Jan. 29, 2015

Nevada game notes

Wyoming game notes

Nevada at MW co-leading Wyoming Saturday: Nevada (6-13, 2-5 MW) travels to Laramie, Wyo. to play Wyoming (17-4, 6-2 MW) who is tied with San Diego State atop the Mountain West standings at 6-2. The Wolf Pack and Cowboys split the two meetings last season with each team winning at home. Wyoming is 9-2 in their last 11 games and 13-1 at home. The Pack has dropped its last five games. The game will air on ROOT Sports and will be streamed at NevadaWolfPack.tv.
 

TELEVISION: ROOT Sports - Marc Stout (play-by-play), Dave Bollwinkel (analyst)
INTERNET BROADCAST: NevadaWolfPack.tv
RADIO: University of Nevada Radio Network (KUUB 94.5 FM Reno; KPLY 630
AM Reno; KUUB 94.3 FM Carson City; KELY 1230 AM Ely; KWNA 1400 AM Winnemucca; and KSVL 92.3 FM Yerington) -
Ryan Radtke (play-by-play) - pregame 2:30 p.m. PT
FREE AUDIO: http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/audio
LIVE STATS: http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/unv-m-baskbl-sched.html
LIVE STATS ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICE: http://nevadastats.com/
SERIES?HISTORY: Wyoming leads the series 11-2. Nevada's 61-58 home win last season snapped a nine-game losing skid to the Cowboys. UW has won 10 of the last 11 games and are 6-1 at home.
UP?NEXT: Nevada returns home to host San Diego State on Wednesday at 7:02 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN3.

WYOMING COWBOYS (17-4, 6-2 MW)
Series: Wyoming leads 11-2
2013-14 meetings:
Jan. 4 - Nevada 61-58 - Reno, Nev.
Jan. 25 - Wyoming 64-62 (OT) - Laramie, Wyo.
Head Coach: Larry Shyatt (College of Wooster, 1973)
at UW: 95-54 (Fifth season)
Overall: 165-138 (10th season)
Leading scorers: F-Larry Nance, 6-8 (16.4 ppg), G-Josh Adams, 6-2 (11.4 ppg)
Top rebounders: F-Larry Nance, 6-8 (6.9 rpg), F-Derek Cooke, Jr. (5.0 rpg)
Assist leaders: G-Josh Adams, 6-2 (3.6 apg), Charles Hankerson (3.2 apg)

LAST GAME VERSUS WYOMING:
Nevada falls at Wyoming in overtime

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -Larry Nance Jr. scored 19 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and sank an 8-foot hook shot with 4 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Wyoming over Nevada 64-62 on Saturday.
Riley Grabau scored 13 and Josh Adams 12 for the Cowboys (13-6, 4-2 Mountain West).
Deonte Burton led Nevada (10-10, 5-2) with 25, but fouled out with 2:06 left in overtime. Jerry Evans Jr. had 14 and Michael Perez 11 for the Wolf Pack.
Nance slammed home a one-handed dunk to give the Cowboys a 62-59 lead with 1:33 left in the extra frame, but Cole Huff hit a free throw and moments later Evans sank a 10-footer to tie it at 62 with 34 seconds remaining. Wyoming worked it to Nance, who crossed through the lane and canned the winner with a high-arcing shot.
Perez's shot from near half court was wide and the Cowboys had their fourth straight win.

WOLF PACK LAYUPS

Nevada has lost five in a row after winning a season-high four consecutive games. The Wolf Pack's last victory came at UNLV 64-62 on Jan. 10.

In MW play Nevada is first with a plus 8.3 rebound margin and overall is second at a plus 5.8. Nationally the Wolf Pack is 35th with the plus 5.8.

Nevada's 39.9 field goal percentage defense ranks 67th nationally. The Pack rank sixth averaging 15.42 offensive rebounds per game, sixth grabbing 41.16 total rebounds per game, 33rd blocking 5.0 shots per game, 41st with 95 total blocks, is 64th averaging 25.74 defensive rebounds per game and 31st with 782 total rebounds.

The Wolf Pack scored 80 or more points in three consecutive games versus Marshall (83), Northwest Christian (81) and Air Force (80). Nevada has not scored 70 in any other game this season.

The Wolf Pack's 56-point loss at Colorado State is the second largest losing margin in school history. The largest was 62 points at St. Joseph's on Dec. 15, 1971, 128-66.

