NEW MEXICO AT NEVADA PREVIEW – SATURDAY, JAN. 25 – 5 P.M. – CBS SPORTS NETWORK
 
RENO, Nev. – Nevada (12-8, 5-3 MW) hosts New Mexico (16-5, 5-3 MW) in a battle of two of the three teams that are tied for third in the Mountain West standings at 5-3.  First-year head coach Steve Alford will be seeking his 600th career victory in 29 seasons as a college head coach on Saturday.  Alford coached at UNM for six seasons and won 155 games during his tenure.

The Wolf Pack has won its last 16 MW home games and is 29-2 in the last 31 conference home contests at Lawlor Events Center.

The Lobos have four players averaging double figures led by JaQuan Lyle's 17.1 points per game.  Corey Manigault (12 ppg), Zane Martin (10.1 ppg) and Makuach Maluach (10 ppg) are also scoring in double figures.  Manigault (4.9 rpg) and Lyle (4.1 rpg) are first and second on the team in rebounding.  Lyle also tops the team dishing out 4.9 assists per game.

The Pack are led by Jalen Harris who is second in the MW scoring 18.9 points per game.  Harris is scoring 23 points per game in MW play to lead the conference.  The Dallas product also tops the team grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game and is second averaging 4.0 assists pr game.

Senior Jazz Johnson is second on the team and fifth in the MW scoring 17 points per game.  Johnson leads the MW in 3-pointers made per game (3.3), 3-point percentage (431%) and 3-pointers made (65).  He also ranks nationally in all three categories.

Lindsey Drew tops the team with his 4.4 assists per game to rank fourth in the conference.  Drew is third on the team scoring 11.8 points per game. 

 
THE SERIES
UNM leads the series 7-6.  The Wolf Pack has won five of the last six meetings in the series. 

ON THE AIR
The game will be air on the CBS Sports Network.  Rich Waltz  will call the action with Tim Doyle  providing the color commentary. 

The game can be heard on 94.5 FM in northern Nevada with John Ramey calling all the action and Len Stevens working as analyst.

Important links to follow the Wolf Pack:
Online audio:
Live stats:
Twitter: 
@NevadaHoops

ALFORD SEEKS MILESTONE 600TH VICTORY VERSUS NEW MEXICO SATURDAY
    First-year Nevada head coach Steve Alford in one will from 600 in his career and the first opportunity to reach the milestone is Saturday when New Mexico is at Lawlor Events Center.  Alford coached at UNM for six season and won 155 games during his time with the Lobos.  Alford is 599-306 in his 29th season.  
    Alford would become the 16th active NCAA I head coach with 600 career wins.  He earned 78 victories at Manchester, 78 at Missouri State, 152 during his time at Iowa, 155 coaching at New Mexico and 124 at UCLA.  Adding in his 12 at Nevada puts him at 599.
    Alford's father Sam coached 29 seasons of high school basketball posting a record of 452-288.  The two have combined for 1,051 victories.  Steve played for his father at New Castle Chrysler High School in Indiana.  He played for legendary coach Bob Knight at Indiana and helped the Hoosiers to the 1987 NCAA Championship.  Knight posted a record of 902-371 in 42 seasons.

NEVADA WOLF PACK GOES PINK TO GO! FIGHT! CURE! CANCER
    Join players, coaches and fans as we go pink with the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball to Go! Fight! Cure! cancer at the game against New Mexico at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Lawlor Events Center. Attendees are encouraged to wear pink and help raise money for Renown Institute for Cancer for those affected by this disease in our community.  
    Buy discount tickets and attend the pink out game.
    Visit renown.org/pink to click on the special ticket link and use the promo code PINK to purchase discounted tickets for the Jan. 25 game. The first 5,000 fans in the arena will receive a pink t-shirt to support the Pack.
    Renown Institute for Cancer is dedicated to helping patients defeat this disease by providing personalized, innovative treatment options, wellness therapies and support services. With donations from the game and Truckee Meadows community, Renown Institute for Cancer can continue to deliver life-saving treatment.

DREW MAKING MARK IN NEVADA RECORD BOOK
    Senior Lindsey Drew has played 119 games at Nevada and started 113.  The 113 starts is tied with Matt Williams (1988-91) for fifth with Kevin Soares (1989-92) fourth with 116.  He has played in 86 wins during his time which is sixth most at Nevada leaving him one back of former teammate Jordan Caroline (2016-19) for fifth.  His 3,600 minutes played is sixth at Nevada.
    Drew's 148 steals is seventh in Wolf Pack history and 471 assists is fourth.  Ramon Sessions (2004-07) is third with 478 career assists.  In the win over Colorado State he scored his 800th point and now has 864.    

