PDF: MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (0-0) at NEVADA WOLF PACK (0-0)
GAME #1
Sat., Nov. 14, 2009 - 7:05 p.m. PT - Lawlor Events Center (11,536) - Reno, Nev.
TELEVISION: Live internet streaming at www.nevadawolfpack.com (subscription fee)
RADIO: University of Nevada Sports Network (ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno;
KELK 1240 AM, Elko; KHWG 750 AM, Fallon & KSVL 92.3 FM, Yerington)
Ryan Radtke (play-by-play) & Len Stevens (color), pregame show starts at 6:30 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: Nevada leads the all-time series with Montana State 22-17.
LAST MEETING: Nevada won the last two meetings between the two teams, most recently turning in a 72-63 victory over Montana State on Nov. 15, 2008 in Bozeman, Mont.
The Nevada Wolf Pack (0-0) officially opens the 2009-10 season on Saturday, Nov. 15, playing host to the Montana State Bobcats (0-0). Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center and ends a Wolf Pack tripleheader that day with the football team taking on Fresno State and the volleyball team playing host to La Tech earlier in the day. Saturday's game at Lawlor Events Center marks the regular-season opener for both the Wolf Pack and the Bobcats, and Nevada's radio flagship ESPN 630 AM will carry the game with Ryan Radtke calling the action. The Wolf Pack looks to win its season opener for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. After Saturday's season opener vs. Montana State, the Wolf Pack hits the road for four of its next five games, starting with a trip to Las Vegas, Nev., to face in-state rival UNLV on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Under the direction of first-year head coach David Carter, the Wolf Pack returns three starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year's 21-13 team, including the preseason WAC Player of the Year in sophomore forward Luke Babbitt who led the team in scoring and rebounding last season as a true freshman and preseason first-team All-WAC selection junior guard Armon Johnson who was second on the team in scoring and paced the Wolf Pack in assists last year. This season's team also features three seniors in guards Brandon Fields and Ray Kraemer and forward Joey Shaw as well as five new faces. Last season, Nevada turned in its sixth consecutive year with at least 20 wins and earned the team's seventh consecutive postseason appearance with an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational.
WOLF PACK TRIPLEHEADER & RALLY AT THE CROWLEY
Saturday night's men's basketball game wraps up a Wolf Pack tripleheader that day with the football team taking on Fresno State at 1:05 p.m. and the volleyball team facing Louisiana Tech at 5 p.m. Fans can use their football ticket stub to get in free to the volleyball match and to purchase an upper-concourse ticket to men's basketball for $5.
In addition, fans are also encouraged to "Rally at the Crowley" that afternoon. This event begins at 3:30 p.m. at the Joe Crowley Student Union on campus. There will be a live acoustic band inside Cantina del Lobo, a Disney movie in the theater and entertainment in the food court. Food specials will be available as well as raffles for men's basketball tickets, restaurant meals, T-shirts and sweatshirts (raffle tickets are free if fans show a ticket for any of Saturday's athletic events and a food receipt from any student union vendor).
NEVADA IN SEASON OPENERS
Nevada has won five of its last six regular-season openers and 13 of the last 15 dating back to the 1994-95 season. Last year, the Wolf Pack opened the season with a 72-63 victory at Montana State on Nov. 15, 2008. In 2007-08, Nevada had a streak of four consecutive season-opening wins snapped with a 63-60 loss at Central Florida on Nov. 11, 2007. Prior to that, the Wolf Pack had had not opened the year with a loss since falling at San Diego 77-75 on Nov. 23, 2002 to start the 2002-03 campaign. The Wolf Pack holds a 53-43 all-time record in season openers.
This year marks the first time in three seasons that Nevada will open the year at home. Last year, the Wolf Pack started the season with a two-game road trip to Montana State and San Diego, while in 2007-08, the Wolf Pack crisscrossed the country to open the year, traveling more than 5,800 miles with games at UCF (Nov. 11) and UC Irvine (Nov. 13).
In 2006-07, Nevada turned in an 85-62 victory over Alaska-Anchorage on Nov. 10, 2006 at Lawlor Events Center. In 2005-06, Nevada started the year with an 82-74 win over Sacramento State on Nov. 19, 2005 at Lawlor Events Center, while the team downed Colorado-Colorado Springs 88-33 on Nov. 20, 2004 to give then head coach Mark Fox his first victory.
ABOUT THE MONTANA STATE BOBCATS
Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Brad Huse (40-51 in three years at MSU), the Montana State Bobcats return four starters and nine letterwinners from last year's 14-17 team. Montana State finished in a tie for sixth in the Big Sky Conference last season with a 6-10 mark. The Bobcats opened the season with a pair of exhibition games, downing Saskatchewan 82-68 on Nov. 3 and Valley City State 66-55 on Nov. 9.
Senior guard Will Bynum (6-3, 180) is the team's top returning scorer after leading Montana State in scoring at 10.7 points per game last season. Junior forward Bobby Howard is the team's top returning rebounder after finishing second on the squad with 4.8 boards per contest last year. Bynum led the team with 18 points in the exhibition win over Saskatchewan, while junior guard Erik Rush (6-5, 210) and Howard added 17 and 16 points, respectively. Rush also paced the Bobcats with 18 points vs. Valley City State.
