NEVADA AT SAN JOSÉ STATE PREVIEW

RENO, Nev. – Nevada (10-5, 3-0 MW) is back on the road for a pair of Mountain West games this week.  The Wolf Pack is at San José State (5-11, 1-3 MW) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. then continues on to play at Utah State (13-4, 2-2 MW) on Saturday.  The Pac is one of three undefeated teams in the MW joining nationally ranked San Diego State (4-0) and UNLV (3-0).

SJSU has won two of its last three games including an 88-85 MW victory over New Mexico.  The Spartans are scoring 68.1 points per game and shoot 40.1 percent from the field.  Senica Knight tops the team averaging 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.  

After his 34 point game against Boise State senior Jazz Johnson leads the Pack and ranks fourth in the conference scoring 17.5 points per game.  Junior Jalen Harris has scored in double figures in the last 11 games and is second on the squad and sixth in the conference scoring 17.2 points per game while his 6.6 rebounds per outing tops the team.  Senior Lindsey Drew tied his career-high with nine assists which is the high for Nevada player this season.  Drew leads the team dishing out 4.5 assists per game and is third scoring 12.7 points per outing.


THE SERIES
Nevada leads the series 60-48 and has won the last eight meetings with SJSU

ON THE AIR

The game will be available online on the Mountain West Network.

The game can be heard on 94.5 FM in northern Nevada with John Ramey calling all the action.  Online the game is available at TuneIn.com
Important links to follow the Wolf Pack:
Online video stream:
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Live stats:
Twitter: 
@NevadaHoops

ALFORD NEARING MILESTONE 600TH WIN

First-year Nevada head coach Steve Alford is just three wins from 600 in his college coaching career. Alford is 597-303 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 10 at Nevada puts him at 597.

Alford's father Sam coached 29 seasons of high school basketball posting a record of 452-288.  The two have combined for 1,049 victories.  Steve played for his father at New Castle 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.

DREW MAKING MARK IN NEVADA RECORD BOOK

Senior Lindsey Drew has played 114 games at Nevada and started 108.  The 108 starts is sixth in school history.  He has played in 84 wins during his time which is tied with David Ellis for seventh.  His 3,438 minutes played is ninth at Nevada.

Drew's 143 steals is seventh in Wolf Pack history and 451 assists is sixth.  In the win over Colorado State he scored his 800th point and now has 830.    

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 1,365 points is 56th, 42.9 percent 3-point shooting is 16th, 113 games played is 84th, and 216 made 3s is 33rd.  Drew is 105th with 536 rebounds, 22nd with 451 assists, 41st with 142 steals, ranks 10th with a 2.2 assists turnover ratio and is 70th with 114  games played.

Harris is 34th shooting 85.2 percent at the free throw line.  Zouzoua's 175 made 3-pointes is 99th.

NEVADA IN THE NET

Nevada has a NET ranking of 83 which is the tool that the NCAA uses to rank teams for post season play. The Pack is up 11 spots after its win over Boise State.   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 
The Wolf Pack's overall strength of schedule is 63 and non-conference strength of schedule is 56.  The Pack's basketball power index is 76 and kenpom.com ranking is 85.

JOHNSON SETS CAREER AND MW SEASON HIGH WITH 34 POINTS IN BSU WIN

Wolf Pack senior Jazz Johnson scored a career and Mountain West season-high 34 points in the Pack's win over Boise State.  Johnson made a career-best eight 3-pointers on 12 attempts.  In addition to the 34 points being the high by a player in the MW so was his 13 made field goals.  The eight made 3s is the second most by a player in the conference this season.  He also a tied for game honors with a career-high seven rebounds.

Johnson has been knocking down the 3-pointers at a high rate this season having made 51-of-112.  The 51 made 3s is 11th nationally, 3.4 per game is 12th, and 45.5 3-point percentage is 14th.  He tops the MW in all three categories.

Johnson leads team and is fourth in the MW averaging 17.5 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 87.8 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.  The seven made tied his career-high that also occurred at Air Force last season and is tied for the most made by a player in the MW this season.  He has made a 3-pointer in each game this season and three or more in nine contests.

