University of Nevada Athletics

NEVADA WOLF PACK (21-12, 11-5 WAC) vs. RHODE ISLAND RAMS (24-9, 9-7 A-10)

2010 NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT - GAME #34
Monday, March 22, 2010 -  6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT) - Thomas Ryan Center (7,857) - Kingston, R.I.

TELEVISION: ESPNU & ESPN360.com
 Ryan Burr (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst)
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 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT)
SERIES HISTORY: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting

Coming off a 74-70 win at Wichita State on Wednesday in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament, the sixth-seeded Nevada Wolf Pack (21-12, 11-5 WAC) travels to Kingston, R.I., to take on the second-seeded Rhode Island Rams (24-9, 9-7 Atlantic-10) in the second round on Monday, March 22. Monday's game will tip off at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (3 p.m. Pacific Time) and will be televised nationally by ESPNU. It can also be heard live on Nevada's flagship radio station, ESPN 630 AM, and affiliates throughout the state and as part of a free audio stream online (http://bit.ly/nevadamediaplayer) with Ryan Radtke calling the action. Making its school-record eighth consecutive postseason appearance and its first NIT showing since 2003, Nevada has won four of its last five games and eight of its last 11 overall heading into Monday's game. The Wolf Pack picked up its fifth road win of the year and its first postseason victory since 2007 with Wednesday's upset of the third-seeded Shockers. The Wolf Pack has notched its seventh consecutive 20-win season and finished in a tie for second in the WAC standings with an 11-5 conference mark this season. The winner of Monday's game will advance to the quarterfinals to take on the winner of a March 22 contest between top-seeded Virginia Tech and fourth-seeded Connecticut.

NEVADA IN THE POSTSEASON
The Wolf Pack has earned its eighth consecutive postseason invitation and is making its first appearance in the National Invitation Tournament since 2003. The Wolf Pack's string of eight postseason appearances dates back to a 2003 NIT bid followed by four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-07 and a pair of College Basketball Invitational appearances in 2008 and 2009. The Wolf Pack heads to Wichita State looking to win its first postseason game since opening the 2007 NCAA Tournament with an overtime win over Creighton and snap a two-game postseason losing stretch (losses in the first round of the CBI in each of the last two seasons). Last season, Nevada fell to UTEP 79-77 on March 17, 2009 in Reno in the first round of the CBI.
 This season marks Nevada's fourth all-time appearance in the National Invitation Tournament and its first since 2003. Including Wednesday's win at Wichita State, the program holds a 3-3 record in NIT games with past appearances in 1979, 1997 and 2003. This year marks the third time in four NIT appearances that Nevada has won its opening game in the tournament. The Wolf Pack also advanced to the second round of the NIT in both 1979 and 1997 and dropped a 77-54 decision at Texas Tech in the first round in 2003.

NEVADA NOTCHES SEVENTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
With its March 11 victory over Idaho, Nevada notched its seventh consecutive 20-win season and the 12th 20-win campaign in school history. Wolf Pack head coach David Carter also became the second first-year head coach in school history to reach the 20-win mark (Mark Fox was the other with a 25-7 record in 2004-05). Nevada has won at least 20 games in each of the last seven years dating back to 2003-04.
 Last year, Nevada notched its sixth consecutive season with at least 20 wins with its WAC Tournament quarterfinals win over San Jose State on March 12, 2009. It also marked the fifth for Mark Fox, who is the only coach in school history to lead more than one team to at least 20 victories. Nevada won at least 25 games in four of its seven recent 20-win seasons (25-9 in 2003-04, 25-7 in 2004-05, 27-6 in 2005-06 and a school-record 29-5 in 2006-07).
 With its 21-12 mark, Nevada has already turned in a school-record nine consecutive winning seasons dating back to the 2001-02 campaign (three under former Pack head coach Trent Johnson, five under Fox and one under Carter). The previous long stretch was six from 1986-87 to 1991-92.