Nevada snapped an eight-game losing streak defeating Marshall 83-55. The streak was the longest since the 2012-13 team dropped its final eight games of the season.

The win over Marshall was the 350th for the Wolf Pack at Lawlor Events Center and Nevada has now won 352 at the home venue built in 1983. Nevada is 352-134 at LEC for a winning percentage of 72.

Senior guard Michael Perez received his bachelor's degree in communications from Nevada on Dec. 6. Perez has scored 513 points at Nevada. Adding in his two seasons at UTEP he has scored 853 points in his college career.

In three of the last five games Perez has not scored. Those are the only three games in his Pack career in which he did not score. He is suffering from a wrist injury and recently took a cortisone shot. After starting the first 50 games of his Pack career Perez came off the bench for the first time and scored seven points vs. UNLV.

Junior forward AJ West has five double-doubles in seven MW games and was one rebound short at Colorado State and vs. Utah State from making all seven conference games.

West is one of 19 players in NCAA I averaging a double-double; scoring 12.3 points and grabbing 10.1 rebounds per game.

West cored a career-high 18 points against Utah State and finished with a game-high nine rebounds. His eight double-doubles is second in the MW and 30th nationally. He has 10 career double-doubles.

West has scored in double figures in the last nine games. In the nine games he is averaging 14.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and is shooting 52.1 percent from the field.

West leads the country averaging 6.11 offensive rebounds per game. His 10.1 rebounds per game ranks 18th, 2.94 blocks per game is 14th, 181 rebounds ranks 30th and 53 total blocks is 21st.


West is first in rebounding (10.1 rpg), first in offensive rebounds per game (6.1), second in blocks (2.9 bpg) and 12th in scoring (12.3 ppg) in the MW. In conference play he is first in rebounding (12.3 rpg), blocks (3.1 bpg), offensive rebounds per game (8.6) and seventh in scoring (14.6 ppg).

West's 18 rebounds vs. Adams State is the top game in the Mountain West this season while his three games of 15 is tied with two other MW players for second.

In 13 of Nevada's 19 games West has either posted or tied for game high honors in rebounds.

West tied his career-high with eight blocks in the Fresno State game. He had eight blocks at FS last season. He has a block in each game played this season and two or more in 12 games.

West has scored in double figures a team high 14 times, Coleman in 12 games, Fenner nine times and Michael Perez in eight contests. Tyron Criswell has six double figure scoring games and Eric Cooper, Jr. three.

In his first career start freshman Eric Cooper, Jr. scored a season and game-high 20 points at Fresno State. Cooper tied for game-high honors in his second start vs. UNLV netting 16 points.

Tyron Criswell made his first career start at Fresno State and scored a season-high 19 points and scored 15 in his second start vs. UNLV. In the last 10 games he is averaging 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. In the last 10 he has five double figure scoring games and twice scored nine in the stretch.

Cooper's four made 3-pointers at UNLV and at Fresno State is the high by Pack player this season.
Fenner scored a career and game-high 24 points at Pacific, 20 coming in the second half. It is his first 20-point game and only one for a Pack player this season.

Fenner missed his only free throw attempts in the Utah State game which snapped a streak of 15 consecutive makes. He has made 39-of-42 free throws in his last 13 games played. He ranks fourth in the MW making 81 percent of his free throws and 129th nationally. He has made all 14 of his 15 free throw attempts in MW play and is second in percentage at 93.3.

Fenner's seven times leading the team in scoring is tops on the squad with West second with six.

Perez dished out a career and team season-high eight assists in the Air Force victory.

Freshman forward Robyn Missa started nine consecutive games but missed the UNLV game with a knee injury and a return date has not been set.

The Pack had season-highs in points (83), field goals made (31), rebounds (59) and tied the season high in assists (18) in the Marshall game.

The Pack has outrebounded 13-of-19 opponents on the season, seven by double figures. Nevada outrebounded Weber State by 20, Omaha by 10, Marshall by 24, Northwest Christian by 17, Air Force by 13, Utah State by 12 and at Fresno State by 14.

The Pack got a season-high 30 points from its bench in the win over Marshall. Nevada gets 17.5 points off its bench and opponents 18.5.

