Jan. 10, 2012
Game Notes 
San Jose State at NEVADA
Winners of a season-high nine in a row, Nevada (12-3, 2-0 WAC) begins a four-game homestand hosting San Jose State (6-9, 0-1 WAC) on Thursday with tip-off set for 7:05 p.m. The Wolf Pack won two road WAC?contests last week 73-55 at Idaho and 78-71 at Utah State. The Spartans are 6-9 overall and dropped an 82-69 decision at Hawai`i to begin WAC?play last Saturday.
Thursday, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose State University Spartans
(6-9, WAC: 0-1)
at
NEVADA WOLF PACK
(12-3, WAC: 2-0)
Lawlor Events Center (11,536)
RADIO: University of Nevada Sports Network (KUUB 94.5 FM Reno; KPLY 630 AM Reno; KELY 1230 AM Ely; KWNA 1400 AM Winnemucca; and KSVL 92.3 FM Yerington)
Ryan Radtke (play-by-play), Len Stevens (analyst)
pregame starts at 6:30 p.m.
TELEVISION: none
Live stats: Live stats link
WEB STREAMING: www.NevadaWolfPack.tv (subscription fee)
SERIES?HISTORY: Nevada leads the series with San Jose State 48-47. The Wolf Pack has won the last eight games and 18 of the last 19. Last season the Pack defeated the Spartans 89-69 on Feb. 5, 2011 in Reno and one week later on Feb. 12, 2011 won 84-76 in overtime in San Jose, Calif.
UP?NEXT: Nevada hosts Hawai`i (9-6, 1-0 WAC) on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. PT.
ABOUT?THE SAN JOSE STATE?UNIVERSITY?SPARTANS - The San Jose State University Spartans are 6-9 and 0-1 WAC?play after falling 82-69 at Hawai`i to begin conference play. SJSU is led by seventh year head coach George Nessman who is 74-128 heading the Spartan basketball program.
Three Spartans are averaging double figures led by junior guard James Kinney's (6-1) 16.3 points per game and he grabs 3.5 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Keith Shamburger (5-11) is averaging 14.7 points per game and a WAC-high 5.07 assists. Kinney scored 11 points at Hawai`i on Saturday while Shamburger finished with six points and five assists.
Senior forward Wil Carter (6-8) averages a team-high 8.3 rebounds which is fourth in the WAC?and contributes 10.5 points per game. At Hawai`i Carter posted a double-double with 21 points and 20 rebounds. He became the first Spartan in 31 years to have 20 or more rebounds in a game.
Offensively SJSU?averages 69 points per game and allows 71.7. From the field the Spartans shoot 38.7 percent and opponents 42. From behind the three-point arc SJSU is making 34.5 percent of its opportunities and opponents 32.8. At the free throw line they shoot 74.1 percent. SJSU averages 35.4 rebounds per game and opponents 39.9.
Last game: Wolf Pack Makes It Nine Straight With Win Over Aggies, 78-71
LOGAN, Utah (AP) - Deonte Burton scored 25 points and Dario Hunt got his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds as Nevada topped Utah State 78-71 Saturday night.
Olek Czyk added 14 points for the Wolf Pack (12-3, 2-0).
Utah State(9-7, 1-1) were led by Brockeith Pane with 21 points and six assists, while Preston Medlin added 20.
The Aggies never led in the contest and with the score 54-53, botched two chances to take the lead. The Aggies tied the game with 9:29 to play on a 3-point shot by Pane at 56-all. The Wolf Pack then went on an 11-3 run, with Czyk scoring six consecutive points, to lead 67-59 with 4:30 to play.
Medlin and Grim each scored in the final two minutes to bring the score to 70-68 before Burton hit a 3-point shot with 37 seconds remaining to seal the win.
BURTON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - DENVER - Nevada's Deonte Burton has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 2-8. The honor marks the fourth career WAC Player of the Week award and third this season for Burton.
Burton, a sophomore guard from Los Angeles, Calif. (Compton Centennial HS), led Nevada to a pair of WAC road wins to open conference play last week. In a 73-55 win at Idaho, Burton scored a game-high 26 points connecting on 9-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc. He finished the game with a game-high six assists, three rebounds, a steal and a block in 33 minutes of play.
