University of Nevada Athletics

NEVADA WOLF PACK (11-7, 3-2 WAC) vs. BOISE ST. BRONCOS (9-10, 0-6 WAC)

GAME #19
Wed., Jan. 20, 2010 - 8:15 p.m. MT (7:15 p.m. PT) - Taco Bell Arena (12,380) - Boise, Idaho

TELEVISION: KAME-TV 21, Comcast Sports Net California & ESPN Full Court
 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 7:45 p.m. MT (6:45 p.m. PT)
SERIES HISTORY: Nevada leads the series with Boise State 35-20.
LAST MEETING: Nevada has won the last two meetings between the two teams, most recently turning in a 69-60 victory over Boise State on March 7, 2009 in Boise.

Following a 76-68 victory over Idaho on Saturday, the Nevada Wolf Pack (11-7, 3-2 WAC) heads out on the road for a pair of Western Athletic Conference games this week, starting on Wednesday night at Boise State (9-10, 0-6). Wednesday's game at the Broncos' Taco Bell Arena will tip off at 8:15 p.m. Mountain Time (7:15 p.m. Pacific Time) and will be televised locally and regionally by KAME-TV 21 and Comcast Sportsnet California. It can also be heard on Nevada's flagship radio station, ESPN 630 AM, with Ryan Radtke calling the action. Nevada has won two of its last three games and nine of its last 12 contests overall. The Wolf Pack also heads to Boise looking to capture its second road win of the year after downing New Mexico State in its last road contest. Following Wednesday's game, the Wolf Pack travels to Fresno State (10-9, 3-2) on Saturday, Jan. 23. Nevada returns home on Saturday, Jan. 30 to take on Hawai'i in a nationally televised contest on ESPNU.
 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.

ON THE ROAD
Nevada has won 37 of its last 63 games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center, including 31 road wins and six 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 19 of its last 38 regular-season road contests and 30 of its last 49. Nevada turned in an 8-5 road mark last season (6-2 in WAC play) and is 1-5 on the road (1-1 in WAC play) and 1-1 in neutral-site games so far this season, picking up its first win away from home with a 99-68 rout of Tulsa on Dec. 23 on a neutral court at the Las Vegas Classic. Earlier this season, the team played three consecutive road games and four of five away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center. The stretch also included tough losses at UNLV on Nov. 18, VCU on Nov. 27 and No. 11/12 North Carolina on Nov. 29. During that three-game road stretch, Nevada racked up 5,731 travel miles.
 In the last six seasons since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, the Wolf Pack has tallied a 47-26 record in road contests (.644 winning percentage). That includes a 33-11 record in WAC road games (.750). In 2006-07, the Wolf Pack 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.

ABOUT THE BOISE STATE BRONCOS
Under the direction of eighth-year head coach Greg Graham (138-105 record in seven-plus years at BSU), the Boise State Broncos returned three starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year's 19-13 team. The Broncos finished in a tie for third in the WAC last season with a 9-7 conference mark. Boise State holds a 9-10 overall mark and an 0-6 WAC record this season. The Broncos had won four straight heading into conference play but have dropped their first six WAC contests, including a 76-74 loss at San Jose State on Jan. 14 and an 81-59 rout at Utah State on Jan. 16.
 Senior forward Ike Okoye (6-9, 235) leads Boise State in scoring and rebounding this season, averaging 13.1 points and 8.7 boards per game. He ranks 15th in the WAC in scoring and tied for fifth in rebounding. Junior guard La'Shard Anderson (6-1, 161) checks in at second on the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game.

IN THE SERIES
Nevada leads the series with Boise State 35-20 and has won the last two meetings between the two teams, six of the last eight and 15 of the last 19. The Wolf Pack swept the series last season, turning in a 77-63 victory on Jan. 15, 2009 in Reno and a 69-60 win on March 7, 2009 in Boise. Nevada also holds a 15-12 advantage in games played in Boise and has won four of the last five contests and seven of the last nine games on the Broncos' home floor.

LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Luke Babbitt scored 19 points and junior Armon Johnson added 17 to lead Nevada to a 76-68 win over Idaho on Saturday night.
 Babbitt also grabbed nine rebounds and went 7-of-10 from the field for the Wolf Pack, while senior Joey Shaw finished with 15 points and senior Brandon Fields scored 14.
 Mac Hopson finished with 16 points to lead the Vandals. Steffan Johnson had 13 points and Luiz Toledo added 12.
 Nevada led 45-39 with 16:50 left before going on a 10-2 run over the next four minutes.
 Senior Ray Kraemer's 3-pointer with about 12 minutes to go put the Wolf Pack up 55-41. Idaho could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
 The Vandals led 21-11 midway through the first half before the Wolf Pack responded with a 25-9 run to close out the period leading 36-30. Johnson had 10 points during the run and Babbitt had eight.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Nevada leads the WAC in scoring offense and ranks 14th in the NCAA this season at 81.7 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 20.7 points per game (18th in the NCAA), while junior Armon Johnson is seventh at 16.4 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 10.9 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 84.1 points per game in its last eight games (673) and 83.4 ppg in its last 12 contests (1001). 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 Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State 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 10 times this year, including eight of the last 10 games. Most recently, he turned in 26 Jan. 4 at New Mexico State and Jan. 13 vs. Utah State and 19 Saturday vs. Idaho. 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 the Jan. 9 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 15 of its 18 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 Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State, senior Brandon Fields became the 20th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. Fields now has 1,039 points in 116 career games (tied for 18th) 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 1,202 points in 85 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 (945 points in 52 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.

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 20.7 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 leads the WAC in scoring and rebounding in conference games only, turning in 23.0 points and 11.0 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 12 double-doubles and has had nine or more rebounds in all but four games this season. Babbitt has turned in a double-double in four of the last five games, including 24 points and 13 rebounds Jan. 2 at La Tech, 26 points and 11 boards Jan. 4 at New Mexico State, 20 points and 10 rebounds Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State and 26 points and 11 boards Jan. 13 vs. Utah State.
 Babbitt has had 21 career games with at least 20 points (including 10 this year and seven of the last eight games) and has led the team in scoring 25 times in his young career (15 times last year and 10 this season). He has scored in double figures in 49 of 52 career games at Nevada, including all 18 contests this year. In the last eight games, Babbitt is averaging 22.6 points per contest (181). 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.

KRAEMER LIGHTS IT UP FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Senior Ray Kraemer leads the WAC and ranks fourth in the nation in three-point percentage, knocking down 52.2 percent of his long-range attempts (35-67). He has shot 58.8 percent in the last eight games (20-34), including a 4-of-4 outing Jan. 13 vs. Utah State to match his career best for three-pointers made. He has drained a career-best four trey three times this season with 4-of-6 efforts Nov. 21 vs. Houston and Dec. 22 vs. BYU and the 4-of-4 showing vs. the Aggies.
 Kraemer has made at least one three-pointer in 15 of 18 games this season, including nine contests with more than one. He has already made 35 three-pointers this season, surpassing the 23 he had in his first two seasons combined.
 At 45.0 percent for his career (58-129), he is also tied for first in career three-point percentage at Nevada.

SHOOTING TOUCH
Nevada leads the WAC and ranks 18th in the nation in field goal percentage, knocking down 48.9 percent of its field goal attempts, compared to just 42.7 percent from the field last season. The Wolf Pack has shot 50.2 percent from the field in its last eight games (275-548), 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 18 games this season (including two of the last four) 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 two players ranked in the WAC's top 15 for field goal percentage. Junior Armon Johnson is ranked 11th at 52.5 percent, while sophomore Luke Babbitt checks in at 12th at 51.4 percent.
 Nevada has also checked in at 40.8 percent from three-point land in the last eight games (58-142). 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 four times this year (6-of-12 at UNLV, 11-of-22 vs. Houston, 9-of-18 vs. Tulsa, 9-of-18 Wednesday vs. Utah State) 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.
 