In 10 of the Pack's games this season the bench has outscored its opponent; vs. Clemson (19-12), Weber State (16-9), at Omaha (20-15), Cal (24-7), Cal State Fullerton (13-11), Marshall (30-18), NWC (26-22), at UNLV (25-9), vs. Fresno State (23-6) and Utah State (19-14).

Twice Nevada's bench has not scored in double figures at LBSU (6) and at home vs. UNLV (9).

CARTER SIXTH IN WINS AT NEVADA: Nevada's six wins this season has moved head coach David Carter from eighth in career victories at Nevada into sixth with 95. The Marshall win broke a tie with Len Steven's (1987-93) for sixth. Sonny Allen (1980-87) is fifth with 114 wins.
Carter is now 95-88 in his sixth season leading the Wolf Pack. With five more wins he will become the sixth coach at Nevada to reach 100 career victories.

NEVADA 2-5 IN MW PLAY: Nevada started Mountain West play 2-0 but five consecutive losses has the Wolf Pack 2-5 after seven games of conference action. Currently the Wolf Pack is ninth in the standings.
In its third season in the conference Nevada has posted a 15-26 overall mark.
The Wolf Pack has experienced highs and lows in the conference in first two full seasons of MW play.
In 2012-13, the first year in the conference the Pack were picked to finish fifth in the preseason media poll and ended the season ninth with a 3-13 record. The Pack lost to Wyoming in the MW Championship play-in game.
Last year the Pack were picked to finish ninth in the preseason media poll but posted a 10-8 conference mark to tie for third. Nevada lost to Boise State in its first game of the MW Championship.
The Pack were picked to finish eighth in the 2014-15 MW preseason poll.

NEW MEXICO GAME TIME SET: The time for the Feb. 14 home game with New Mexico has been set for 7 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN2.

WEST AVERAGING A DOUBLE-DOUBLE: After his second 15 point, 15 rebound performance of the season against UNLV junior forward AJ West is one of 19 NCAA I players averaging a double-double. West is averaging 12.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.
On the season he has produced eight double-doubles with five coming in Mountain West play. West was one rebound short in each of the other two MW games from posting a double-double in every conference game this season.
West tops NCAA I averaging 6.11 offensive rebounds per game. He grabbed a career-high 11 offensive rebounds vs. Fresno State and has four other 10 offensive rebound games this season. In the last two games he has 21 offensive rebounds.
Nationally West is 18th in rebounds per game (10.1 rpg), 14th in blocked shots per game (2.94 bpg), 30th in total rebounds (181) and 21st in total blocks (53). His eight double-doubles is 30th in the country.
He leads the MW in rebounding and offensive rebounds. The 6-9 forward is second in blocks and 12th in scoring. In MW play he tops the conference in rebounding (12.3 rpg), blocks (3.1 bpg), offensive rebounds (8.6 orpg) and is seventh in scoring (14.6 ppg).
In the last nine games West has scored in double figures and is averaging 14.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and is shooting 52.1 percent from the field. Six of his double-doubles have come in the nine games and he had nine rebounds in two of the other contests.
Against Fresno State at home he tied his career high with eight blocks that also came against the Bulldogs at FS last season. The shot blocker has a block in every game this season and two or more in 12 games. The eight blocks is the top game in the MW this season.
West's first double-double of the season of 17 points and 18 rebounds came against Adams State. The 17 points was a then career high and the 18 rebounds is his career high. The eight double-doubles is second in the MW.
The 18 rebounds versus ASC is the top game in the MW this season and his three 15 rebounds games is tied for second. On the season his nine double figure rebound games is second most in the conference.
In MW play his five double-doubles and five double figure rebound games lead the conference. Five times a MW player has grabbed 15 rebounds in conference game this season and three of those belong to West.

West's 10 Career Double-Doubles

12 pts, 12 reb; WYOMING, 01/04/14
10 pts, 12 reb; AIR FORCE, 02/01/14
17 pts, 18 reb; ADAMS STATE, 11/17/14
12 pts, 14 reb; vs Weber State, 11/24/14
16 pts, 10 reb; MARSHALL, 12/22/14
16 pts, 13 reb; AIR FORCE, 01/03/15
15 pts, 15 reb; at UNLV, 01/07/15
16 pts, 10 reb; FRESNO STATE, 01/10/15
12 pts, 15 reb; at Fresno State, 01/20/15
15 pts, 15 reb; UNLV, 01/27/15

WEST CLIMBING MW OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS LISTS: Last season AJ West had 72 offensive rebounds in MW play which is the third best season in conference history. Currently he has 60 after seven games this season and with five more would put his name on the list for a second time at number five. His 132 career offensive boards is third all-time in MW play.
West is 20 offensive boards from catching Andrew Bogut for fifth on the single season MW list for all games. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native is 86 offensive rebounds from fifth on the career all games MW list.

