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Wolf Pack Preview: Nevada Basketball seeks season sweep over intrastate rival UNLV Wednesday

The Pack seek their sixth consecutive victory over the Rebels.

Nevada Athletics Department

Nevada (15-10, 8-5) vs. UNLV (12-13, 7-5)

When: Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.

Where: Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

TV: None

Online: ESPN3

Matchup History: UNLV leads 60-30

Breakdown:

Nevada men’s basketball looks to sweep the Silver State Series sweep over intrastate rival UNLV (12-13, 7-5) Wednesday. Nevada has won its last five games versus UNLV.

Nevada won the first meeting of the season 86-72 at Lawlor Events Center. Jalen Harris led the Pack with 28 points on 8-of-17 shooting, canning five 3-point shots on 12 attempts. Harris added six assists and six rebounds, both team-highs.

The Wolf Pack are tied with Colorado State for fourth place in the conference standings at 8-5. UNLV owns sole possession of sixth place at 7-5.

Nevada is only 1-7 (.143) in true road games, while UNLV is 10-5 (.667) at home. The 6-foot-5 guard rides into Wednesday with a four-game streak of scoring 30-plus points, scoring a career-high 38 point in last Tuesday’s game versus Air Force.

Marvin Coleman’s game-winning shot with under a second remaining gave the Rebels a 68-67 victory over Fresno State in their most recent outing.

That was Coleman’s only made basket, finishing with four points on 1-of-4 shooting. Amauri Hardy led UNLV with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting, hitting 4-of-8 shots from 3-point range.

UNLV is eighth in the conference in scoring (71.0 ppg) and field goal percentage (.428). The Rebels are ninth in 3-point percentage (.314).

Bryce Hamilton leads UNLV in scoring with 14.9 points per game. He is shooting 45.3 percent from the floor and 29.8 percent from deep.

UNLV v Boise State
Guard Max Rice #12 of the Boise State Broncos faces off against guard Bryce Hamilton #13 of the UNLV Rebels.
Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images

The 6-foot-4 guard is averaging 21.7 points in 12 conference games — only trailing Harris (25.7 ppg) for the most in MW play. He has eclipsed double figure scoring in each of the last 12 contests. Hamilton is second on the team in rebounding at 5.1 rebounds per game.

Hardy (14.1 ppg) and Elijah Mitrou-Long (11.0 ppg) round out the Rebel double-digit scorers.

Hardy is shooting 39.5 percent from the floor on the year. He is second on the team in 3-point percentage (.336) and assists (3.2 apg). Hardy is averaging 19.7 points on 51.3 percent shooting in his last three games versus the Wolf Pack, including a 23-point performance in the first meeting on the season.

Mitrou-Long did not appear in UNLV’s first meeting with Nevada because of a broken thumb. In his four games since returning, Mitrou-Long is averaging 6.8 points, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 21 minutes per game.

The Wolf Pack are coming off a 95-77 victory over San Jose State. Harris led them with 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting, hitting 5-of-10 from deep.

Nevada is scoring 76.9 points per game, 3rd-best in the conference. The Pack are 7th in field goal percentage (.445) and are tied with San Diego State — ranking No. 13 nationally — in 3-point percentage (.387). Nevada is seventh in the country in 3-point makes (252) and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.284).

Harris leads Nevada and the conference with 21.2 points per game. He is second on the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg) and assists (4.1 apg) is shooting 45.5 percent from the floor and 38.8 percent from deep on the season.

The 6-foot-5 guard was named the Mountain West Player of the Week and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for his performances from Feb. 4-8.

Last week, Harris averaged 35 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists versus Air Force and San Jose State. He shot 56.8 percent with an astounding 61.1 3-point percentage in the two contests. Harris rides into Wednesday with a four-game streak of scoring 30-plus points, becoming the first player since Nevada joined Division-I (in 1969) to accomplish that feat. He scored a career-high 38 points in last Tuesday’s game versus Air Force.

Harris is averaging a conference-best 25.7 points in 13 conference games. He has tallied double-digits in each of the last 21 games.

Jazz Johnson (16.1 ppg) and Lindsey Drew (11.2 ppg) are the remaining double-digit scorers for Nevada. Johnson is T-6 in the conference in scoring.

Johnson, after missing two games due to a sore right shoulder, returned to starting lineup Saturday. He tallied 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range with five rebounds in 22 minutes.

The 5-foot-10 sharpshooter is second in the conference in total 3-point makes with 74, three behind Boise State’s Justinian Jessup. Johnson is shooting 42.3 percent from deep, leading the conference with 3.2 3-point field goals per game.

Drew is shooting 48.2 percent and 37.9 percent from deep. He leads the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg), assists (4.4 apg) and steals (1.4 spg).

Projected Starters:

Nevada Wolf Pack

Position Number Name Class Height PPG RPG APG FG%
Position Number Name Class Height PPG RPG APG FG%
G 14 Lindsey Drew Sr. 6-5 11.1 6.6 4.1 .479
G 22 Jazz Johnson Sr. 5-10 15.9 3.3 2 .414
G 2 Jalen Harris Jr. 6-5 21.8 6.3 3.9 .454
F 1 Robby Robinson Soph. 6-8 2.7 5 0.9 .523
F 12 Johncarlos Reyes Sr. 6-10 4.7 4.2 0.6 .556

UNLV Rebels

Position Number Name Height PPG RPG APG FG%
Position Number Name Height PPG RPG APG FG%
G 3 Amauri Hardy 6'2" 14.1 3.3 3.2 .395
G 13 Bryce Hamilton 6'4" 14.9 5.1 1.3 .453
G 31 Marvin Coleman 6'2" 6.6 4.4 2.2 .410
F 20 Nick Blair 6'5" 4.8 3.6 0.6 .618
F 34 Cheikh Mbacke Diong 6'11" 8.2 8.4 0.4 .531

Additional Links:

Nevada Game Notes: https://go.aws/2UITpOz

UNLV Game Notes: https://go.aws/39sHx7i

Live Stats: https://bit.ly/37igfz5

Nevada seeks season sweep over UNLV Wednesday.
via Nevada Game Notes