PACK PLAYERS RANKED AMONG NCAA I ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS
    Jazz Johnson, Lindsey Drew, Jalen Harris and Nisré Zouzoua are all ranked among the NCAA I career leaders.
    Johnson's 1,442 points is 54th, 42.4 percent 3-point shooting is 20th, 118 games played is 73rd, and 230 made 3s is 26th.  Drew ranks 97th with 572 rebounds, 22nd with 471 assists, 41st with 148 steals, ranks 10th with a 2.2 assists turnover ratio and is 61st with 119  games played.
    Harris is 38th shooting 85.1 percent at the free throw line and is 68th scoring 14.4 points per contest.  Zouzoua's 178 made 3-pointes is 109th.

JOHNSON AND ZOUZOUA 1,000 POINT SCORERS
    Jazz Johnson scored his 1400th point and Nisré Zouzoua his 1200th in the win over Wyoming.  Johnson has 1,442 points in 118 games for a career averaged of 12.2 points per game.  He scored 740 of the points at Portland.
    Zouzua has netted 1,221 points in 103 games giving him a career average of 11.9 points per game. At Bryant he scored 1,025 of those points.

NEVADA IN THE NET
    Nevada has a NET ranking of 96 which is the tool that the NCAA uses to rank teams for post season play. The NCAA Evaluation Tool, which will be known as the NET, relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.
    The Wolf Pack's overall strength of schedule is 67th and non-conference strength of schedule is 42nd.  The Pack's basketball power index is 96 and kenpom.com ranking is 98.

HARRIS LEADING THE PACK
    Junior Jalen Harris has scored in double figures in the last 16 games which includes a pair of 31-point games on the road at Air Force and Utah State.  The 31 points is his career high.  In the last four games he has scored a game high.
    Harris' layup with just under 9 seconds to play against Wyoming gave the Pack the 68-67 victory.
    Harris tops the team in scoring (18.9 ppg), rebounds (6.3 rpg) and is second in assists (4.0 apg).  The 18.9 points is second in the Mountain West and 23 in MW play is first.  The assist numbers rank sixth in the MW and the rebounds eighth.
    Eight times in the last 15 games he has scored 20 or more points including the two 31-point games.  In the win over Santa Clara he posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  His game-high eight assists left him two shy of a triple double.
    In nine games he posted game highs in points, six times he posted a game-high in assists and four times a game-high in rebounds.
    From the field he is shooting 43.2 percent and 36.8 percent from behind the arc.  At the free throw line he had a streak of 19 in a row snapped at BYU going 5-of-8.  He has made 58 of his last 67 free throws.  Overall is shooting 84.1 percent at the free throw line to rank second  in the conference.
    Harris injured his foot in the season opener with Utah playing just 8 minutes and missed the LMU game.  He returned to the lineup against UT Arlington and scored a game-high 24 points in the victory.

JOHNSON LEADING MW AND NATIONALLY RANKED IN 3-POINT SHOOTING
    Wolf Pack senior Jazz Johnson scored a career-high 34 points in the Pack's win over Boise State.  Johnson made a career-best eight 3-pointers on 12 attempts.  The 34 points, eight made 3s and 13 made field goals all rank second in the MW this season.  
    The eight made 3s is tied for the third most in a game at Nevada.  He also tied for game honors with a career-high seven rebounds.
    His 18 double figure scoring games is tops on the team. Johnson scored his 1,400th career point in the Wyoming win with 740 coming at Portland.  Currently in 118 games he has scored 1,442 points.
        He has made a 3-pointer in each game this season and three or more in 14 contests.
    Johnson has been knocking down the 3-pointers at a high rate this season having made 65-of-151.  The 65 made 3s is ninth nationally, 3.3 per game is 16th, and 43 3-point percentage is 22nd.  He tops the MW in all three categories.
    Johnson is second on the team and is fifth in the MW averaging 17 points per game.  Five times he has scored 20 or more points; 20 vs. LMU, 26 vs. USC, 25 vs. BGSU, 20 vs. SCU and the 34 vs. BSU.  In the USC, BGSU, SCU and BSU games the point totals were game highs.
    He is shooting 82.6 percent at the free throw line.
    At the Paradise Jam he made 60 percent of his 3-pointers connecting on 15-of-25 in three games.  In the title game he made 7-of-10.  