IN THE SERIES
Nevada holds a 22-17 advantage in the all-time series with Montana State, which dates back to the first meeting between the two teams in 1947-48. The Wolf Pack has won the last two meetings and 10 of the last 11 games in the series, including a 72-63 victory on Nov. 15, 2008 in Bozeman, Mont., in the season opener for both teams last year. Nevada has also won the last five meetings played in Reno, including an 82-76 victory on Dec. 8, 2007 at Lawlor Events Center. Saturday's game ends a two-for-one series between the Wolf Pack and the Bobcats that started in 2007-08.
The Wolf Pack holds a 151-105 record against the nine teams that currently make up the Big Sky Conference and spent 13 years from 1979-80 to 1991-92 as a member of that league. Nevada won a pair of regular-season conference championships (1983 & 1985) and two conference tournament titles (1984 &1985) as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The Wolf Pack will take on another Big Sky team later this season when Eastern Washington visits Reno on Dec. 17 as part of the opening rounds of Las Vegas Classic.
NOTES FROM THE EXHIBITION WIN OVER CHICO STATE
Junior Armon Johnson scored 16 points to lead Nevada past Chico State 90-63 in its only exhibition game on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Lawlor Events Center...Johnson led four Wolf Pack players in double figures and shot 8-of-10 from the field...sophomore Luke Babbitt added 14 points, while sophomore Dario Hunt and senior Ray Kraemer each had 11 points...Hunt pulled down 16 rebounds to lead the game and also had a contest-high four blocked shots in 26 minutes... while exhibition play does not count, Hunt's 11 points and 16 rebounds are the most he has had since coming to Nevada...the game marked the debut of first-year head coach David Carter and the Wolf Pack eighth consecutive exhibition victory...Nevada outrebounded Chico State 44-35 and shot 50.9 percent from the field in the game...Kraemer knocked down three three-pointers to lead the Wolf Pack...Nevada led 54-27 at halftime and Chico State cut the Nevada lead to 15 points six minutes into the second half, making it 59-44 with 14:59 to play, but the Wolf Pack scored the next 12 points to regain its lead, 71-44 with 10:32 to play...Chico State would not get closer than 24 points the rest of the way.
WINNING AT LAWLOR
The Wolf Pack has won 50 of its last 62 contests at Lawlor Events Center, including 25 of its last 35 home games dating back to the start of the 2007-08 season. Including a 13-3 mark in 2007-08 and a 13-8 mark in 2008-09, the Wolf Pack has turned in an 86-17 record at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.835 winning percentage).
Nevada has also captured 25 of its last 29 WAC regular-season home games and 30 of its last 36 home games against WAC opponents counting the 2006 and 2009 WAC Tournaments. A Jan. 19, 2008 loss to Boise State snapped the Wolf Pack's 14-game winning streak in WAC home games, including a perfect 8-0 mark in 2006-07 and a 2-0 mark to start the 2007-08 season (finished 7-1). That 14-game win streak had dated back to January of 2006. Nevada's losses to Louisiana Tech on Feb. 5 and New Mexico State on Feb. 7, 2009 marked its first back-to-back WAC home losses since falling to Louisiana Tech and SMU in January of 2002.
WHO'S BACK
The Wolf Pack returns three starters and a total of eight letterwinners from last year's 21-13 team, including 2009 WAC Freshman of the Year Luke Babbitt and fellow first-team All-WAC and all-district selection Armon Johnson. Babbitt set nearly every Nevada freshman record and became the first rookie in school history to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding, turning in 16.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last season. Johnson finished second on the team with 15.5 points per game and led the squad in assists for the second consecutive season with 4.3 per game (fifth in the WAC). Also returning are senior guards Brandon Fields and Ray Kraemer, senior forward Joey Shaw, junior forward Adam Carp, sophomore forward Dario Hunt and sophomore guard London Giles. Fields started 32 of 33 games in 2007-08 and was the team's leading scorer off the bench last year at 9.4 points per game. Fields and Shaw shared the team's Sixth Man Award last year with Shaw adding 7.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest, while Hunt led the WAC with 2.0 blocked shots per game last season.
WOLF PACK NEWCOMERS
Nevada's roster features five new faces in freshmen Marko Cukic, Keith Fuetsch and Patrick Nyeko and sophomore transfers Keith Olson and Malik Story. Originally from Belgrade, Serbia, Cukic comes to Nevada after spending last season training at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Fuetsch was an all-league selection in three sports at Bishop Manogue High School in Reno, while Nyeko earned all-region honors and helped his team to a fourth-place finish in the state championships at Seattle (Wash.) Preparatory School. Olson, a Gardnerville, Nev., native, transferred to Nevada from Northern Arizona, while Story comes to Nevada after starting his collegiate career at Indiana University. Per NCAA transfer rules, Olson will sit out the first semester, while Story will redshirt the 2009-10 season.