BABBITT, JOHNSON & HUNT EARN ALL-WAC HONORS
Sophomore forward Luke Babbitt has been named the 2010 WAC Player of the Year, marking the fifth time that a Nevada student-athlete has been named the WAC Player of the Year in the 10 years that Nevada has been a member of the WAC. Babbitt is the first Wolf Pack player to win the award since Nick Fazekas was named the WAC Player of the Year for the third consecutive season in 2007. The 2009 WAC Freshman of the Year, Babbitt was also named to the 2010 All-WAC first team for the second year in a row and becomes the fourth Wolf Pack player to be named conference player of the year in school history.
 Junior Armon Johnson earned second-team honors this year after being a first-team All-WAC selection in 2009 and the WAC Freshman of the Year in 2008. Sophomore forward Dario Hunt rounded out Nevada's all-league selections, being named to the WAC All-Defensive Team for the first WAC honor of his career.

NEVADA CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Year Player Conference
2010 Luke Babbitt WAC
2007 Nick Fazekas WAC
2006 Nick Fazekas WAC
2005 Nick Fazekas WAC
2004 Kirk Snyder WAC
1992 Kevin Soares Big Sky (co-winner)

BABBITT & JOHNSON NAMED ALL-DISTRICT
Sophomore forward Luke Babbitt has been named to the all-district first teams by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the United States Basketball Writers Association, while junior guard Armon Johnson has earned NABC first-team all-district honors.
 Babbitt and Johnson are two of five players on the NABC's District 6 first team, joining WAC honorees Kyle Gibson of Louisiana Tech, Adrian Oliver of San Jose State and Jahmar Young of New Mexico State on the first team. Babbitt is also one of 10 selections by the USBWA in District VIII, which encompasses the states of Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Montana. Utah State's Jared Quayle and Young were the other WAC honorees on the District VIII team. This year marks the second year in a row that Babbitt and Johnson have earned all-district honors.
 A total of 240 players from 24 districts were honored by the NABC's member coaches, and the all-district honorees are now eligible for the State Farm Coaches' Division I All-America teams to be announced on Saturday, April 3 as part of the 2009 NABC Convention and NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis. The USBWA selected a Player and Coach of the Year as well as a 10-team all-district team from nine regions.

NEVADA ONE OF TOP WAC TEAMS OVER LAST SIX YEARS
Over the last six seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 169-64 record, the second-most wins of any WAC team during that time (.725 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 90 games, the most in that same time period.

ABOUT THE RHODE ISLAND RAMS
Under the direction of eighth-year head coach Jim Baron (153-127 record in eight years at URI), the Rhode Island Rams have turned in a 24-9 overall record this season and finished tied for fifth in the Atlantic-10 Conference with a 9-7 league mark. The Rams have won three of their last four games and opened NIT play with a 76-64 victory over seventh-seeded Northwestern on Wednesday night in Kingston, R.I. Rhode Island has turned in a 14-2 record at its own Thomas Ryan Center this season and has won its last four home games and eight of its last nine.
 Senior guard Keith Cothran (6-4, 195) is leading three Rams in double figures for scoring this season and ranks 13th in the A-10 with 14.2 points per game. Junior forward Delroy James (6-8, 220) and senior forward Lamonte Ulmer (6-6, 215) are adding 12.4 and 12.0 points per game, respectively, while Ulmer is the team's top rebounder with 7.2 boards per contest (T8th in A-10). As a team, the Rams are averaging 75.9 points per game, which ranks second in the Atlantic-10 this season.

