NEVADA WOLF PACK (8-6, 0-1 WAC) vs. NEW MEXICO ST. AGGIES (8-6, 1-0)
GAME #15
Mon., Jan. 4, 2010 - 9:05 p.m. MT (8:05 p.m. PT) - Pan American Center (12,482) - Las Cruces, N.M.
TELEVISION: ESPNU
Todd Harris (play-by-play) & Miles Simon (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 8:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. PT)
SERIES HISTORY: New Mexico State leads the all-time series with Nevada 16-12.
LAST MEETING: New Mexico State won the last meeting between the two teams, turning in 62-60 victory on Feb. 7, 2009 in Reno.
Coming off a 77-71 loss at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, the Nevada Wolf Pack (8-6, 0-1 WAC) continues Western Athletic Conference play on Monday night, traveling to New Mexico State (8-6, 1-0). Monday's game will tip off at 9:05 p.m. Mountain Time (8:05 p.m. Pacific Time) and will be televised nationally by ESPNU. It can also be heard on Nevada's flagship radio station, ESPN 630 AM, with Ryan Radtke calling the action. Saturday's loss snapped Nevada's two-game winning streak, while the Wolf Pack has still won six of its last eight contests. The team heads to Las Cruces, N.M., looking to capture its first true road victory of season after turning in an 0-5 road mark so far this year as well as its first WAC victory of the season. Following Monday's game, the Wolf Pack will return home to take on San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 9 in a doubleheader with the Nevada women's basketball team.
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.
WOLF PACK IN WAC OPENERS
Following Saturday's loss at La Tech, Nevada now holds a 4-6 record in Western Athletic Conference openers and has won four of its last eight. This season marked the seventh time in its 10 years as a member of the WAC that the Wolf Pack opened conference play on the road. Last season, Nevada dropped its season opener to Idaho 78-73 on Jan 3, 2009 in Reno.
In 2007-08, Nevada was originally set to open WAC play at home on Jan. 5, 2008 vs. Utah State but saw that game postponed due to inclement weather in Reno. Instead, the Wolf Pack dropped a 62-60 decision at San Jose State on Jan. 10 after a nine-day stretch without a game. After that loss, the Wolf Pack won its next two WAC games and five of its first seven en route to a 12-4 league mark and a share of its fifth consecutive WAC regular-season championship. In 2006-07, Nevada won its first five WAC homes and 14 of its first 15 en route to a 14-2 mark and its fourth consecutive WAC regular-season title. In 2005-06, the team opened league play with a 3-3 mark but won its final 10 WAC games to finish with a 13-3 conference mark and its third consecutive WAC championship. In 2004-05, Nevada opened WAC play with four straight victories and won seven of its first eight league games en route to a WAC-record 16-2 overall mark and sole possession of the WAC championship. The team also won a share of the league title in 2003-04, tying for first with UTEP with a 13-5 mark.
ON THE ROAD
Nevada has won 36 of its last 62 games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center, including 30 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 18 of its last 37 regular-season road contests and 29 of its last 48. Nevada turned in an 8-5 road mark last season (6-2 in WAC play) and is 0-5 on the road 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 46-26 record in road contests (.639 winning percentage). That includes a 32-11 record in WAC road games (.744). 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 NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES
Under the direction of third-year head coach Marvin Menzies (46-35 record in two-plus years at NMSU), the New Mexico State Aggies returned all five starters and a total of 11 letterwinners from last year's 17-15 team. The Aggies finished tied for third in the WAC last season with a 9-7 conference mark. New Mexico State holds an 8-6 mark this season and has won its last five games. The Aggies opened WAC play with a 55-52 victory over Utah State on Saturday night in Las Cruces, N.M.
Junior guard Jahmar Young (6-5, 180) leads four Aggies in double figures and ranks fourth in the WAC with 19.6 points per game, while senior guard Jonathan Gibson (6-1, 171) is second on the team and fifth in the WAC with 19.0 points per contest. Sophomore center Hamidu Rahman is New Mexico State's top rebounder, checking in at tied for fourth in the WAC with 9.4 rebounds per game.
