The Nevada basketball team hasn't grabbed a double-digit win in 11 games, a streak that stretches back to the second week of January.
Not surprisingly, that victory came against San Jose State.
The reason it shouldn't be a surprise is that the Wolf Pack has won 15 of its past 16 games against the Spartans and beaten SJSU by an average of 22.2 points in the teams' past five matchups.
On the eve of his team's game against Nevada at 7:07 p.m. tonight in San Jose, Spartan coach George Nessman said the reason behind that dominance has been two-fold.
"I think the first issue is that they have been really good over the years with some excellent players," Nessman said Wednesday afternoon. "But on top of that, they've always been able to get the tempo of the game at their pace and been able to get out in transition against us very successfully. I think the combination of those two things have been deadly for us."
That was the exact recipe in the Wolf Pack's 96-67 victory over the Spartans in Reno earlier this season when Nevada scored 22 points off turnovers and 19 on the fastbreak. The 29-point margin of the victory is Nevada's second largest this season.
Wolf Pack Coach David Carter said there hasn't been anything special behind the recent domination of SJSU other than some good offensive outings. The Wolf Pack has scored an average of 85.4 points in its past five games against the Spartans.
"I think we've just shot the ball well against them," Carter said. "I think we've played well against them and matched up well against them. I'm assuming they're going to make some adjustments because we have had their number lately. So, we can't go into the game thinking that it's been easy and that's how it's going to be in San Jose. We have to prepare for a tough game."
And prepare for a different kind of game.
Because of an eye injury to 6-foot-9, 255-pound forward C.J. Webster, the Spartans have used a four-guard lineup for most of the month.
None of those guards are taller than 6-4, which creates some interesting matchup problems on both sides of the ball."Because they're so small, (Luke) Babbitt is going to have to guard a guard, so that's going to be an adjustment for us because we're used to having two big guys on the floor at the same time," Carter said. "We're going to have to make some adjustments. But defensively for them, they're going to have to make some adjustments because one of their small guards will have to guard Dario (Hunt) or Luke. I think it's going to be like a chess match. Who's going to give in first?"
Nessman said Webster should play tonight, but the four-guard attack and quicker playing style also will remain.
The fifth-year coach said his team won't try and slow down the pace of the game because it would be counter-productive.
"We have to play at our comfort level on offense, and that's a little bit quicker with this lineup," Nessman said. "But we also have to do what we can to prevent Nevada from getting easy run-outs and quick attacks in the open court. We have to get our defense organized better than we have in the past against them."
Nevada (16-10 overall, 8-4 WAC) remains tied for third in the conference with Louisiana Tech, one game behind New Mexico State and 21/2 behind Utah State.
Carter said finishing strong and getting the second seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament is a top priority.
"I think it's very important," Carter said. "We want to be able to get the two seed, which would put us in the opposite bracket of the one seed, which is Utah State. If you take care of business, you'll see them on the third night. I think it's very important to try and get the second seed."
Not surprisingly, that victory came against San Jose State.
The reason it shouldn't be a surprise is that the Wolf Pack has won 15 of its past 16 games against the Spartans and beaten SJSU by an average of 22.2 points in the teams' past five matchups.
On the eve of his team's game against Nevada at 7:07 p.m. tonight in San Jose, Spartan coach George Nessman said the reason behind that dominance has been two-fold.
"I think the first issue is that they have been really good over the years with some excellent players," Nessman said Wednesday afternoon. "But on top of that, they've always been able to get the tempo of the game at their pace and been able to get out in transition against us very successfully. I think the combination of those two things have been deadly for us."
That was the exact recipe in the Wolf Pack's 96-67 victory over the Spartans in Reno earlier this season when Nevada scored 22 points off turnovers and 19 on the fastbreak. The 29-point margin of the victory is Nevada's second largest this season.
Wolf Pack Coach David Carter said there hasn't been anything special behind the recent domination of SJSU other than some good offensive outings. The Wolf Pack has scored an average of 85.4 points in its past five games against the Spartans.
"I think we've just shot the ball well against them," Carter said. "I think we've played well against them and matched up well against them. I'm assuming they're going to make some adjustments because we have had their number lately. So, we can't go into the game thinking that it's been easy and that's how it's going to be in San Jose. We have to prepare for a tough game."
And prepare for a different kind of game.
Because of an eye injury to 6-foot-9, 255-pound forward C.J. Webster, the Spartans have used a four-guard lineup for most of the month.
None of those guards are taller than 6-4, which creates some interesting matchup problems on both sides of the ball."Because they're so small, (Luke) Babbitt is going to have to guard a guard, so that's going to be an adjustment for us because we're used to having two big guys on the floor at the same time," Carter said. "We're going to have to make some adjustments. But defensively for them, they're going to have to make some adjustments because one of their small guards will have to guard Dario (Hunt) or Luke. I think it's going to be like a chess match. Who's going to give in first?"
Nessman said Webster should play tonight, but the four-guard attack and quicker playing style also will remain.
The fifth-year coach said his team won't try and slow down the pace of the game because it would be counter-productive.
"We have to play at our comfort level on offense, and that's a little bit quicker with this lineup," Nessman said. "But we also have to do what we can to prevent Nevada from getting easy run-outs and quick attacks in the open court. We have to get our defense organized better than we have in the past against them."
Nevada (16-10 overall, 8-4 WAC) remains tied for third in the conference with Louisiana Tech, one game behind New Mexico State and 21/2 behind Utah State.
Carter said finishing strong and getting the second seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament is a top priority.
"I think it's very important," Carter said. "We want to be able to get the two seed, which would put us in the opposite bracket of the one seed, which is Utah State. If you take care of business, you'll see them on the third night. I think it's very important to try and get the second seed."