At Utah State, Burton scored a game-high 25 points in helping the Pack to a 78-71 victory. The win snapped Utah State's 33-game WAC home win steak. Burton hit 10-of-19 shots from the field, including three makes from three-point range. He dished out five assists, grabbed three rebounds and had two steals while playing all 40 minutes. With Nevada leading 70-68 with 41 seconds to play, Burton nailed a three-pointer and made a free throw after being fouled to complete the four-point play to put the Pack up by six to help secure the win.
On the week, Burton averaged 25.5 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the field, 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from three-point range and 60.0 percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line. In the two games, Burton had 11 assists and just three turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.7.
PACK WINNERS OF NINE IN A ROW AND 12-OF-13 - Nevada has won a season-high nine in a row and 12-of-13 after starting the season 0-2. The only loss in the stretch was 76-55 to BYU in Chicago.
The last time the Wolf Pack won nine in a row was the 2006-07 squad that started the season 7-0 and also had win streaks of nine and 10 games on the way to a 29-5 record. The most recent streak longer than 10 games came during the 2005-06 year when the Pack won 14 consecutive games to end the regular season before falling 87-79 to Montana in the NCAA?Tournament.
FLIPPIN IT AROUND IN A YEAR - Nevada's current 12-3 mark is almost the exact opposite of last season's 4-11 mark after 15 games. Last year the Wolf Pack's 12th victory came on March 3, 2011 when the Pack won at Louisiana Tech 73-70.
In addition to improving the overall record the Pack has surpassed its win total away from Reno. This year Nevada is 5-2 away from Lawlor Events Center, 4-1 in true road contests and 1-1 in two neutral site games played in Chicago.
Last season Nevada was 3-10 in away games and 1-4 at neutral sites for a combined 4-14 record outside of Lawlor Events Center. Nevada was 0-10 away from Reno until a 69-67 victory at?Boise State on Jan 15, 2011.
BALANCING ACT - For the first time this season Nevada has four players averaging double figures after its 78-71 victory at Utah State. Deonte Burton (15.5), Malik Story (14.2), Olek Czyz (10.5) and Dario Hunt (10.2) are all averaging better than 10 points per game. The Wolf Pack is the only WAC?team with four players scoring in double figures.
The Utah State was the eighth time this season that four Nevada players scored in double figures in the same game. Burton led the way with a game-high 25 points followed by Czyz and Hunt with 14 each. Story chipped in 12 points in the victory.
Games with four Pack players scoring in double figures:
Pacific (11/17/11): Story (18), Czyz (17), Evans, Jr. (11) and Panzer (11).
Longwood (11/20/11): Story (28), Burton (14), Hunt (13) and Evans (10).
BYU (11/25/11): Czyz (11), Evans (11), Story (11) and Hunt (10).
Montana (12/10/11): Burton?(21), Czyz (17), Story (11) and Hunt (10).
UC?Riverside (12/17/11): Czyz (15), Story (15), Hunt (12) and Burton (10).
Portland?(12/22/11): Hunt (15), Czyz (15), Evans, Jr. (11) and Story (10).
Cedarville (12/28/11): Story (19), Hunt (13), Burton (13) and Czyz (10).
at Utah State (1/7/12): Burton (25), Czyz (14), Hunt (14) and Story (12).
HUNT RECORDS FOUR CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE-DOUBLES, FIVE IN SEVEN GAMES - Senior forward Dario Hunt recorded four consecutive double-doubles and five in the last seven games. The four in a row marked the first time Hunt had more than two in a row in his career. The four game streak came to an end in the Pack's, 71-61 victory over Cedarville when he finished the night with 13 points and eight rebounds.
After his 14 points at Utah State he is now averaging double figures at 10.2 points per game. In the last 12 games Hunt is averaging 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Over the same 12-game stretch he is shooting 56.4 (57-of-101) percent from the field.
On the season Hunt has seven double figure rebounding games and all seven are game highs. ?Eight times he has grabbed a game high in rebounds. He has led the team in rebounding 10 times this season which included a stretch of six in a row from the Washington game on Dec. 2 through the Dec. 28 game with Cedarville. In his career Hunt has led the Pack in rebounding 47 times.
Hunt grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds versus Pacific and he followed that with 11 in the Prairie View A&M?game. In his career he has 24 career double figure rebound games.
