Jan. 6, 2012
Nevada notes at Utah state 
Utah State notes vs. Nevada
NEVADA at Utah State
Winners of a season-high eight in a row, Nevada (11-3, 1-0 WAC) travels to Logan, Utah to play the four-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion, Utah State (9-6, 1-0 WAC) Aggies on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. PT. The Wolf Pack began WAC?play with a 73-55 victory at Idaho on Thursday while the Aggies defeated Fresno State 72-53 at home. The game will air on the WAC?Sports Network, KAME-TV My 21 in Reno. The game will also be shown on ESPN?Full Court and ESPN3.com.
Saturday, 6:05 p.m. PT
NEVADA WOLF PACK
(11-3, WAC: 1-0)
at
Utah State Aggies
(9-6, WAC: 1-0)
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270)
ABOUT?THE UTAH STATE AGGIES - The Utah State Aggies are 9-6 on the season and 1-0 after defeating Fresno State at home 72-53 on Thursday night. The Aggies are under the direction of head coach Stew Morrill who is in his 14th season at Utah State. Morrill is 333-109 at USU and has led the Aggies to the last four WAC?titles. Under coach Morrill?USU?is 201-14 at home and has won 33 consecutive WAC?games.
The Aggies has four players averaging between 10.1 and 14.7 points per game. Leading the way is 6-4 sophomore guard Preston Medlin who averages 14.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Medlin shoots 51.4 percent from the field and 49.3 percent from behind the arc. Senior guard Brockeith Payne (6-1) is averaging 10.8 points and a team-high 3.7 assist per contest. Forward Kyisean Reed (6-6) is chipping in 10.4 points per game and is second on the squad in rebounding at 4.9 per game. Senior forward Morgan Grim (6-7) is the fourth USU player scoring in double figures with his 10.1 points per game and grabs a team-high 7.3 rebounds a night.
The Aggies average 5.4 more points than their opponents, 67.8-62.4. From the field USU?shoots 47.8 percent and hold opponents to 39.3 percent shooting. From behind the arc Utah State shoots 40.3 percent and opponents just 29.9 percent. At the free throw line the Aggies are making 69.2 percent of their attempts. On the glass USU is nearly equal with opponents at plus 0.2, 33.7-33.5.
Last game: PACK OPENS WAC PLAY WITH 73-55 VICTORY AT IDAHO
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) - Deonte Burton scored 26 points and went 4 for 5 from behind 3-point line as Nevada beat Idaho 73-55 on Thursday night in the WAC opener for both teams.
Malik Story scored 17 points, making five 3-pointers in seven tries as the Wolf Pack (11-3) won its eighth in a row. Nevada was 9 for 16 from behind the arc
Stephen Madison had 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and six rebounds for Idaho (7-8), which has lost four straight. Madison made a 3-pointer for Idaho's first basket and its only lead. Nevada led 42-25 at halftime.
Nevada ended the night with 12 steals and forced 15 Idaho turnovers. Idaho shot only 50 percent from the free-throw line.
WAC?OPENERS - Nevada improved to 6-6 in Western Athletic Conference openers after defeating Idaho 73-55 on Thursday. Head coach David Carter is now 2-1 in coaching his three WAC openers. The Pack defeated Hawai`i 86-69 last season to begin WAC?play but lost the previous three conference openers.
PACK WINNERS OF Seven IN A ROW AND 10-OF-11 - Nevada has won a season-high eight in a row and 11-of-12 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 eight 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.
TURNING IT AROUND IN A YEAR - Nevada's current 11-3 mark is almost the exact opposite of last season's 4-10 mark after 14 games. Last year the Wolf Pack's 11th victory came on Feb. 19, 2011 when the Pack defeated UC?Irvine 74-63 in a home BracketBusters game.
In addition to improving the overall record the Pack has also improved the wins away from Reno. 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.
This year Nevada is 4-2 away from Reno, 3-1 in true road contests and 1-1 in two neutral site games played in Chicago.
BALANCING ACT - Nevada had four players in double figures in four consecutive games until three Wolf Pack players scored in double figures at Idaho on Thursday. Deonte Burton led the Pack with 26 at Idaho while Malik Story scored 17 and Dario Hunt 14.
A total of seven times this season four Pack players has scored in double figures in the same game.
Three players average in double figures led by Deonte Burton at 14.9 with Malik Story close behind with his 14.4 points per game. Burton ranks sixth in the WAC?and Story is eighth. Olek Czyz is the third player averaging 10.2 points per game. Senior Dario Hunt is close to double figures with his 9.9 points per contest.
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).
