 16 games this year, including two with five (Houston and BYU). The Wolf Pack had three players reach the 20-point plateau in each of those contests.
NEVADA'S 1,000-POINT SCORERS
With his 19 points on Saturday vs. San Jose State, senior Brandon Fields became the 20th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. Fields now has 1,012 points in 114 career games and joined junior Armon Johnson in that exclusive club. Johnson scored his 1,000th career point Dec. 5 at Pacific and currently ranks 14th all time at Nevada with 1,175 points in 83 career games.
With Fields and Johnson reaching that milestone, it marks the first time since 2006-07 that Nevada's roster features two active members of the 1,000-point club (Nick Fazekas and Marcelus Kemp). Sophomore Luke Babbitt has a chance to reach the mark this season (900 points in 50 career games) and if he does, that would mark the first time in school history that Nevada would have three members of the 1,000-point club on its roster in the same season.
NEVADA'S 1,000-POINT SCORERS
Rk. Name Games Blks
1 Nick Fazekas, 2004-07 131 2,464
2 Marcelus Kemp, 2004-08 134 1,939
3 Edgar Jones, 1975-79 101 1,877
4 Alex Boyd, 1967-70 73 1,731
5 Terrance Green, 1999-2003 119 1,646
6 Pete Padgett, 1972-76 104 1,642
7 Ric Herrin, 1989-93 109 1,512
8 Darryl Owens, 1986-89 82 1,504
9 Kirk Snyder, 2001-04 84 1,404
10 Garry Hill-Thomas, 2000-04 124 1,340
11 Kevin Soares, 1988-92 116 1,261
12 Nap Montgomery, 1964-66 N/A 1,249
13 Ken "Tree" Green, 1981-83 57 1,212
14 Armon Johnson, 2007-pres. 83 1,175
15 Mike Gray, 1977-79 55 1,125
16 Matt Williams, 1987-91 113 1,062
17 Dwayne Randall, 1984-86 58 1,060
18 Marvin Buckley, 1972-74 N/A 1,039
19 Faron Hand, 1994-97 64 1,034
20 Brandon Fields, 2006-pres. 114 1,012
-- Luke Babbitt, 2008-pres. 50 900
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 20.4 points per game (18th in the NCAA) and second in the conference at 9.9 boards per contest (25th in the nation in rebounding). He also paces the WAC in scoring and rebounding in conference games only, turning in 23.3 points and 11.3 boards per league tilt.
The Nevada southpaw turned in a season-high 29 points in a Dec. 17 victory over Eastern Washington, just one point shy of his career best, including 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the first half. He pulled down nine rebounds in the game to lead the Pack but saw his stretch of seven consecutive double-doubles snapped. Babbitt is tied for second in the nation with 11 double-doubles and has had nine or more rebounds in all but four games this season. Babbitt has turned in a double-double in each of the last three games and four of the last five, including 24 points and 13 rebounds Jan. 2 at La Tech, 26 points and 11 boards Jan. 4 at New Mexico State and 20 points and 10 rebounds Saturday vs. San Jose State.
Babbitt has had 20 career games with at least 20 points (including nine this year and the last six games) and has led the team in scoring 23 times in his young career (15 times last year and eight this season). He has scored in double figures in 47 of 50 career games at Nevada, including all 16 contests this year. In the last six games, Babbitt is averaging 22.7 points per contest (136). The preseason WAC Player of the Year, Babbitt was 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 turned in 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 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, 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.
SHOOTING TOUCH
Nevada leads the WAC and ranks 18th in the nation in field goal percentage, knocking down 49.4 percent of its field goal attempts, compared to just 42.7 percent from the field last season. The Wolf Pack has shot 51.6 percent from the field in its last seven games (223-432), including a 58.8-percent effort Dec. 22 vs. BYU and a 56.3-percent showing Dec. 23 vs. Tulsa.
The Wolf Pack has shot over 50 percent in nine of its 16 games this season (including the last two) and holds a 8-1 record 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.
Nevada's roster features three players ranked in the WAC's top 15 for field goal percentage. Junior Armon Johnson is ranked 10th at 54.2 percent, sophomore Luke Babbitt checks in at 12th at 51.5 percent and senior Joey Shaw is ranked 15th at 49.6.
Nevada has also checked in at 40.0 percent from three-point land in the last six games (44-110). The team had shot just 20.5 percent from three-point land in its three previous games (9-44) before the recent effort. Nevada has made a season-high 50 percent of its three-point attempts three times this year (6-of-12 at UNLV, 11-of-22 vs. Houston, 9-of-18 vs. Tulsa) and made nine in its Jan. 4 win at New Mexico State (45.0 percent, 9-20). The 11 three-pointers made vs. Houston marked the most for Nevada since it made 11 in a Feb. 9, 2008 win over Hawai'i.
Senior Ray Kraemer leads the WAC in three-point percentage, knocking down 50.9 percent of his long-range attempts (29-57). He has shot 58.3 percent in the last six games (14-24), matching his career bests for treys made and attempted with a 4-of-6 effort Dec. 22 vs. BYU and making all three attempts Dec. 23 vs. Tulsa. He had made 70 percent in the previous three games (7-10) before going 1-for-5 Jan. 2 at La Tech but has rebounded with a 3-of-4 effort Jan. 4 at New Mexico State and a 3-of-5 showing Saturday vs. San Jose State. Kraemer also 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 has had two other games with three treys (3-of-5 Nov. 14 vs. Montana State and Dec. 8 vs. Fresno Pacific).