PACK TURNAROUND IN CLOSE GAMES - Another of the turnarounds for the 2011-12 squad from last season is success in close games. Nevada is 7-1 in games decided by 10 points or less this season with the only loss being a 71-67 setback at nationally ranked UNLV.
Last season the Pack went 6-12 in games decided by 10 points or less. Nevada was 4-10 in games decided by six points or less last season.
NEVADA GETTING DEFENSIVE - Nevada is allowing a WAC low 63 points per game, overall and in conference play. The Wolf Pack ranks fourth in field goal percentage, overall and in WAC?play Opponents are shooting 41.3 percent for the season and 45.5 percent in two WAC?games.
Nevada ranks second in the WAC in blocks averaging 4.73 per game and third in steals swiping 6.87 per game.
BYU is the only opponent to shoot over 50 percent versus the Pack as the Cougars connected on 54.4 percent of their opportunities. Utah State shot exactly 50 percent in its loss to the Pack.
Nevada has held four opponents below 40 percent shooting with a season low 30 percent coming versus UC?Riverside.
BURTON ON POINT(S) - Sophomore point guard Deonte Burton has put up some impressive numbers this season averaging a team-high 15.5 points per game. In the Pack's two WAC?road wins last week he scored game highs with 26 points at Idaho and followed that with 25 at Utah State. He also averaged 5.5 assists and 1.5 steals with an assist-to-turnover-ratio of 3.7. From the field he shot 59.4 (19-of-32) percent and from behind the arc 46.7 (7-of-15). For his play he earned WAC?Player of the Week honors for the third time this season.
For the first time in his career Burton played the entire game logging 40 minutes at Utah State. He also played 40 minutes versus Washington but that game went to overtime. The 10 field goals and 19 field goal attempts were also career bests.
Burton has been deadly on the road averaging 25.6 points in Nevada's five true away contests. In addition he has been averaging 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 3.8 rebounds with an assist-to-turnover-ratio of 4.4. ?From the field he has shot 52.9 (37-of-70)?percent and from three-point range 50 (16-of-32). His high output on the road was 28 at UNLV and Arizona State with the low being 21 at Montana.
Six times he has led the Pack in scoring with all six being game highs. Nine times he has scored in double figures and seven times in the last eight games.
He had an impressive three game stretch posting game-highs with 31 points versus Washington (12/2), 28 at Arizona State (12/7) and 21 at Montana (12/10) in three wins. He followed that with 10 in the UC?Riverside (12/17) game but after battling foul trouble tied his career low with two points against Portland (12/22). Burton had 13 points versus Cedarville then produced the back-to-back 20-point games in the two WAC?road victories.
He had a stretch of making 15 consecutive free throws and has made 41 of his last 50 attempts, 82 percent.
The majority of Burton's points came after halftime in the four consecutive double figure games when he scored 66 of his 90 points, 73 percent. After the break he shot 67 (18-of-27) percent, 83 (10-of-12) percent from behind the three-point line and 87 (20-of-23) percent at the free throw line. On the season 128 of Burton's 233 points have come after halftime, 54.9 percent.
Against UC?Riverside he finished with 10 points making three-of-five field goals, one-of-two, three-pointers and all three free throw attempts. He also had four assists and one blocked shot. Eight of his points came in the second half.
At Montana, Burton made five-of-12 field goals, three-of-six three-pointers and eight-of-nine free throws. He also had five rebounds, five assists, blocked a shot and for the second game in a row did not have a turnover. He scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half.
At ASU he made six-of-11 field goals, three-of-five, three-pointers and 13-of-15 free throws. The 13 free throws made and 15 attempted are career highs. He scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half.
In the Washington game Burton scored 19-of-22 points at one stretch of the game from 5:54 to play in the second half with his final point coming at the free throw line with 1 minute to play in overtime. He scored 19 of Nevada's final 24 points in the game.
With 4.3 seconds to play he nailed a three-pointer to tie the score at 66 and send the game into overtime. ?In overtime he scored the Pack's first eight points and his assist on a Kevin Panzer basket closed out the scoring for Nevada. With 1:41 to play in overtime his fourth, three-pointer of the game put the Pack on top to stay 72-70. He made both of his free throw attempts with 1 minute to play to close out his scoring. Of his 31 points, 22 came after halftime.