IN THE SERIES
New Mexico State leads the all-time series with Nevada 16-12, while the Wolf Pack has won four of the last six meetings between the two squads. The two teams split a pair of games last season with each squad winning on the other's home court. Nevada picked up a 79-71 victory in overtime on Jan. 8, 2009 in Las Cruces, N.M., while NMSU earned a 62-60 win on. Feb. 7, 2009 in Reno. Nevada has also won three of the last five meetings between the two teams in NMSU's Pan American Center.
LAST TIME OUT
Jamel Guyton scored 21 points and Louisiana Tech defeated Nevada 77-71 in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Saturday night.
Guyton was 7 of 14 from the field for the Bulldogs, who shot 56 percent in the second half. Louisiana Tech scored 40 points in the paint and 17 off of 17 Wolf Pack (8-6) turnovers.
Nevada was led by sophomore Luke Babbitt with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Dario Hunt tallied 11 rebounds for the Wolf Pack, which outrebounded Louisiana Tech 43-36. Junior Armon Johnson chipped in 15 points for Nevada and senior Joey Shaw added 13.
Olu Ashaolu had 12 boards and 14 points for the Bulldogs. The WAC's leading scorer, Kyle Gibson added 17 points, DeAndre Brown 12 and Magnum Rolle 11 for Louisiana Tech, which won its sixth straight.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Nevada leads the WAC in scoring offense and ranks 37th in the NCAA this season at 82.1 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 20.1 points per game (40th in the NCAA), while junior Armon Johnson is seventh at 16.9 points per game and senior Brandon Fields ranks 11th at 14.4 points per contest. Senior Joey Shaw is just out of the WAC's top 15 at 11.4 points per game.
Nevada has turned in two of its top three scoring efforts of the season recently, including 104 in its Dec. 22 loss to BYU and 99 points in the following day's victory over Tulsa. The team has averaged 88.0 points per game in its last four games (352) and 83.8 ppg in its last eight contests (670). This season marks the first time since 1997-98 that the team has topped the century mark twice in the same year. 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 seven times this year, including the last three games and five of the last six. Most recently, he has turned in 24 points in the Dec. 23 win over Tulsa, 22 Dec. 28 vs. Portland and 24 Saturday at La Tech. 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 four times, including a season-high 30 points Dec. 22 vs. BYU (also a team season high). 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 11 of its 14 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.
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 20.1 points per game (40th in the NCAA) and second in the conference at 9.8 boards per contest (28th in the nation in rebounding). 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 turned in his eighth double-double of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds Dec. 22 vs. BYU and his league-leading ninth Saturday at La Tech with 24 points and 13 boards (both game highs). He is tied for fifth in the nation with nine double-doubles and has had nine or more rebounds in all but four games this season.
Babbitt has had 18 career games with at least 20 points (including seven this year and the last four games) and has led the team in scoring 22 times in his young career (15 times last year and seven this season). He has scored in double figures in 45 of 48 career games at Nevada, including all 14 contests this year. In the last four games, Babbitt is averaging 22.5 points per contest (90). 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 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.
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.
SHOOTING TOUCH
Nevada leads the WAC and ranks 37th in the nation in field goal percentage, knocking down 49.0 percent of its field goal attempts, compared to just 42.7 percent from the field last season. The Wolf Pack has shot 51.0 percent from the field in its last four games (129-253), 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 seven of its 14 games this season and holds a 6-1 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 has also checked in at 38.3 percent from three-point land in the last four games (28-73). 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). 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.
Nevada's roster features three players ranked in the WAC's top 15 for field goal percentage, including junior Armon Johnson who is ranked 10th at 53.7 percent. Sophomore Luke Babbitt checks in at 14th at 50.7 percent, while senior Joey Shaw is 15th at 50.0 percent.
Senior Ray Kraemer ranks second in the WAC in three-point percentage, knocking down 47.9 percent of his long-range attempts (23-48). He has shot 53.3 percent in the last four games (8-15), 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 before going 1-for-5 Saturday at La Tech. 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). Shaw tied his season high for three-pointers made Saturday at La Tech, going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
JOHNSON NAMED A CANDIDATE FOR THE BOB COUSY AWARD
Junior guard Armon Johnson is among the candidates for the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford Financial Services, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts announced Dec. 17.