COOPER POSTS GAMES HIGHS IN FIRST TWO STARTS: Head coach David Carter made a lineup change for the game at Fresno State giving freshman Eric Cooper, Jr. his first start at Nevada. Cooper responded with a game and season-high 20 points against the Bulldogs. In his second start against UNLV he scored 16 points to tie for game-high honors.
The 20-point game at FS is just the second for a Pack player this season with D.J. Fenner's 24 at Pacific being the other. At FS he played 39 minutes which is the high by a Nevada player this season. He made four 3-pointers which tied his team high set at UNLV earlier this season.
On the season he is averaging 5.5 points and 1.5 assists per game. His three double figure scoring games have come in the last six outings.

CRISWELL GETS HIS OPPORTUNITY: In addition to putting freshman Eric Cooper, Jr. into the starting lineup the last two games head coach David Carter inserted junior college transfer Tyron Criswell at another guard spot. Criswell earned his opportunity with his play in the last 10 games averaging 10.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, is shooting 45.5 from the field and 36.4 percent from behind the arc.
At Fresno State he scored a season-high 19 points which was the second highest point total in the game. He followed that with 15 points at home against UNLV to post his sixth double figure scoring game of the season.
Criswell is fourth on the team averaging 7.9 points per game and is second grabbing 3.7 rebounds per game. In MW play his 10.3 points per game is tied with teammate Marqueze Coleman for 19th in the conference.
FENNER COMING OFF THE BENCH: After starting the first 18 games of the season sophomore guard D.J. Fenner will come off the bench. Fenner did not score for the first time this season playing just 4 minutes off the bench at Fresno State but was limited because of illness. Illness forced him to miss the UNLV game but he should return for the game at Wyoming. The UNLV game was the first in 51 at Nevada in which he did not play.
Fenner has struggled not reaching double figures in last five games played. In the five games Fenner is averaging four points, is shooting 19.4 percent from the field and has missed all eight of his three-point attempts.
Fenner produced the Pack's first 20-point game of the season at Pacific scoring a career and game-high 24 points. He scored 20 of the points in the second period.
Fenner is fourth in the MW making 81 percent of his free throws. He missed his only free throw attempt in the USU game which ended a streak of 15 consecutive makes. In his last 13 games he has made 93 percent of his free throws connecting on 39-of-42 attempts. In MW play he has made 14-of-15 free throw attempts and ranks second making 93.3 of his charity tosses.
In addition to posting a game-high with 24 points at Pacific he tied for the honor with 17 points at Long Beach State.
His seven times leading the team in scoring tops the team. Fenner scored in double figures the first four games of the season and nine times on the year. The nine double figure scoring games is third on the team.

COLEMAN BACK ON POINT: After scoring 10 points coming off the bench for the first time this season at Fresno State junior point guard Marqueze Coleman returned to the starting lineup against UNLV. Coleman scored six points against the Rebels and tied his career-high with four assists.
Coleman started the first 18 games of the season before moving to the bench for just the one game.
Coleman is second on the team averaging 10.3 points per game and dishes out a team-high 2.3 assists per contest. His 12 double figure scoring games is second to AJ West's 14.
Coleman hit the game-winner at UNLV with 4.8 seconds to play to as the Pack defeated the Rebels 64-62.
Twice in a three-game stretch he scored a career high. He had 18 points versus Air Force then two games latter netted 19 versus Fresno State.
In MW play he is tied with teammate Tyron Criswell for 19th scoring 10.3 points per game.

DEFENSIVELY SOUND: Offensively Nevada is struggling shooting 38 percent from the field but the defense ranks 67th in the country allowing opponents to shoot 39.9 percent. The Pack's top defensive performance was in the Marshall game when the Thundering Herd shot just 25.8 percent from the field.
Omaha and Colorado State are the only opponent to shoot 50 percent or better in a game this season. On the season 10 opponents were held below 40 percent; Cal Poly (31), Adams State (33.8), Long Beach State (31.8), Cal (39.3), Pacific (39.7), Marshall (25.8), Northwest Christian (37.1), UNLV (35.3), Fresno State (38.6) and at Fresno State (38.8). Seton Hall (40.4), Weber State (40.4), Clemson (45.2), Cal State Fullerton (41.2), Air Force (46) and Utah State (45.8) shot 46 percent or less versus the Pack.

