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No.6 Nevada plays finale of season opening 4-game home stand.
The AP polls were released this morning and Nevada (3-0) still sits comfortably in the top 10. The Wolf Pack will face the California Baptist Lancers (2-1) on Monday night in their inaugural division I season after making the jump from DII.
Cal Baptist is coming off their first loss of the season after taking Tulsa down to the wire on the road last Friday, 79-82. The same Tulsa team that Nevada will meet in Las Vegas this coming Thanksgiving, just three days away.
Nevada only had one game last week and they led by 20+ for most of the contest against Little Rock-Arkansas, with a final of 87-59 to stay undefeated early in the season.
Through Nevada’s last two games they’ve begun to answer the two biggest questions asked in the offseason- How will they replace the three-ball production they lost and how will they distribute minutes with all their depth. After a rough start to the season from three against BYU, Nevada has shot 43% and received a big contribution off the bench from Jazz Johnson. As far as minutes go, it looks like Jazz and Jordan Brown will get a majority of them off the bench.
A win for Nevada tonight won’t help them much in their top 10 standings, but on the other hand, a loss could hurt them tremendously. Cal Baptist will come into the game knowing they really don’t have much to lose, though they could put a huge dent in Nevada’s expected best season ever in program history.
Look for Nevada to go for the knockout tonight as they have North Carolina tight on their heels at only seven points behind them in the AP voting. North Carolina faces a tough and undefeated Texas team on Thanksgiving and if Nevada doesn’t win convincingly all week, they could drop back to their season opening No.7 ranking, or worse.
WHEN: Monday, November 19 — 7:00 PM PT
WHERE: Lawlor Events Center; Reno, Nevada (11,536)
STREAM: Facebook (MWN on Stadium)
RADIO: Nevada Wolf Pack Radio Station and Cal Baptists Radio Station
WEBSITES: NevadaWolfPack.com, the official Nevada athletics website | CBULancers.com, the official California Baptist athletics website