NEW MEXICO ST. AGGIES (20-11, 11-5 WAC) vs. NEVADA WOLF PACK (20-11, 11-5 WAC)
2010 WAC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS - GAME #32
Friday, March 12, 2010 - 9 p.m. PT - Lawlor Events Center (11,536) - Reno, Nev.
TELEVISION: ESPN2
Terry Gannon (play-by-play) & Stephen Bardo (color)
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 8:30 p.m. PT
SERIES HISTORY: New Mexico State leads the all-time series with Nevada 16-14.
LAST MEETING: Nevada has won the last two meetings between the two teams, most recently turning in a 100-92 victory on March 4 in Reno.
- Coming off an 87-71 victory over seventh-seeded Idaho in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack (20-11) will take on third-seeded New Mexico State (20--11) on Friday night in the semifinals. Friday's game at Nevada's Lawlor Events Center will tip off at 9 p.m. Pacific Time and will be televised nationally by ESPN2. The game can also be heard on Nevada's radio flagship, ESPN 630 AM, and affiliates throughout the state with Ryan Radtke and former Wolf Pack head coach Len Stevens calling the action.
- The Wolf Pack improved to 20-11 on the year with Thursday's victory over Idaho and notched its seventh consecutive 20-win season and the 12th 20-win campaign in school history. Wolf Pack head coach David Carter also became the second first-year head coach in school history to reach the 20-win mark (Mark Fox was the other with a 25-7 record in 2004-05). Nevada has won at least 20 games in each of the last seven years dating back to 2003-04.
- The Wolf Pack has now won its last three games and four of its last five. Nevada has also won seven of its last eight games against WAC opponents.
- Including Thursday's win over Idaho, Nevada holds a 13-7 record in WAC Tournament games since joining the league in 2000-01. The Wolf Pack has advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament for the eighth time in its 10 years as a member of the WAC (eight of the last nine years). Nevada has reached the championship game four times (2003, '04, '06, '09), winning the WAC Tournament championship in 2004 and 2006.
- With Thursday's victory, the Wolf Pack improved to 15-1 at Lawlor Events Center this year and has won seven consecutive home games. Nevada also won for the 39th time in its last 46 home games against WAC opponents counting the 2006, 2009 and 2010 WAC Tournaments. Nevada is now 101-18 overall at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2003-04 season (.849).
- Over the last six seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 168-63 record, the second-most wins of any WAC team during that time (.727 winning percentage).
- New Mexico State leads the all-time series with Nevada 16-14, while the Wolf Pack has won the last two games in the series and six of the last eight meetings between the two squads. Nevada took both meetings this year, turning in a 77-67 victory on Jan. 4 in Las Cruces, N.M., and a 100-92 win on March 4 in Reno. Nevada has also won five of the last six meetings between the two teams played in Reno and a 10-5 home record all time in the series with NMSU.
- Tonight will mark the third time that the two teams will meet in WAC Tournament play (all in semifinals play) with Nevada turning in 70-59 victory in the semifinals of the 2006 WAC Tournament in Reno and NMSU capturing an 85-73 win in the semifinals of the 2008 WAC Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M.
- 2010 WAC Player of the Year and second-team Academic All-American Luke Babbitt has led the team in scoring a team-best 19 times this season, including 21 points in Thursday's victory over Idaho. He ranks second in the WAC with 21.7 points per game (T10pth in the NCAA) and first in the conference at 9.2 boards per contest (37th in the nation in rebounding). With 673 points so far this season (fourth on Nevada's single-season list), he has already broken Nevada's record for points by a sophomore, previously held by Nick Fazekas (662 points in 2004-05). Babbitt has had 32 career games with at least 20 points (including 21 this year and 18 of the last 21 games) and has scored in double figures in 62 of 65 career games at Nevada, including all 31 contests this year.
- Babbitt led five Wolf Pack players in double figures for scoring in Thursday night's win, marking the third time this season that five Nevada players have reached double digits (Houston and BYU were the others). Senior Brandon Fields added 15 points, senior Joey Shaw had 14, junior Armon Johnson scored 13 and sophomore Dario Hunt chipped in with 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and the free throw line.
- Nevada leads the WAC and ranks 17th in the NCAA this season at 79.6 points per game, up from its average of 70.6 ppg last year. Four Wolf Pack players are averaging in double figures for scoring this season, and three are ranked in the WAC's top 15. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is leading the team and is second in the WAC at 21.7 points per game (11th in the NCAA), while junior Armon Johnson is eighth in the WAC at 15.9 points per game and senior Brandon Fields ranks ninth at 14.6 points per contest. Senior Joey Shaw is just out of the WAC's top 15 at 10.5 points per game.
- The Wolf Pack shot 55.4 percent from the field in Thursday's game with Idaho, including a season-high 55.6 percent from three-point land (10-18). The team made 60.7 percent of its first-half field goal attempts Thursday against the Aggies.
- Nevada ranks second in the WAC and 16th in the nation in field goal percentage, knocking down 48.3 percent of its field goal attempts, compared to just 42.7 percent from the field last season. In the last three games, the Wolf Pack has shot 52.8 percent from the field (93-176). The team has shot over 50 percent in 13 of its 31 games this season (three of the last five) and holds a 12-1 record in those games.