ASSISTS MACHINE
Junior guard Armon Johnson ranks second in the WAC and ranks 60th in the nation this year with 5.11 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 nine assists Jan. 13 vs. Utah State. He is also leading the WAC with 5.8 assists per game in conference play. Last year, Johnson turned in 11 points and 11 assists in a 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 eighth with 348 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 collegiate 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 16.4 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 Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State.

HUNT COMING INTO HIS OWN
Sophomore forward Dario Hunt has continued to improve and is averaging 6.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game (ninth in the WAC) this season, up from 3.6 points and 4.4 boards per game last season. He 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 12 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 has since broken his career scoring high, turning in 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 free throw shooting Dec. 22 vs. BYU. He also pulled down nine boards in the game against the Cougars. He had 11 rebounds in Jan. 2 at Louisiana Tech and added 12 points Jan. 4 at New Mexico State.

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 11-7 in his first year as the Wolf Pack's mentor. He became 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.

WOLF PACK NOTES

- Nevada has shot just 61.2 percent from the free throw line in the last two games (30-49), including a season-low 50.0 percent (9-18) in its Jan. 13 overtime loss to Utah State.

- Sophomore Luke Babbitt ranks third in the WAC and 20th in the nation at 89.0 percent from the line this year (89-100), including a 10-of-10 effort Nov. 18 at UNLV and an 11-of-11 showing Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State. In the last seven games, Babbitt has made 42-of-47 free throw attempts (89.4 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 44 assists and has the Wolf Pack's best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.63 (44 assists and just 27 turnovers). He tied his career best with five assists and no turnovers Jan. 4 at New Mexico State.

- Fields is turning in 14.5 points per game this season (third on the team and 10th in the WAC), up 5.1 ppg from his average of 9.4 last year.

- Nevada was outrebounded for the second consecutive game Saturday vs. Idaho (29-36) after outrebounding its previous 11 opponents. Nevada has still outrebounded 13 of its last 16 foes and is now 9-4 when outrebounding its opponent this season.

- Nevada continues to lead the WAC in rebounding with 38.8 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 4-6 in games decided by 10 points or less and has lost its seven games this year by an average of just 7.3 points per contest (51).

- The Wolf Pack ranks second in the WAC with 4.24 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 2.06 per game (68th in the NCAA), including a career-high matching six Jan. 13 vs. Utah State, five in the season opener vs. Montana State and three in four other games. He has blocked at least one shot in 45 of 52 career games (17 of 18 contests this season) and has turned in 30 career games with more than one block, including five with five or more. Hunt has 104 blocks in his career (in 52 games, 2.00 per game), which already ranks sixth 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.

- Nevada blocked a season-high 11 shots Jan. 13 vs. Utah State with sophomore Dario Hunt matching his career best with six rejections and sophomore Luke Babbitt setting a career high with four blocks.

- In addition to its 9-1 home mark, Nevada has put up some gaudy offensive numbers at Lawlor Events Center this season. The Wolf Pack is averaging 83.7 points per game and shooting 51.6 percent from the field in its nine home games. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is averaging 20.5 points per home game, while junior Armon Johnson is adding 16.4 ppg. Johnson is shooting the ball particularly well at home, making 57.4 percent of his shots at Lawlor (70-122). He has also dished out 6.2 assists per home game. Senior Ray Kraemer is knocking down 52.5 percent of his three-point attempts at home (21-40), including a perfect 4-of-4 outing Jan. 13 vs. Utah State.

- 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 7.1 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 at Boise State, Nevada will travel to Fresno State on Saturday, Jan. 23. Both the Boise State and Fresno State games will be televised locally by KAME-TV 21. The team returns home to Lawlor Events Center on Saturday, Jan. 30 to play host to Hawai'i.