Court Report: WAC title comes down to last game
Nevada needs win and help from Utah State
The Nevada men’s basketball team (19-10, 11-4 Western Athletic Conference) sits in second place and one game behind Boise State going into the last week of the regular season.
If it beats Fresno State on Saturday and Boise State losses to Utah State, the Wolf Pack will share the WAC title.
Not bad for a team that lost four starters from last year’s team that went to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Fresno State is the only game on the slate this week and even though the Bulldogs (13-16, 5-9 WAC) are down a bit this year, they are a threat to win at home.
Rebound margin
Fresno State is the second worst rebounding team in the conference and allows the most rebounds to opponents.
The Bulldogs lack size in the middle and have trouble banging the boards with bigger teams. Fresno State also has trouble getting offensive rebounds and therefore does not get that many second chance points.
The Wolf Pack has to take advantage of this with proper box-outs. This will lead to fast break opportunities with Brandon Fields and Armon Johnson passing and getting to the basket.
JaVale McGee led the Wolf Pack with six rebounds in the last meeting, a 79-67 win at Lawlor Events Center, but Fresno State out-rebounded Nevada 39-35. Nevada’s offense fueled the win with 51 percent shooting from the floor and 62 percent from 3-point range.
Guard the 3
Fresno State takes about 24 3-pointers per game and makes about nine, which ranks first in the WAC.
The Bulldogs have three players who have taken at least 110 3-pointers this season led by Eddie Miller’s 253 attempts.
Miller is the best on his team, making 42 percent from the 3-point line.
Fresno State is forced to take 3-pointers sometimes in games where it has a disadvantage in height in the post. If the Bulldogs get hot from behind the arc, Nevada’s perimeter players need to get a hand in the face of the shooter or something to disrupt the shot.
Finish strong
The Wolf Pack could use a good road win at Fresno State to build momentum heading into the WAC Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M. next week.
The Wolf Pack lost by 25 to Southern Illinois on the road about a week ago. Southern Illinois is a good team that tested Nevada on the road.
A win at Fresno State could be the confidence the Wolf Pack needs to go deep in the WAC Tournament in hopes of a fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Photo by Amy Beck/Nevada Sagebrush
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on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 1:09 am and is filed under Court Report, Men's Basketball, Sports.
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