IN THE SERIES
Monday will mark the first meeting between Nevada and Rhode Island, while the Wolf Pack holds a 1-4 record against teams from the Atlantic-10 Conference. Monday is Nevada's first game against an A-10 foe since the Wolf Pack turned in an 83-71 victory over Richmond on Dec. 30, 1989 in Reno.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Luke Babbitt scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to help Nevada hang on for a 74-70 victory over host Wichita State in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.
 Toure Murry scored 15 points to lead Wichita State, which suffered its first loss in 18 home games this season.
 After Wichita State cut the lead to 42-40 on Gabe Blair's dunk, Nevada found its offensive stride again, highlighted by 6-foot-4 senior Brandon Fields going right at Wichita State's 7-foot center, Garrett Stutz, and throwing down a huge slam. Seconds later, two free throws by Babbitt gave the Wolf Pack a 59-49 lead with 10:33 remaining.
 Wichita State was down nine with 6:20 remaining when it scored eight straight to make it 66-64 with 4:26 left.
 It was still a two-point game when Babbitt hit the biggest shot of the night, getting off a 17-footer a fraction of a second before the shot clock expired and sinking it for a 72-68 lead with 33 seconds remaining.
 Wichita State's Clevin Hannah scored on a layup with 24.2 seconds to play, cutting the advantage to 72-70, but Babbitt hit two free throws for the final margin.
 Nevada was able to stymie Wichita State's offense for most of the first nine minutes, taking a 14-7 lead while holding the Shockers to 3-of-13 shooting. But Wichita State started to put it together after that and climbed back in the game. The Shockers made seven of eight shots during a 17-5 run that included three baskets by Murry and led 24-19.
 Three-pointers from seniors Ray Kraemer and Fields helped the Wolf Pack close the deficit, and the score was tied at 31 at halftime.

BABBITT NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
Sophomore forward Luke Babbitt has been named an ESPN the Magazine second-team Academic All-American, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
 Babbitt holds a 3.51 grade-point average and is majoring in pre-business administration. He leads the Wolf Pack and ranks in the top 30 in the country in scoring and rebounding this season. The preseason pick for Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, the Reno native and graduate of Galena High School earned Academic All-WAC honors last year.
 "We are very proud of Luke Babbitt. This is a very hard award to achieve and for him to be our first Academic All-American is a great accomplishment for Luke and for our program," Nevada head coach David Carter said. "For a young man to be able to succeed at such a high level both academically and athletically is very unique, and being named an Academic All-American is something that Luke will be very proud of for years to come."
 Babbitt is the first men's basketball player in the history of Nevada men's basketball to earn Academic All-America honors. He is the second Wolf Pack basketball player to do it after Chris Starr earned the honor as a member of the Nevada women's basketball team in 1986. The University of Nevada has had 14 student-athletes earn Academic All-America honors in the program's history.
 To be eligible for the All-America team, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve, maintain a grade-point average of 3.30, have reached sophomore academic and athletic status and be nominated by his sports information director.
 Earlier this season, Babbitt was named a first-team Academic All-District 8 university men's basketball first team, which made him eligible for the national ballot.

ON THE ROAD
Nevada has won 41 of its last 71 games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Events Center, including 35 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 22 of its last 45 regular-season road contests and 33 of its last 56. Nevada turned in an 8-5 road mark last season (6-2 in WAC play) and is 5-9 on the road (4-4 in WAC play) and 1-1 in neutral-site games 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. Since dropping its first five games away from home, the Wolf Pack won six of its last 11, including three of its final six WAC road games. 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 51-29 record in road contests (.638 winning percentage). That includes a 36-13 record in WAC road games (.747). 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.