- The Wolf Pack has also shot the ball well from beyond the arc recently, knocking down 44.4 percent of its three-point attempts in the last six games (52-117), including a season-high 55.6 percent in Thursday's win over Idaho (10-18). Thursday marked the second consecutive game that the Wolf Pack made 10 three-pointers, which is one shy of its season high of 11 made Nov. 21 vs. Houston. Fields (3-6) and fellow senior Ray Kraemer (3-4) each made a team-high four three-pointers in Thursday's win, while Shaw and Babbitt each knocked down a pair.
- Senior Ray Kraemer ranks second in the WAC and sixth in the NCAA in three-point shooting, knocking down 48.2 percent of his long-range attempts (54-112). He has shot 50.6 percent in the last 18 games (40-79), including 3-of-4 in Thursday's victory over Idaho. Kraemer has made at least one three-pointer in 27 of 31 games this season, including 15 contests with more than one. Kraemer's 48.2 percent effort this season ranks second on the Nevada single-season charts, behind Bryon Strachan who shot 50.0 percent from three-point land in 1986-87 (31-62), while Kraemer can also set the senior single-season mark, which is currently held by Gabriel Parizzia (.459 in 1988-89).
- Sophomore Luke Babbitt, junior Armon Johnson and senior Brandon Fields have all reached the 1,000-point mark this season, marking the first time in school history that Nevada has had three members of the 1,000-point club on its roster in the same season. Johnson currently ranks 10th all time at Nevada with 1,400 points in 98 career games, while Babbitt is 14th with 1,246 points and FIelds iranks 15th with 1,232 career points. Babbitt is one of eight players in school history to reach the mark in only two seasons.
- The Wolf Pack has turned in a combined 55-19 record over the final two months of the season (February and March) in the last six years, including a 34-9 record in the month of February and a 21-10 mark in March (4-3 in February and 3-0 in March this season).
- In addition to its 15-1 home mark, Nevada has put up some gaudy offensive numbers at Lawlor Events Center this season. The Wolf Pack is averaging 83.2 points per game and shooting 50.6 percent from the field in its 16 home games. Sophomore Luke Babbitt is averaging 22.0 points per home game, while junior Armon Johnson and senior Brandon Fields are adding 15.7 and 15.4 ppg, respectively. Johnson is shooting the ball particularly well at home, making 55.7 percent of his shots at Lawlor (102-183). He has also dished out 6.6 assists per home game. Senior Ray Kraemer is knocking down 51.6 percent of his three-point attempts at home (32-62), including a perfect 4-of-4 outing Jan. 13 vs. Utah State and 3-of-4 Thursday vs. Idaho.
- Nevada is 11-8 in games decided by 10 points or less and 4-1 in contests decided by five points or less. The Wolf Pack has lost its 11 games this year by an average of just 7.7 points per contest (85).
- In the last five games, senior Brandon Fields has shot 53.8 percent from the field (35-65), including 44.7 percent from beyond the arc (17-38), and averaged 20.6 points per contest (103).
- Idaho outrebounded Nevada 37-36, marking the ninth time in the last 15 games that the Wolf Pack has been outrebounded. The Wolf Pack is now 12-4 this year when outrebounding its opponent. Nevada outrebounded San Jose State 33-28 on Feb. 25, snapping a stretch where the team had been outrebounded in nine of its previous 10 games. Nevada tied Fresno State in rebounding on Jan. 23 in the only other game in that stretch. Prior to that 10-game stretch, the team had outrebounded its previous 11 opponents.
- Nevada has two players ranked in the WAC's top 10 in rebounding. Sophomore Luke Babbitt leads the WAC and ranks 37th in the nation with 9.2 rebounds per game, while sophomore Dario Hunt checks in at ninth in the WAC at 7.0 boards per contest.
- The Wolf Pack still ranks second in the WAC with 37.1 boards per game despite averaging just 34.9 rebounds per contest in WAC play. The team has pulled down only 34.4 rebounds per game in its last 14 contests (481).
- Sophomore Luke Babbitt ranks second in the WAC and seventh in the nation at 90.4 percent from the free throw line this year (170-188). His 90.4 free throw percentage this season is tied for first on Nevada's single-season list with Jimmy Carroll (.904 in 1996-97), while Babbitt also ranks second in single-season free throws made (170) this year, 16 behind Nick Fazekas' 183 in 2004-05.
- Babbitt has made 88.5 percent of his career free throw attempts (322-364) and ranks first in career free throw percentage at Nevada ahead of Jimmy Carroll (.881, 1996-98).
- Junior guard Armon Johnson leads the WAC and ranks 21st in the nation this year with 5.57 assists per game this year, including a career-high 12 assists Nov. 21 vs. Houston for his second career double-double and 12 again in a Jan. 30 win over Hawai'i. With his seven assists in the Dec. 8 win over Fresno Pacific, Johnson entered the Nevada career chart for assists and currently ranks sixth with 427 career assists. He has also become just the sixth player in Wolf Pack history to turn in 1,000 points and 250 assists in his career.
- The winner of the semifinals game between New Mexico State and Nevada will advance to the WAC Tournament championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday night and will play either top-seeded Utah State or fourth-seeded Louisiana Tech. The winner of the WAC Tournament will earn the league's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Nevada looks to extend its streak of seven consecutive postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament in 2004-07, CBI in 2008 and 2009).
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