BENCH SCORING IN DOUBLE FIGURES: Nevada's bench is averaging 17.5 points per game and opponents are scoring 18.5 points per game. The Wolf Pack bench was a key to the win at UNLV outscoring the Rebels' reserves 25-9.
Nevada got a season-high 30 points from its bench in the 83-55 victory over Marshall to help snap an eight-game losing streak. Seven times the bench has contributed 20 or more points in a game this season.
Ten times this season the Pack's bench has outscored its opponent; vs. Clemson (19-12), Weber State (16-9), at Omaha (20-15), Cal (24-7), Cal State Fullerton (13-11), Marshall (30-18), Northwest Christian (26-22), at UNLV (25-9), versus Fresno State (23-6) and against Utah State (19-14). Nevada's bench has scored in double figures in every game other then totaling six at LBSU and nine at home versus UNLV.
The Pack averages 26.6 points in the paint, 14.1 second chance points, 10.3 points off turnovers and 7.4 on fast break opportunities. Opponents average 27.3 points in the paint, 11.1 second chance points, 14.5 points off turnovers and 6.2 on fast break chances.

PEREZ STRUGGLING: Senior guard Michael Perez had started every game since transferring from UTEP but that streak ended at 50 when he came off the bench in the UNLV home game. After not scoring in the previous two games and three-of-four Perez scored seven against the Rebels making 2-of-3 three-pointers and 1-of-2 free throws. The three scoreless games are the only ones in his 51 at Nevada.
Perez has been bothered by a wrist injury he suffered last season and took a cortisone shot in hopes of relieving some of the pain.
On Dec. 6 Perez received his degree in communications from Nevada. The Tucson, Ariz. native has scored 513 points at Nevada. Adding in his two seasons at UTEP he has scored 853 points in his college career.
On the season Perez is fifth on the team averaging 7.6 points pe game and is second dishing out 2.1 assists per game. In the Air Force game he dished out a career and team season-high eight assists.
Twice he has led the team in scoring this season and three times during his career. In the Weber State game he scored a team and season-high 15 points and 13 in the Northwest Christian game is his second best scoring game of the season.
Eight times on the year he has netted double figures which is fourth most on the team. In his career he has reached double figures 28 times in the Silver & Blue.

STEVENS AND STIVRINS ADDING TO FRONTCOURT: Two of the Pack's frontcourt upperclassmen are contributing in year two in the program. Senior Ronnie Stevens, Jr. and junior Lucas Stivrins have contributed primarily coming off the bench.
Steven's has made two starts on the season versus Weber State and Cal State Fullerton. At UNLV and versus Fresno State he scored six points in each game. At UNLV he grabbed a season-high six rebounds. He is averaging 2.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game. In the Cal game he scored a season-high eight points and grabbed five rebounds.
Stivrins earned his first start of the season and third of his career at Pacific. He produced career bests with nine points and nine rebounds at Pacific. The nine rebounds were also a game high. He is averaging 1.9 points and 2.4 rebounds on the season. At Omaha he scored a then career-high eight points and grabbed five rebounds.

NEW GUYS FILLING THE SPOTS: All five of Nevada's newcomers have seen action on the court in their first year in the program.
Junior guard Tyron Criswell was the team's top scorer off the bench until being inserted into the starting lineup at Fresno State. Criswell is averaging 7.9 points per game. He scored a season-high 19 points at FS.
Freshman Eric Cooper, Jr. has also been inserted into the starting lineup and scored a game and season-high 20 points at FS. On the season he is averaging 5.5 points per game.
Sophomore transfer Kaileb Rodriguez started the first eight games at forward and returned to the lineup vs. UNLV for an injured Robyn Missa. Rodriguez is averaging 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 points in 15.6 minutes per game.
Freshmen forward Robyn Missa has started nine games and is averaging 2.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 14 minutes per game on the season. Missa is out with a knee injury and a date for his return has not been set.
Freshman forward Elijah Foster has seen action in 11 games off the bench and scored in four. In the Marshall win he posted season-highs with six points and seven rebounds in nine minutes off the bench.