CARTER TO MAKE HIS HEAD COACHING DEBUT
After spending 10 years as an assistant on the Wolf Pack bench, including the last five as Nevada's associate head coach, David Carter makes his head coaching debut this year. Carter was named the 17th head coach in the history of the Nevada men's basketball program on April 3, 2009, just one day after fifth-year head coach Mark Fox announced that he was leaving Nevada after five seasons for the University of Georgia. Carter has been an integral part of Nevada's five WAC regular-season championships and seven postseason appearances, including four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-07. Carter was also recognized as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation, making FOXSports.com's list of the top 10 Mid-Major Assistant Coaches in 2007-08 and being named the best assistant coach in the Western Athletic Conference in Street's & Smith's 2004-05 College Basketball National Preview.
WOLF PACK PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN WAC
Nevada has been picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference by both the league's coaches and media, while sophomore forward Luke Babbitt has been named the preseason WAC Player of the Year by both groups. Babbitt and junior guard Armon Johnson were also named first-team All-WAC by both the media and the coaches in the preseason polls.
The Wolf Pack received 53 points, including one first-place vote, from the coaches and had 269 points and 12 first-place nods from the league's media.
2009-10 PRESEASON WAC COACHES' POLL
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) Pts
1. Utah State (8) 64
2. Nevada (1) 53
3. New Mexico State 50
4. Idaho 42
5. Louisiana Tech 31
6. Fresno State 30
7. Boise State 23
8. San Jose State 19
9. Hawai'i 12
2009-10 PRESEASON WAC MEDIA POLL
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) Pts
1. Utah State (15) 273
2. Nevada (12) 269
3. New Mexico State (6) 226
4. Idaho 193
5. Boise State 145
6. Louisiana Tech 140
7. Fresno State 130
8. San Jose State (1) 88
9. Hawai'i 66
BABBITT ON PRESEASON WOODEN & NAISMITH WATCH LISTS
Sophomore forward Luke Babbitt has been named to the preseason watch lists for the 2009-10 John R. Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. Both awards are annually presented to the top player in college basketball.
The Naismith watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2009-10 college basketball season. In late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors will compile a mid-season team of the Top 30 players in the nation. In March, the voting academy will vote to narrow the list to the four finalists, while the Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four in Indianapolis, Ind.
In late December, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 30 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round during the NCAA Tournament. The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Wooden Award winners, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.
Babbitt, a 6-9, 225-pound forward from Reno, Nev., was named the 2009 WAC Freshman of the Year last season after leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.9 points and 7.4 boards per game. An all-district selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the United States Basketball Writers Association, he ranked second among the nation's freshmen in scoring. He finished third in the WAC in scoring and rebounding and led the league in free throw shooting. Babbitt also set nearly every Wolf Pack freshman single-season record, including scoring with 573 total points.
This year marks the fourth time in five seasons that Nevada has had a player on the preseason list for the Wooden Award with Marcelus Kemp making the list in 2007-08 and Nick Fazekas in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Fazekas was named to the final ballot for the Wooden Award in each of those years and in 2006-07, he was named one of 10 Wooden Award All-Americans and finished eighth in the final voting for the award.
NEVADA ONE OF TOP WAC TEAMS OVER LAST SIX YEARS
Over the last six seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 148-52 record, the second-most wins of any WAC team during that time (.740 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 79 games, the most in that same time period.
NEVADA NOTCHES SIXTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
With its WAC Tournament quarterfinals win over San Jose State on March 12, 2009, Nevada notched its sixth consecutive season with at least 20 wins. It also marked the 11th 20-win season in school history and the fifth for Mark Fox, who is the only coach in school history to lead more than one team to at least 20 victories. Nevada won at least 25 games in four of those six 20-win seasons (25-9 in 2003-04, 25-7 in 2004-05, 27-6 in 2005-06 and a school-record 29-5 in 2006-07). Nevada has also turned in a school-record eight consecutive winning seasons dating back to the 2001-02 campaign (three under former Pack head coach Trent Johnson and five under Fox). The previous long stretch was six from 1986-87 to 1991-92.
WOLF PACK CONTINUES STRING OF POSTSEASON BIDS
The Wolf Pack earned its seventh consecutive postseason invitation in 2008-09, appearing in the College Basketball Invitational for the second straight year. The Wolf Pack's string of seven postseason appearances dates back to a 2003 National Invitation Tournament bid followed by four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-07. In 2007-08, Nevada drew a tough opening-round matchup with Houston in the CBI and fell to the Cougars 80-79 at Lawlor Events Center on March 18, 2008, while last season, the team dropped another close one, falling to UTEP 79-77 on March 17 in Reno.
UP NEXT
Following Saturday's season opener with Montana State, Nevada will hit the road for four of its next five games, starting Wednesday, Nov. 18 at UNLV. The Wolf Pack returns to Reno for one game on Saturday, Nov. 21 when the team plays host to Houston before heading to the East Coast for games at VCU (Nov. 27) and North Carolina (Nov. 29). The VCU game marks the return of last year's BracketBusters game in Reno, while the UNC contest ends a two-for-one series between the Wolf Pack and the Tar Heels.
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