The annual award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes college basketball's top point guard. Seventy-three candidates have been nominated for the award. Nominations were solicited from all Division I, II and III schools across the country.
With a jumper with 12:30 to go in the second half Dec. 5 at Pacific, Johnson scored his 1,000th career point to become the 19th player in school history to reach that milestone. In his two-plus years and 81 games in the Silver and Blue, Johnson has scored 1,142 points (14th 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 324 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.
A 2009 first-team All-WAC selection, Johnson has led the Pack in scoring four times this year and checks in at seventh in the WAC in scoring with 16.9 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. In the last 10 games, starting with 20 points Nov. 29 at North Carolina, Johnson has averaged 17.6 points per game (176) and shot 57.4 percent from the field (78-136).
The list of candidates for the Bob Cousy Award will be narrowed down to a final 20 by Jan. 1, final 10 by Feb. 1, and final five by March 1. A Hall of Fame appointed screening committee will be narrowing down the candidates from 20 to 10 to 5 prior to the Blue Ribbon Selection Committee evaluating the final five candidates and ultimately choosing the winner. These Hall of Fame committees are made up of top college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, Sports Information Directors and Hall of Famers. The winner of the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford will be presented at the Hall of Fame's Class Announcement on Monday April 5 in Indianapolis as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.
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 48th 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 and had eight assists in a Dec. 17 victory over Eastern Washington. 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 the most by a WAC player so far this season, while Johnson also checks in at 10th in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31).
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 324 career assists and needs just one more to tie Matt Williams for ninth place on the Wolf Pack career list (325 assists, 1987-91).
HUNT COMING INTO HIS OWN
Sophomore forward Dario Hunt has continued to improve and is averaging 6.9 points and 7.5 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 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 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 and had 11 rebounds in Saturday's loss at Louisiana Tech.
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 8-6 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
- Senior Brandon Fields needs just 20 more points to become the 20th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. He currently has 980 points in 112 career games and would join teammate Armon Johnson in the exclusive club. It would also mark the first time since 2006-07 that Nevada's roster features two members of the 1,000-point club (Nick Fazekas and Marcelus Kemp). Sophomore Luke Babbitt has a chance to reach the mark this season (854 points in 48 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.
- The Wolf Pack is now 2-5 in games decided by 10 points or less and has lost six games this year by an average of just 7.3 points per contest.
- The Wolf Pack had 17 turnovers in Saturday's loss at La Tech, its second-highest total of the season. The team had averaged just 7.5 turnovers per game in its previous two contests, down from its season average of 12.9 per game. That included a season-low five turnovers Dec. 23 vs. Tulsa. The team had 10 turnovers in the Dec. 28 win over Portland and turned the ball over just three times in the second half.
- Nevada outrebounded La Tech 43-36, marking the ninth consecutive game that the Wolf Pack has outrebounded its opponent and the 11th time in 12 contests. The team is now 7-4 when outrebounding its opponent this season.
- Nevada continues to lead the WAC in rebounding with 40.1 boards per contest and has two players ranked in the WAC's top 10. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is second in the WAC and 28th in the nation with 9.8 rebounds per game, while sophomore Dario Hunt checks in at ninth in the WAC at 7.5 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 ranks third in the WAC and ranked 46th in the nation with 4.21 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 third in the league in blocked shots this year with 2.07 per game (37th 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 42 of 48 career games (all 14 contests this season) and has turned in 29 career games with more than one block, including four with five or more. Hunt has 96 blocks in his career (in 48 games, 2.00 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 Luke Babbitt ranks third in the WAC and ranks 35th in the nation at 91.4 percent from the line this year (64-70), including a 10-of-10 effort Nov. 18 at UNLV and a 7-of-7 showing Saturday at La Tech. Babbitt led the WAC in free throw percentage and ranked 24th in the country last year as a freshman at 86.4 percent.
- 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 6.4 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.
UP NEXT
Following Monday's game at New Mexico State, Nevada returns home on Saturday, Jan. 9, playing host to San Jose State at 7:05 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Nevada women's basketball team.