Burton's first 20-point game of the season came at UNLV when he scored a then career-high 28 points versus the Rebels. He scored 20 of Nevada's 29 first half points at UNLV.
In the Western Athletic?Conference he ranks in eight categories. His 15.5 points per game is fourth, 2.54 assist-to-turnover-ratio leads the WAC, 4.73 assists per game is second, 1.27 steals per game is tied for 10th and 1.73 three-pointers made per game is tied for ninth. He ranks ninth in free throw percentage making 77.3 percent of his opportunities and 40 percent from three-point range is tied for fifth.
HUNT RECORDS 200TH CAREER BLOCK AND SIXTH IN CAREER REBOUNDS - Senior forward Dario Hunt reached two milestones this season with his 200th career block and 800th career rebound. Hunt broke the Nevada career blocks record in the season-opener versus Missouri State with the 193rd block in his career. In the Longwood game Hunt recorded his 200th career block and now has 222 in 115 games. He came into the season tied with Nick Fazekas (2004-07) with 192.
Hunt is second in the WAC and 50th in the nation in blocked shots averaging 2.0 per game.
In the Portland (12/22) game he became the seventh player in school history to reach 800 career rebounds after finishing the night with 11 boards. His 827 career rebounds is sixth in school history. His nine in the MSU?game moved him over 700 for his career and the five against Bradley pushed his total to 750. In the WAC his 8.9 rebounds per game is third and nationally he ranks 51st.
Hunt made his 100th career start versus Washington (12/2) and now has 107 in the Silver &?Blue. The 6-8 forward, has started 107-of-115 games played in his career. He has started the last 51 games and 84 of the last 85.
PACK GOING TO THE LINE - Nevada continues to get the free throw line with frequency, having made more free throws than opponents have attempted. The Wolf Pack has made 233 free throws and the 15 opponents have combined to attempt just 219. Nevada has attempted 367 free throws, 148 more than opponents have attempted, 219.
The Pack has attempted more free throws than its opponents in 12-of-15 games this season. Nevada has made more free throws in each game than 11-of-15 opponents. Montana, Portland and Utah State are the only teams to attempt and make more free throws in a game than Nevada. The Wolf Pack and Washington Huskies both made 15 free throws in their contest. The Pack shot a season-high 25 more free throws than Prairie View A&M.
Despite the numerous opportunities at the charity strip, Nevada is shooting just 63.5 percent at the free throw line and opponents 67.1 percent. Nevada shot a season-high 82.4 percent from the line against Portland making 14-of-17 free throws. Point guard Deonte Burton made 13-of-15 free throws versus ASU including making his first 11 and 15 in a row going back to the end of the Washington game.
Malik Story and Burton rank eighth and ninth in free throw percentage in the WAC shooting 78.5 and 77.3 percent respectively.
STORY TOPS?WAC, RANKS?THIRD NATIONALLY IN THREE-POINT SHOOTING - Junior guard Malik Story leads the WAC?and ranks third nationally in three-point percentage making 51.2 percent of his opportunities. Story has made 43-of-84 attempts on the season. His 2.87 made per game is tied for third in the conference and 29th in the country. Story has made a three-pointer in 14-of-15 games this season.
He made a career-high seven, three-pointers in Nevada's 80-78 victory over Longwood. Story was good on 7-of-10, three-point attempts versus the Lancers and finished with 28 points on the night. The 28 points is tied with Deonte Burton for the second highest scoring game for the Pack this season. His previous high for three-pointers was six that he accomplished twice last season, with the last being against Fresno State in the WAC Tournament.
Story is second on the team and eighth in the WAC?scoring at 14.2 points per game. The 6-5 guard, is shooting 78 percent from the free throw line to rank eighth in the conference and his 2.13 assists per game is 14th.
CARTER NOTCHES 40TH WIN - Third-year head coach David Carter notched his 40th win at Nevada when the Pack defeated Arizona State 69-61. Carter is 46-35 leading the Wolf Pack basketball program. In his first season the Pack went 21-13 and advanced the second round on the NIT. Last year the young squad posted a 13-19 record.