PACK GETTING DEFENSIVE - Nevada is tied with Utah State allowing a WAC low 62.4 points per game points per game which ranks 77th nationally. In the conference the Wolf Pack is fourth in field goal percentage defense allowing opponents to shoot 40.8 percent and three-point percentage defense as opponents shoot 32.9 from behind the arc.
The Pack is tied for first with Idaho in blocks averaging 5.07 per game and third in defensive rebounds grabbing 25.43 per game. Nevada's 7.07 steals per game is third in the WAC.
BYU is the only opponent to shoot over 50 percent versus the Pack as the Cougars connected on 54.4 percent of their opportunities. Nevada has held four opponents below 40 percent shooting with a season low 30 percent coming versus UC?Riverside.
HUNT RECORDS FOUR CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE-DOUBLES - Senior forward Dario Hunt recorded four consecutive double-doubles which is the first time he has more than two in a row in his career. The streak came to an end in the Pack's, a 71-61 victory over Cedarville when he finished the night with 13 points and eight rebounds.
The four game stretch started with 14 points and 12 rebounds in the 69-61 victory at Arizona State and he followed that with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 70-64 victory at Montana. The third was a 12 point, 11 rebound effort in a 71-47 victory over UC?Riverside. The most recent was 15 points and 11 rebounds against Portland. Hunt has 15 career double-doubles. The 15 points versus the Pilots?is his season high.
In the last 11 games Hunt is averaging 11.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Over the same 11-game stretch he is shooting 56.7 (51-of-90) percent from the field.
On the season Hunt has six double figure rebounding games and all six are game highs and he has eight games highs this season. He has led the team in rebounding nine 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. The last five games of the six game stretch were all game-highs. In his career Hunt has led the Pack in rebounding 46 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 23 career double figure rebound games.
BURTON ON POINT(S) - Sophomore point guard Deonte Burton 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 his fourth 20-point game of the season with a game-high 26 at Idaho the last time out.
Burton has scored in double figures eight times on the season and sixth times in the last seven games.
In the four consecutive double figure game stretch, Burton averaged 22.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals with an assist to turnover ratio of 3.6. From the field he shot 50 percent, 57.9 from behind the three-point line and 80.5 percent at the free throw line. In final three games of the four game stretch he had 12 assists and just one turnover.
He had a stretch of making 15 consecutive free throws and has made 39 of his last 46 attempts, 84.7 percent.
The majority of Burton's points came after halftime in the four games when he has 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 118 of Burton's 208 have come after halftime, 56.7 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.
In addition to the 31 points being a career-high it is tied for the high in the WAC?this season. The 40 minutes played, nine field goals and 18 attempted were also career bests. The four, three-pointers tied his career high as did his six attempted. He also finished the game with six rebounds and six assists. 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 seven categories. His 14.9 points per game is sixth, 2.44 assist to turnover ratio leads the WAC, 4.71 assists per game is third, 1.21 steals per game is tied for ninth and 1.64 three-pointers made per game is 10th. He ranks seventh in free throw percentage making 78.5 percent of his opportunities and 41.8 percent from three-point range is sixth.
HUNT RECORDS 200TH CAREER BLOCK AND TIED FOR 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 114 games. He came into the season tied with Nick Fazekas (2004-07) with 192.
Hunt is second in the WAC and 44th in the nation in blocked shots averaging 2.14 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 815 rebounds are tied for sixth in school history with Ric Herrin (1989-93). 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 8.6 rebounds per game is third and nationally he ranks 55th.
Hunt made his 100th career start versus Washington (12/2) and now has 106 in the Silver &?Blue. The 6-8 forward, has started 106-of-114 games played in his career. He has started the last 50 games and 83 of the last 84 games.
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 221 free throws and the 14 opponents have combined to attempt just 195. Nevada has attempted 348 free throws, over 150 more than opponents have attempted, 195.
The Pack has attempted more free throws than its opponents in 12-of-14 games this season. Nevada has made more free throws in each game than 11-of-14 opponents. Montana and Portland are the only two 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 66.2 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.
Burton and Malik Story rank seventh and eighth in free throw percentage in the WAC making 78.5 and 78.4 percent respectively.
STORY TOPS?WAC, RANKS?SECOND NATIONALLY IN THREE-POINT SHOOTING - Junior guard Malik Story leads the WAC?and ranks second nationally in three-point percentage making 51.9 percent of his opportunities. Story has made 40-of-77 attempts on the season. His 2.86 made per game is tied for third in the conference and 27th in the country. Story has made a three-pointer in 13-of-14 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 14.4 points per game. The 6-5 guard, is shooting 78.4 percent from the free throw line to rank eighth in the conference and his 2.14 assists per game is tied for 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 45-35 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.
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.