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. The WAC Player of the Year, all-district selection and second-team Academic All-American ranks second in the WAC with 22.1 points per game (eighth in the NCAA) and 9.0 boards per contest (42nd in the nation). He also led the WAC in scoring and finished third in rebounding in conference games only, turning in 23.7 points and 8.9 boards per league tilt.
 With his 23 points Wednesday at Wichita State, Babbitt set the Nevada single-season scoring record with 729 points so far this season, breaking the mark of 721 set by All-American Nick Fazekas in 2005-06. Earlier this season, he had already broken Fazekas' record for points by a sophomore (662 points in 2004-05) and set the Wolf Pack freshman record for single-season scoring with 573 points last year.
 The Nevada southpaw turned in a career-high 33 points in the March 12 WAC Tournament semifinals game with New Mexico State, while he has scored 29 in four games this season, most recently scoring 29 on 11-of-19 shooting Jan. 23 at Fresno State and adding 29 with four three-pointers made on March 6 vs. Louisiana Tech.
 Babbitt ranks 17th in the nation with 16 double-doubles and has had nine or more rebounds in 21 games this season. Babbitt has turned in a double-double in eight of the last 19 contests, most recently turning in 27 points and 12 rebounds Feb. 13 vs. Fresno State and 16 points and 12 boards Feb. 20 at Missouri State.
 Babbitt has had 34 career games with at least 20 points (including 23 this year and 20 of the last 23 games) and has led the team in scoring 36 times in his young career (17 times last year and 19 this season). He has scored in double figures in 64 of 66 career games at Nevada, including all 33 contests this year. In the last 23 games, Babbitt is averaging 23.4 points per contest (538). 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 and was one of 30 midseason candidates for the 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 last year behind only Liberty's Seth Curry (20.2 ppg). 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.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Nevada leads the WAC and ranks 14th in the NCAA this season at 79.4 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 is second in the WAC at 22.1 points per game (eighth in the NCAA), while junior Armon Johnson is eighth in the WAC at 15.8 points per game and senior Brandon Fields ranks 11th at 14.1 points per contest. Senior Joey Shaw is just out of the WAC's top 15 at 10.4 points per game.
 Nevada's 100-92 win over New Mexico State on March 4 marked the third time this season that the Wolf Pack has reached the 100-point mark and the first time since the 1991-92 season that a Nevada team has scored at least 100 points three times in the same year.  In 1991-92, Nevada turned in four 100-point contests. The victory over NMSU also marked the first time Nevada reached 100 points in WAC play since a 101-76 win over Rice on Jan. 24, 2004. The Wolf Pack also turned in a 112-99 win over Houston on Nov. 21 and a 110-104 loss to BYU on Dec. 22 this season. The 112- and 104-point efforts are the top two scoring efforts in the WAC so far this season, while the team's 100 points vs. NMSU marked the most by a WAC team in conference play this 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 21 times this year, including 13 of the last 16 games and 19 of the last 24. Most recently, he turned in 23 (17 in the second half) in Wednesday's NIT opener at Wichita State. Babbitt scored a career-high 33 points March 12 vs. New Mexico State and has had 29 in four other games this year.
 Junior Armon Johnson has led the team in scoring six 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. Most recently, he turned in 23 points, including the game-winning three-point play, Feb. 10 at Idaho. 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 has led the team in scoring five times, including three of the last six games. He scored 23 points in the Feb. 25 win at San Jose State, 20 Feb. 27 at Hawai'i and a career-high 32 March 4 vs. New Mexico State. He also led the team with 22 in a Nov. 18 loss at UNLV and 20 Dec. 12 vs. South Dakota State. 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 20 of its 33 games this year, including three with five (Houston, BYU and March 11 vs. Idaho). The Wolf Pack had three players reach the 20-point plateau vs. Houston and BYU and at least two 20-point scorers in seven games this season, most recently March 4 vs. New Mexico State (Fields with 32 and Babbitt with 23).

NEVADA'S 1,000-POINT SCORERS
With a free throw late in the second half Jan. 23 at Fresno State, sophomore Luke Babbitt became the 21st player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. Babbitt now has 1,302 career points (12th all time at Nevada) and is one of eight players in school history to reach the mark in only two seasons. Babbitt joins junior Armon Johnson and senior Brandon Fields in that elite club, marking the first time in school history that Nevada has members of the 1,000-point club on its roster in the same season.
 With his 19 points on Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State, Fields reached the 1,000-point mark and now has 1,243 points in 131 career games (15th). Johnson scored his 1,000th career point Dec. 5 at Pacific and currently ranks ninth all time at Nevada with 1,428 points in 100 career games.