BURTON FIFTH PACK PLAYER TO EARN PRESEASON WAC POY NOD - Point guard Deonte Burton became the fifth Nevada player and sixth overall to be selected as the WAC?Coaches' Preseason Player of the Year. Kirk Snyder (2003-04), Nick Fazekas (2005-06 & 2006-07), Armon Johnson (2008-09) and Luke Babbitt (2009-10) were all preseason players of the year with Fazekas earning the honor twice. Snyder, Fazekas?(twice) and Babbitt all earned the honor at the end of the season when chosen as the preseason player of the year. Like Burton, Babbitt and Johnson were both sophomores when they earned the preseason honor.
A?Nevada player has been named the season ending WAC?Player of the Year in five of the last eight seasons with Fazekas grabbing the honor three consecutive seasons from 2003-2007.
Johnson and Babbitt are currently on the roster of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. Snyder was first round pick of the Utah Jazz and Fazekas was chosen in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks. Both played for several teams in the NBA.
Burton was the fourth Pack player to earn WAC?Freshman of the Year honors last year when he averaged 13.7 points and 3.5 assists per game. ?Ramon Sessions (2005), Johnson (2008) and Babbitt (2009) were the previous Nevada players named WAC?Freshman of the Year. Sessions, a second round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks, is currently on the roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
NEVADA ONE?OF?TOP WAC TEAMS OVER LAST EIGHT PLUS SEASONS
Over the last eight plus seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 194-87 record, the second-most wins of any WAC team during that time (.689 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 100 games, the most in that same time period. The top two teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last eight seasons:
REMEMBERING MILTON - In remembrance of University of Nevada president Milton D. Glick who passed away of a stroke on April 16, 2011, the Wolf Pack men's basketball team will wear an MG patch on their shorts. Glick, 73, was the 15th president of the University of Nevada.
WINNING AT LAWLOR - Nevada has won 82 percent of its games over the past eight plus seasons posting a 117-25 record at Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack has posted a 55-11 WAC mark during that same stretch, a winning percentage of 83. Last year was the first year the Pack did not win 10 or more games at the on-campus facility in the last eight plus seasons.
WOLF PACK BASKETBALL FANS ENCOURAGED TO ALLOW EXTRA TIME DUE TO VIRGINIA STREET CONSTRUCTION - Wolf Pack fans are encouraged to allow extra time and use alternate routes when coming to basketball games this season due to an ongoing construction project on Virginia Street.
A significant project to replace the sewer lines under streets around the University's main Reno campus and nearby neighborhoods began Jan. 3 and is slated for completion in late July 2012. The North Virginia Interceptor project is being managed by and funded through the City of Reno.
The project will extend from the south end of campus, in the area of North Virginia and Eighth Streets, to North McCarran Boulevard, and will require temporary closure of roads and traffic lanes that could impact fans attending games throughout the season.
Traffic updates and alternate routes will be communicated at the construction sites through reader boards and signage managed by the contractor, Q&D Construction. The City of Reno has created a website, http://Reno.gov/NorthVirginia, and fans are encouraged to check the website for updates to avoid delays.
A University team with representatives of the Facilities, Parking and Transportation, Police Services, Athletics and Media Relations departments will meet regularly to monitor project progress, plan for alternate shuttle routes or parking as necessary, and plan for traffic to and from large-scale, campus events. The Regional Transportation Commission is also involved and will adjust the RTC RIDE service and Sierra Spirit routes as necessary.
For questions and concerns about the project, contact Reno Direct, the City of Reno's non-emergency information center, at 775-334-INFO (4636), 775-333-7701 (TTY) or renodirect@reno.gov.
Men's Basketball High School Team Nights Jan. 14 and Feb. 2 - Bring your basketball, cheer or dance team out to the watch the University of Nevada men's basketball team for free on high school team nights. Watch the Wolf Pack play Hawai`i on Jan. 14 and host Utah State on Feb. 2 at Lawlor Events Center. Both games tip-off at 7 p.m.
To be a part of the high school team nights this season simply send a roster with the information listed below via email to mmontoya@unr.edu or fax to 775.784.4386. Once the roster is received an email confirmation will be sent with more information on where to enter the arena.
NCAA rules require team members and coaches to present a photo ID and sign the pass list provided at the game.
Please include the following information
1. Coaches name
2. Coaches cell phone number
3. Coaches email address
4. Which game you would like to attend (you are welcome to attend both)
5. Include a roster for each team attending (freshman, junior varsity, varsity) , complete with coach names
