by Eric Uribe
100/1 – Odds the Wolf Pack will win the Mountain West Tournament, according to William Hill sportsbook. The next biggest longshot to win the Championship is Air Force at 60-1. In contrast, San Diego State is the favorites at +160, followed by Colorado State at +200 and one-seeded Boise State at third with +240.
14 – Number of points the past four games between Nevada and UNLV have been decided by. The Wolf Pack is 3-1 in those contests. If recent history is any indication, Wednesday’s first-round matchup is poised for a nail-biter.
1,097 – Number of days since Nevada won a conference tournament game back on March 8, 2012. The Wolf Pack edged San Jose State 54-44 in the opening round of the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Tournament. Nevada entered as the bracket’s No. 1 seed, but struggled out of the gate, scoring just 14 first-half points against the Spartans. However, behind Wolf Pack great Deonte Burton and his 15 points after intermission, Nevada advanced. In the next round, Louisiana Tech upset the Wolf Pack 78-73, leaving the 26-7 team as one of the last to left out of the NCAA Tournament.
3,287 – Number of days since the Wolf Pack won its last conference championship back on March 11, 2006. In an all-time classic against Utah State, Nevada topped the Aggies 70-63 in overtime at Lawlor Events Center to capture its second WAC Championship in three years. All-time Wolf Pack scoring champion Nick Fazekas had 23 points and 14 rebounds in the victory. However, it was Marcelus Kemp who was hailed as the hero after the game. Kemp hit a key three-pointer with 46 seconds left in overtime to propel then-No.24 Nevada.
“Every shot I take, I think I’m going to make,” Kemp told the Associated Press after the game-winning dagger.
The Wolf Pack would go on to earn a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, Montana upset Nevada 87-79 in the opening round.
85-81 – The score of the game the last time Nevada entered a conference tournament seeded last. In the Wolf Pack’s inaugural season in the MWC, Wolf Pack fell to Wyoming in the tournament play-in game during the 2013 MWC Tournament. Burton scored 27 points, but it wasn’t enough to top the Larry Nance Jr.-led Cowboys. The loss was Nevada’s eight consecutive and finished its MWC debut at 12-19 (3-13 MW). That year, the conference was ranked No. 1 in Rating Percentage Index and sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Eric Uribe can be reached at euribe@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @Uribe_Eric.