SHOOTING TOUCH
Nevada ranks second in the WAC and 14th in the nation in field goal percentage, knocking down 48.4 percent of its field goal attempts, compared to just 42.7 percent from the field last season. The Wolf Pack has shot over 50 percent in 15 of its 33 games this season, including its last three games and five of the last seven. Most recently, Nevada shot 55.4 percent in its March 11 win over Idaho and 50.0 percent March 12 vs. New Mexico State and again Wednesday at Wichita State. Nevada holds a 13-2 record when shooting 50 percent or better this season and has shot 51.8 percent from the field (147-284) in the last five games.
 Nevada shot a 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. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is ranked 14th in the WAC at 51.0 percent, and junior Armon Johnson checks in at 15th in the WAC at 50.0 percent.
 Nevada has also checked in at 36.7 percent from three-point land this season after shooting just 30.6 percent from long range a year ago. The Wolf Pack made a season-high 55.6 percent from three-point land (10-18) in its WAC Tournament quarterfinals win over Idaho. The Wolf Pack has shot 39.5 percent from beyond the arc (62-157) in the last eight games.  Neada has made 50 percent of its three-point attempts seven times this year (6-of-12 at UNLV, 11-of-22 vs. Houston, 9-of-18 vs. Tulsa, 9-of-18 Jan. 13 vs. Utah State, 7-13 Jan. 20 at Boise State, 10-20 Feb. 10 at Idaho). 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, while Nevada has made 10 three-pointers in two of its last three games. Seniors Brandon Fields (3-6) and Ray Kraemer (3-4) each made a team-high three three-pointers in the March 11 win over Idaho, while senior Joey Shaw and sophomore Luke Babbitt each knocked down a pair.
 
ASSISTS MACHINE
Junior guard Armon Johnson leads the WAC and ranks 19th in the nation this year with 5.58 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 matched that career high with 12 assists in a Jan. 30 win over Hawai'i. He also had 11 in a March 4 win over New Mexico State and 10 in Thursday's loss to the Aggies, marking the third and fourth times this year and the fourth and fifth times in his career that he has reached double digits for assists. Johnson also led the WAC with 6.25 assists per game in league play, while his 12 assists in the team's wins over Houston and Hawai'i are still the most by a WAC player this season.
 Johnson has turned in two double-doubles this season, invcluding 22 points and 12 assists Nov. 21 vs. Houston and 13 points and 10 assists last week vs. New Mexico State. 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).
 With his seven assists in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific, Johnson entered the Nevada career chart for assists and currently ranks fourth with 440 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 six times this year and checks in at eighth in the WAC in scoring with 15.8 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 four other 20-point games this year, including 22 points in the Nov. 21 win over Houston, a game-high 23 Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State, a game-best 23 Feb. 10 at Idaho and 24 in a Feb. 13 overtime victory over Boise State.

KRAEMER LIGHTS IT UP FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Senior Ray Kraemer ranks second in the WAC and fifth in the nation in three-point percentage, knocking down 49.2 percent of his long-range attempts (59-120). He has shot 72.7 percent from beyond the arc in the last three games (8-11), including 3-of-4 March 11 vs. San Jose State, 3-of-5 March 12 vs. New Mexico State and 2-of-3 Wednesday at Wichita State. Kraemer matched his career high for three-pointers made with 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 29 of 33 games this season, including 17 contests with more than one. He has already made 59 three-pointers this season, surpassing the 23 he had in his first two seasons combined.
 Kraemer's 49.2 percent effort this season ranks second on the Nevada single-season charts, just behind Bryon Strachan who shot 50.0 percent from three-point land in 1986-87 (31-62), while Kraemer can also set the senior single-season mark, which is currently held by Gabriel Parizzia (.459 in 1988-89).
 At 45.1 percent for his career (82-182), Kraemer is first in career three-point percentage at Nevada, just ahead Strachan who made 45.0 percent (68-151) from 1986-88.