In the win over TSU he scored his 1,300th point and now sits at 1,365 points in 113 career games.  At Portland he scored 740 of those points.

HARRIS LEADING THE PACK

Junior Jalen Harris has scored in double figures in the last 11 games including a career and team season-high 31 points at Air Force.  He scored 22 of the points in the first half.

Harris tops the team in rebound (6.6 rpg) and is second in scoring (17.2 ppg) and assists (3.9 apg).  The 17.2 points is sixth in the Mountain West.  The assist numbers rank seventh in the MW and the rebounds ninth.

Five times in the last nine games he has scored 20 or more points including the 31 points at Air Force.  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 five games he posted game highs in points, five times he posted a game-high in assists and four times a game-high in rebounds.

From the field he is shooting 41.5 percent and 31.9 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 37 of his last 42 free throws.  Overall is shooting 84.1 percent at the free throw line to rank third 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.

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 10 games he has scored in double figures, one more and it would be his most double figures scoring games in a season.  He leads the team in assists (4.5 apg) and is second in rebounding (5.7 rpg).  From the field he is shooting a team best 54.4 percent.  In total he is ranked in nine 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 six games he posted highs in assists; vs. Utah (8), LMU (7), UTA (4), at Air Force (6) and vs. CSU (6), and BSU (9).  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 9.1 points per game and is third dishing out 1.9 assists per game.
    
In six of the last 11 games Zouzoua has scored in double figures and seven 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.

PACK ONE OF THREE UNDEFEATED TEAMS IN MW PLAY

At 3-0 Nevada is one of three undefeated teams in Mountain West play joining San Diego State (4-0) and UNLV (3-0).  New Mexico is 2-1 followed by Utah State and Boise State at 2-2.

Air Force is 1-2 while Colorado State, Fresno State and SJSU are 1-3.  Wyoming sits at 0-4.

Tuesday and Wednesday Mountain West games
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7
Fresno State at New Mexico* (ESPNU) 9 p.m. MT
UTtah State at Air Force* (ESPN2) 9 p.m. MT
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8
UNLV at Boise State* (ESPN3) 7 p.m. MT
#13/12 San Diego State at Wyoming* (MWN) 7 p.m. MT
Nevada at San José State* (MWN) 7 p.m. PT

THE LAST TIME OUT

JOHNSON SCORES 34 TO LEAD NEVADA PAST BOISE ST. 83-66

RENO, Nev. (AP) Jazz Johnson drained 8 of 12 3-pointers and scored 34 points, both career highs, and Nevada beat Boise State 83-66 on Saturday.

Jalen Harris had 15 points for Nevada (10-5, 3-0 Mountain West Conference), which earned its fourth straight home victory, and Lindsey Drew added 14 points and nine assists.

Johnson, a graduate transfer from Portland, had 21 points in the first half, when the Wolf Pack made 8 of 17 3-pointers and shot 54% but only led 39-35.

Boise State couldn't keep pace in the second half. Nevada was 6 of 12 behind the arc and shot 58% but the Bronco went 1 of 11 from distance and shot 31%. Free throw shooting helped Boise State, the Broncos going 14 of 15 from the line to 2 of 4 for Nevada.

Nevada finished at 56% overall but was outscored by 16 from the foul line.

Derrick Alston Jr. had 15 points for the Broncos (10-6, 2-2), whose four-game winning streak came to end. Justinian Jessup added 12 points and RJ Williams 11.

UP NEXT: AT UTAH STATE - CBSSN • JAN. 11 • 5 P.M. PT   
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270)

Nevada concludes its two-game road swing at Utah State (13-4, 2-2 MW).  The Aggies were picked to win the Mountain West this season after sharing the regular season with Nevada last year.  USU has lost its last two games at UNLV and home to league leading SDSU.  The Aggies are led by preseason MW Player of the Year Sam Merrill who is third in the conference scoring 17.7 points per game. The Aggies are at Air Force Tuesday night.   The game will air on CBS Sports Network.


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