ASSISTS MACHINE
Junior guard Armon Johnson leads the WAC and ranks 60th in the nation this year with 4.88 assists per game this year. The leftie dished out a career-best 12 assists Nov. 21 vs. Houston for his second career double-double, had eight assists in a Dec. 17 victory over Eastern Washington and turned in seven assists in Saturday's win over San Jose State. 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's 12 assists win over Houston are still the most by a WAC player so far this season.
With his seven assists in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific, Johnson entered the Nevada career chart for assists and currently ranks ninth with 334 career assists. He has also become just the sixth player in Wolf Pack history to turn in 1,000 points and 250 assists in his career. 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 was on the preseason watch list for the 2010 Bob Cousy Award, which is annually presented to the top collegiaten point guard in the country.
A 2009 first-team All-WAC selection, Johnson has led the Pack in scoring five times this year and checks in at seventh in the WAC in scoring with 16.8 points per game this season. He scored a season-high 30 points in the Dec. 22 game with BYU, his second career 30-point game and just three points shy of his career best of 33 last year vs. California. He has also turned two other 20-point games this year, including 22 points in the Nov. 21 win over Houston and a game-high 23 Saturday vs. San Jose State.
WOLF PACK NOTES
- Nevada has turned in a perfect 8-0 record at home this season and is putting up some gaudy offensive numbers at Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack is averaging 86.1 points per game and shooting 53.2 percent from the field in its eight home games. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is averaging 20.0 points per home game, while junior Armon Johnson is adding 17.1 ppg. Johnson is shooting the ball particularly well at home, making 62.8 percent of his shots at Lawlor (59-94). He has also dished out 6.0 assists per home game.
- Sophomore Luke Babbitt ranks third in the WAC and 20th in the nation at 90.7 percent from the line this year (78-86), including a 10-of-10 effort Nov. 18 at UNLV and an 11-of-11 showing Saturday vs. San Jose State. In the last five games, Babbitt has made 31-of-33 free throw attempts (93.9 percent), while his miss in the second half Jan. 4 at New Mexico State snapped a stretch of 22 straight made free throws for him. Last year, Babbitt led the WAC in free throw percentage and ranked 24th in the country last year as a freshman at 86.4 percent.
- Senior Brandon Fields ranks second on the team with 39 assists and has the Wolf Pack's best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.77 (39 assists and just 22 turnovers). He tied his career best with five assists and no turnovers Jan. 4 at New Mexico State.
- Fields is turning in 14.6 points per game this season (third on the team and 11th in the WAC), up 5.2 ppg from his average of 9.4 last year.
- Nevada outrebounded San Jose State, marking the 11th consecutive game that the Wolf Pack has outrebounded its opponent and the 13th time in 14 contests. The team is now 9-4 when outrebounding its opponent this season.
- Nevada continues to lead the WAC in rebounding with 39.6 boards per contest and has two players ranked in the WAC's top 10. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is second in the WAC and 25th in the nation with 9.9 rebounds per game, while sophomore Dario Hunt checks in at ninth in the WAC at 7.3 boards per contest. 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 senior Joey Shaw and Hunt (since broken) and a career high-matching seven by junior Armon Johnson. Senior Brandon Fields also matched his career best with nine rebounds Nov. 27 at VCU.
- The Wolf Pack is now 3-5 in games decided by 10 points or less and has lost its six games this year by an average of just 7.3 points per contest.
- The Wolf Pack ranks fourth in the WAC with 3.81 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 second in the league in blocked shots this year with 1.88 per game (68th in the NCAA), including five in the season opener vs. Montana State and three in four other games. He has blocked at least one shot in 43 of 50 career games (15 of 16 contests this season) and has turned in 29 career games with more than one block, including four with five or more. Hunt has 97 blocks in his career (in 50 games, 1.94 per game), which already ranks seventh 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 Keith Olson saw the first action of his Wolf Pack career Dec. 19 vs. Wagner, turning in five points on 2-of-4 shooting and pulling down four rebounds in 11 minutes. The Gardnerville, Nev., native and Douglas High School graduate transferred to Nevada from Northern Arizona and sat out the first semester due to NCAA rules.
- Sophomore London Giles turned in a career-high six assists in 10 minutes of action in the Dec. 17 Wagner game, while senior Brandon Fields matched his career high with five. The pair accounted for 11 of Nevada's 19 assists in the contest.
- The contest-cinching three-pointer that senior Brandon Fields hit to with 4.3 seconds left in its Dec. 17 victory over Eastern Washington marked the first game-winning field goal for Fields in his Nevada career. He had been 0-of-5 from three-point land in the game before nailing the shot.
- All 11 of the Wolf Pack players who saw action in the Dec. 12 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 got two of its three highest bench scoring outputs recently, including a season-high 26 bench points in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific and 22 in the Dec. 12 victory over South Dakota State. Nevada also got 23 bench points in its Nov. 21 victory over Houston. Senior Ray Kraemer is Nevada's leading scorer off the bench, turning in 6.7 points per game.
- Freshman Marko Cukic turned in season highs with six points on 3-of-3 shooting and five rebounds Dec. 5 at Pacific and bested those marks in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific with seven points and six boards.
- Sophomore Luke Babbitt was on the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award, marking the fourth time in five seasons that Nevada has had a player considered for that prestigious award with Marcelus Kemp making the preseason 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.
UP NEXT
Following Wednesday's game with Utah State, Nevada will wrap up its three-game WAC homestand, playing host to Idaho on Saturday, Jan. 16. The Wolf Pack then heads out on the road for a pair of games, traveling to Boise State on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and to Fresno State on Saturday, Jan. 23. Both games will be televised locally by KAME-TV 21.