FIELDS ENDING SENIOR YEAR IN STYLE
Senior Brandon Fields is making the most of the last few games of his final campaign at Nevada and has led the team in scoring in three of the last seven contests. He turned in a career-best 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting in a March 4 victory over New Mexico State. He also dished out a career-high nine assists in the game and pulled down seven rebounds vs. the Aggies. It marked the fifth time this year that he has led the team and his third consecutive game with at least 20 points after turning in 23 points Feb. 25 at San Jose State and 20 Feb. 27 at Hawai'i.
 Fields has broken out of a rough shooting stretch in a big way in the last seven games. He had made just 5-of-32 field goal attempts (3-of-16 from three-point land) in the three games prior to the last six contests. In the last seven games, Fields has shot 47.0 percent from the field (39-83), including 36.0 percent from beyond the arc (18-50), and averaged 16.3 points per contest (114).
 Fields is turning in 14.1 points per game this season (third on the team and 11th in the WAC), up 5.1 ppg from his average of 9.0 last year.  He knocked down a career-best six three-pointers Feb. 25 vs. the Spartans and also made four three-pointers Jan. 23 at Fresno State and again Jan. 30 vs. Hawai'i.

HUNT COMING INTO HIS OWN
Sophomore forward Dario Hunt has continued to improve and is averaging 6.5 points and 6.9 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.
 Hunt has averaged 8.6 points (43) and 6.2 rebounds (31) and is shooting 63.0 percent from the field (17-27) in the last five games, including 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and six rebounds March 4 vs. NMSU, 12 points and seven boards March 11 vs. Idaho and 10 points and seven rebounds Wednesday at Wichita State.
 The WAC's leader last year, sophomore Dario Hunt is third in the league in blocked shots this year with 1.97 per game (51st in the NCAA), including a career-high matching six Jan. 13 vs. Utah State and again Jan. 30 vs. Hawai'i, five in the season opener vs. Montana State and three in five other games. He has blocked at least one shot in 58 of 67 career games (30 of 33 contests this season) and has turned in 39 career games with more than one block, including six with five or more. Hunt has 132 blocks in his career (in 67 games, 1.97 per game), which already ranks fourth 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, while his 65 blocks this season are fourth on the single-season chart.

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 21-12 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, and is just the second first-year Nevada coach to win 20 games (Mark Fox is the other, 25-7 in 2004-05).
 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 faced 12 teams that have earned postseason appearances this season, including NCAA teams BYU, Houston, New Mexico State, UNLV and Utah State, NIT participants Tulsa and North Carolina, CBI invitee VCU and CollegeInsider.com Tournament participants Pacific, Missouri State, Portland and Louisiana Tech.

- The Wolf Pack has turned in a combined 56-20 record over the final two months of the season (February and March) in the last six years, including a 34-9 record in the month of February and a 22-11 mark in March (4-3 in February and 4-1 in March this season).

-  Nevada is 12-9 in games decided by 10 points or less and 5-2 in contests decided by five points or less. The Wolf Pack has lost its 12 games this year by an average of just 7.2 points per contest (86).

- The Wolf Pack made 17-of-18 free throw attempts Wednesday at Wichita State (.944), its second-best effort from the line this year. In the last two games, Nevada has made 33-of-36 free throws (.917). Nevada has shot 76.1 percent from the free throw line in its last 11 games (188-247) after shooting just 63.4 percent from the charity stripe in its previous three (64-101).

- Sophomore Luke Babbitt ranks first in the WAC and fifth in the nation at 90.9 percent from the free throw line this year (180-198), including 10-of-10 efforts Nov. 18 at UNLV and March 12 vs. NMSU and 11-of-11 showings Jan. 9 vs. San Jose State and Jan. 20 at Boise State.

- In the last 10 games, Babbitt has made 95.9 percent of his free throw attempts (70-73). Dating back to a miss with 1:50 to play in the March 6 La Tech game, Babbitt has made his last 24 free throw attempts.