DREW DOING IT ALL IN FINAL SEASON AT NEVADA
    The versatile Lindsey Drew is doing it once again in his fifth and final season at Nevada.  Drew missed all last year after rupturing his right achilles tendon at Boise State on 
Feb. 14, 2018.  
    The do everything guard returned with a flair scoring a career-high 30 points in his senior debut against Utah.  He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out eight assists.  In the next game he scored 24 points, had nine rebounds and five assists in a win over Loyola Marymount.  Both point totals were game highs.
    In 12 games he has scored in double figures which is the most double figure scoring games for him in a season passing the 10 he had his junior year before the injury.  He leads the team in assists (4.4 apg) and is second in rebounding (6.1 rpg).  From the field he is shooting 48.6 percent.  In total he is ranked in six categories in the conference.
    Twice he has posted double-doubles with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the Paradise Jam Championship game win over Bowling Green.  Against TSU he scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career.
    In seven games he posted highs in assists; vs. Utah (8), LMU (7), UTA (4), at Air Force (6), vs. CSU (6), vs. BSU (9) and at SJSU (5).  The nine assists in the BSU game tied his career high and is the high for a Nevada player this season.  In another four games he posted game highs in rebounds; LMU (9), vs. Bowling Green (10), at Air Force (8) and TSU (10).

ZOUZOUA PROVIDING SPARK OFF THE BENCH
    Senior Nisré Zouzoua has provided a spark off the bench in his second year in the program.  Zouzoua is fourth on the team averaging 8.5 points per game.
    In two of the last three games he has scored in double figures and nine times on the season.
    He scored nine points in each of the first two games of the season which were then Nevada career highs.  Against UT Arlington he nearly doubled that netting 16 points, making 6-of-8 shots from the field of which 3-of-5 were from behind the arc.
    At the Paradise Jam he averaged 11 points per game. He scored 11 points in the win over Fordham and 15 in the victory against Valparaiso.

NEVADA TIED FOR THIRD IN MW STANDINGS
    After eight Mountain West games Nevada is 5-3 and tied for third place in the conference standings with New Mexico and Colorado State.  San Diego State leads the MW with a perfect 9-0 mark followed by UNLV at 6-2.  
    Boise State and Utah State are tied for sixth at 4-4 followed Air Force in eighth at 3-4.  Fresno State and Wyoming are tied for ninth with 2-6 records.  Wyoming is 11th with an 0-9 record.
    
Upcoming MW Games    
Saturday, January 25
Air Force at San José State* (MWN) 2 p.m. PT
Boise State at Fresno State* (AT&T SportsNet) 5 p.m. PT
New Mexico at Nevada* (CBSSN) 5 p.m. PT
Colorado State at Utah State* (ESPNU) 8 p.m. MT
Sunday, January 26
#4/4 San Diego State at UNLV* (CBSSN) 1 p.m. PT

LAST TIME OUT

HARRIS SCORES 28, NEVADA BEATS UNLV 86-72 FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE TIME

RENO, Nev. (AP) Jalen Harris had 28 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals and Nevada beat UNLV 86-72 on Wednesday night.
    Jazz Johnson added 19 points, Lindsey Drew scored 14 and Nisre Zouzoua 11 for Nevada.
    UNLV's Nick Blair made two free throws to open the scoring but the Wolf Pack (12-8, 5-3 Mountain West) answered with an 11-0 run and led the rest of the way.
    Bryce Hamilton had 26 points and Aumari Hardy scored 23 for UNLV (11-10, 6-2). The Runnin' Rebels had their three-game win streak snapped and lost for just the second time in their last nine games.

UP NEXT - 
AT COLORADO STATE RAMS • ESPN3
WED. • JAN. 29 • 6 P.M. PT
MOBY ARENA  (8,083)

After starting the MW schedule 0-3 which included a 67-61 loss at Nevada the Rams have won five in a row to move into a tie for third place in the conference standings.  CSU is 14-7 overall.  Preseason All-MW selection Nico Carvacho is averaging a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing a conference best 10.5 rebounds per game.

To purchase tickets call 775-348-PACK or go to NevadaWolfPack.com.