After suffering its first loss of 2012, the Wolf Pack looks to bounce back against Hawaii. However, traveling to Hawaii is always tricky and the Warriors have the potential to throw the Western Athletic Conference race wide open once again.
JUST WHAT IT NEEDED?
Since defeating New Mexico State 66-60, Nevada didn’t look like a team that was on a 16-game win streak. The Wolf Pack survived games against Louisiana Tech and Utah State. Its play finally caught up with them against Idaho. That might be a good thing. The Warriors have quietly won three of its last four games and is starting a three-game home stand. At 13-9 overall and 5-3 in WAC play, Hawaii is right in the thick of the WAC race with seeding still up for grabs.
Look for a more focused Nevada team set on proving that its loss to Idaho was nothing more than a slight speed bump on its season. I expect leading scorer Deonte Burton to have a big game, but expect everyone, Malik Story, Olek Czyzm, Dario Hunt, Patrick Nyeko and the rest of the team to be pissed off from its loss. During the first 13 games of its win streak, the Wolf Pack scored 70 or more points 11 times. The last three games of its win streak and its loss to Idaho, the most the team scored was 68 points.
INTRIGUING BATTLES
But, Hawaii has its own big three of sorts, providing some potentially great player match ups to watch. Guard Zane Johnson, center Vander Joaquim and forward Joston Thomas all average double-digit points (15.7, 14.3 and 14.0 points per game, respectively). That means, potentially the three players could be lined up against Olek Czyz, Malik Story and Dario Hunt. The winners of those match ups will go along ways in determining the winner of the game. Nevada’s main advantage should be Burton who will likely see freshman guard Shaquille Stokes defending him. As a team, Hawaii is averaging 74.5 points, Nevada is averaging 69.7. Look for a lot of points in this one.
Prediction
It’s tempting to pick Hawaii here simply because Nevada has to deal with the travel. But, I do think Burton on Stokes will be enough of an advantage for the Wolf Pack to win a high scoring affair 78-74.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