- Babbitt's 91.3 free throw percentage this season ranks first on Nevada's single-season list with Jimmy Carroll (.904 in 1996-97), while Babbitt has also set the Nevada single-season record for free throws made with 189, surpassing the 183 that Nick Fazekas made in 2004-05. Babbitt has made 89.0 percent of his career free throw attempts (341-383) and ranks first in career free throw percentage at Nevada ahead  of Jimmy Carroll (.881, 1996-98).

- After shooting a season-high 55.6 percent from three-point land March 11 vs. Idaho (10-18), the Wolf Pack has made just 29.3 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc in the last two contests (12-41).

 - Wichita State outrebounded Nevada 36-30, marking the 11th time in the last 17 games that the Wolf Pack has been outrebounded. The Wolf Pack is 12-4 this year when outrebounding its opponent. Nevada outrebounded San Jose State 33-28 on Feb. 25, snapping a stretch where the team had been outrebounded in nine of its previous 10 games. Nevada tied Fresno State in rebounding on Jan. 23 in the only other game in that stretch. Prior to that 10-game stretch, the team had outrebounded its previous 11 opponents.

- Nevada has two players ranked in the WAC's top 10 in rebounding. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is second in the WAC and ranks 42nd in the nation with 9.0 rebounds per game, while sophomore Dario Hunt checks in at ninth in the WAC at 6.9 boards per contest.

- The Wolf Pack still ranks second in the WAC with 36.7 boards per game despite averaging just 34.9 rebounds per contest in WAC play. The team has pulled down only 33.9  rebounds per game in its last 16 contests (542).

- Sophomore Luke Babbitt and junior Armon Johnson have come up big in the second half in the last 11 games for the Wolf Pack, combining to score 250 of Nevada's 441 second-half points in that stretch (56.7 percent). Babbitt (12) and Johnson (13) combined to score all 25 of Nevada's points in the second half of the Feb. 10 win at Idaho, while the pair scored 39 of Nevada's 60 points in the second half and overtime Feb. 13 vs. Boise State (Babbitt 22, Johnson 17). In Wednesday's win, Babbitt and Johnson had 29 of the team's 37 second-half points. Babbitt scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the second half vs. the Bulldogs, while Johnson had 14 of his 19 on 6-of-10 shooting in the final 20 minutes. Feb. 20 at Missouri State, Johnson scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, while Babbitt had 18 of his 23 in the final 20 minutes March 4 vs. NMSU and 16 of 29 March 6 vs. La Tech. Babbitt also scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half Wednesday at WSU.

- Prior to a Feb. 20 loss at Missouri State, Nevada had come from behind to win each of its three previous games.  The Wolf Pack trailed 43-37 at the half but held Fresno State to 27 points on 23.1 percent shooting in the second half (6-26) for a Feb. 17 win. In the Feb. 13 overtime win vs. Boise State, the team overcame a 34-28 halftime deficit, while Nevada trailed 59-54 with 5:01 to play but rallied for the 67-66 victory Feb. 10 at Idaho.

- Senior Joey Shaw turned in his first career double-double with 16 points and a career-best 12 rebounds in the Feb. 13 win over Boise State. He had come into that contest averaging just 2.9 rebounds per game in his previous eight contests.

- The Wolf Pack leads the WAC with 4.45 blocked shots per game after leading the conference in the category with 4.79 per tilt last season.  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. Hunt checks in at third in the WAC and 51st in the nation with 1.97 blocked shots per game and had six blocks in the Jan. 30 win over Hawai'i.

- 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. Olson missed five games late this season with a sprained knee.

- 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 6.2 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. 12 win over South Dakota State with seven points and six boards. He also turned in six points on 3-of-4 shooting, had three rebounds and turned in two steals March 6 vs. Louisiana Tech.

- 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
The winner of the Nevada-Rhode Island contest will take on the winner of a second-round NIT game between top-seeded Virginia Tech and fourth-seeded Connecticut on March 22 in Blacksburg, Va. The NIT quarterfinals are set for March 23-24.