The next two weeks could be the most crucial of the season for the Nevada men’s basketball team from a developmental standpoint. The Wolf Pack has been crippled by mistakes and inconsistencies so far this season while playing mostly on the road with an inexperienced lineup. Saturday’s 82-76 win against Montana State marked the beginning of four straight games at home, which should give the Wolf Pack more practice time and a chance to settle into a rhythm before taking off for Northern Iowa and North Carolina later this month.

The Wolf Pack plays San Diego on Wednesday and Central Florida on Saturday. The biggest game is against the Knights, who beat the Wolf Pack 63-60 in the first game of the season. Now the Wolf Pack has a chance to return the favor.

Nevada center JaVale McGee is a mama’s boy – his mother, Pamela McGee, says so.

JaVale might not want to admit that – and you can laugh all you want – but it’s one of the reasons the 7-foot sophomore is emerging as a star for the Nevada men’s basketball.

Pamela McGee was an All-American at USC. While winning two national championships, she helped Team USA win the 1986 Olympic Gold Medal, and she also won a WNBA title with the Sacramento Monarchs. JaVale spent much of his youth in a stroller with his nanny just off the court.

Expect quarterback-needy college football coaches to pay extra close attention to the impending battle between Colin Kaepernick and Nick Graziano this offseason to run the pistol for Nevada coach Chris Ault.

And it’s not because the fight reeks of “The Bachelor: Sports Edition,” although that kind of entertainment value would fill a nice niche with the Writers Guild of America strike.

They’ll be watching because the loser of the Wolf Pack’s quarterback battle could be available for hire – or a scholarship offer.

With a 2-4 record heading into Saturday’s game against Montana State, the first of four straight home games, the Nevada men’s basketball team is in an unfamiliar position.

The Wolf Pack is struggling to find chemistry with four new starters and a ton of inexperienced players. The product of that combination so far has been a mistake-prone team that mixes flashes of brilliance with turnovers, uneven rebounding and mental lapses on both ends of the floor.

Nevada fans are used to watching big men finesse their way to big numbers – just not for the other team.

California forward Ryan Anderson brought back images of former Wolf Pack star Nick Fazekas Wednesday night in scoring 36 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead the Golden Bears (4-0) to a 74-68 win over Nevada at Lawlor Events Center.

Nevada’s 15 seniors deserve better than what they’re going to get for their final home game on Saturday. The football game, against Louisiana Tech, hasn’t happened yet, of course, but the scene is easy to predict. After Saturday’s 27-24 loss to San Jose State, just the latest in a long line of disappointments that ensure Nevada won’t finish above .500 this year, you can figure on about 12,000 fans, a half-empty student section, and an environment about as raucous as Friday morning at Augusta National (you know, where the geriatrics get up early to follow Fred Funk and Corey Pavin).

A state hearing officer denied Sunday the University of Nevada, Reno’s motion to dismiss the whistleblower complaint of former Nevada soccer coach Terri Patraw.

A public hearing will take place on Jan. 17.

Nevada State Personnel Commission administrative hearing officer Bill Kockenmeister also ruled that Patraw and her lawyer, Jeffrey Dickerson, can tack on sexual harassment allegations to the original complaint and granted a motion for discovery that will allow Dickerson to build a case by interviewing people involved.

The Nevada women’s basketball team lost to Gonzaga 93-55 on Saturday in Spokane, Wash. After beating Idaho in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, the Nevada volleyball team fell in three games to No. 1-seed Hawaii in the semifinals. Wolf Pack guard Marcelus Kemp was named WAC player of the week after scoring 35 points and leading the Nevada men’s basketball team to a pair of wins.

Nevada guard Marcelus Kemp is ready to be the Wolf Pack’s go-to guy.After struggling in the Wolf Pack’s first two games of the season, the senior guard railed off 19 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the Wolf Pack to a 67-54 win against Santa Clara at Lawlor Events Center.

Senior Editor Garrett Hylton reviews the teams in the WAC Volleyball tournament.

After months of waiting, the biggest signing in Nevada men’s basketball history is official – Luke is coming.
Luke Babbitt, a potential McDonald’s All-American from Galena High who is ranked the No. 19 prospect in the country by Scout.com, is officially a member of the Wolf Pack after signing a national letter of intent today, the [...]

Former Nevada soccer coach Terri Patraw filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging she was terminated in August by director of athletics Cary Groth in retaliation for complaining about discrimination against the soccer team and for reporting NCAA violations allegedly committed by other coaches in the athletic department.

The Nevada soccer team’s 1-0 loss to Fresno State in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday was the exclamation to a sad truth. The true victims of former soccer head coach Terri Patraw’s firing back in August ended up being the players and assistants that had to carry on after.

Nevada guard Marcelus Kemp scored 19 points and freshman point guard Armon Johnson added 13, but the Wolf Pack men’s basketball team lost its season opener 63-60 to Central Florida on Sunday.
In the first game played at the new UCF Arena, the Knights used a 17-5 run started in the middle of the first half [...]

Senior Editor Garret Hylton the top 9 ranked WAC basketball teams: New Mexico State, Nevada, Utah State, Fresno State, Boise State, Hawaii, Louisana Tech, San Jose State, Idaho.