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Nevada's Luke Babbitt, left, and New Mexico State's Jonathon Gibson, fight for a rebound during their game at the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Reno, last weekend. UNR plays Witchita State on Wednesday in the National Invitational Tournament.
David Carter is facing his biggest challenge as the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball head coach.
“They are still disappointed,” Carter said, referring to his team's mindset after a stunning 80-79 loss to the New Mexico State Aggies in the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals last Friday. “It's been tough on everybody. We had a big letdown after Friday. But at this point it's more mental than physical. We have to move forward.”
Carter's challenge is to somehow get his players to forget the disappointment of last Friday and to focus all of their energy and emotions on beating Wichita State (25-9) tonight in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. The game in Wichita (5:05 p.m., 630-AM) will not be televised.
It's not going to be an easy task.
“The guys really felt like we could win on our home floor,” said Carter of the WAC Tournament at Lawlor Events Center. “They are just taking it hard right now.”
Real hard.
“It hurts not to be in the NCAA Tournament,” junior point guard Armon Johnson said. “But we're blessed to get another opportunity to play.”
Johnson, though, didn't hide his disappointment over not winning the WAC title. New Mexico State went on to win the tournament by beating top-seed Utah State, 69-63, on Saturday. Utah State and New Mexico State will represent the WAC this week in the NCAA Tournament as No. 12 seeds.
“I can't speak for anybody else on the team but I'm still mad about it,” Johnson said.
Johnson, though, is looking forward to shaking off the disappointment of last weekend.
“I can't wait to get out there again,” he said. “It's not going to be tough to get up for this game.”
The Pack, who left for Wichita on Tuesday, will be making its fourth appearance in the NIT (1979, 1997, 2003). The 32-team tournament features some high-profile programs who experienced disappointing seasons this year like North Carolina, Illinois, Memphis, North Carolina State and Connecticut.
The Pack (20-12) is the sixth seed in its bracket. The other seeds in the bracket fighting for a chance to get to the NIT semifinal round March 30 at New York's Madison Square Garden are Virginia Tech (No. 1 seed), Rhode Island (2), Wichita State (3), Connecticut (4), Northeastern (5), Northwestern (7) and Quinnipiac (8).
“Now it's like we are getting a fresh start,” senior sixth man Ray Kraemer said.
The Wolf Pack, which hasn't lost two games in a row since a three-game slide in early December, will be making its eighth consecutive postseason appearance. The run started in 2003 in the NIT followed by four seasons in the NCAA Tournament and the last two in the College Basketball Invitational. The Pack's record in the postseason over the past seven seasons is 4-7.
“We now have a chance to play some big-time teams,” said sophomore Luke Babbitt, who scored a career-high 33 points against New Mexico State and is just 16 points away from the Pack's single-season scoring record (Nick Fazekas scored a school-record 721 points in 2005-06).
“We're not in the tournament we wanted to be in but this is exciting,” Babbitt said. “There are a lot of prestigious teams in this tournament. It's going to be tough. But we have a chance to salvage our season and do something positive.”
When asked if he would trade a NIT championship for the opportunity to play just one NCAA Tournament game, Babbitt said, “I haven't thought about that. But, for me, yes, I would take that one NCAA Tournament game.”
And then he smiled.
“But I also want a NIT championship, too,” he added.
Carter knows the road to a NIT title will be difficult. Wichita, which averages more than 10,000 fans at Koch Arena, lost in the title game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament (67-52 to Northern Iowa on March 7) and is 17-0 at home this year.
The Wolf Pack lost to Missouri Valley Conference member Missouri State 62-60 this year in a BracketBusters game. Wichita State beat Missouri State three times this year.
“That's a tough conference,” said Pack senior Brandon Fields, who went scoreless in 35 minutes against New Mexico State. “They play tough man-to-man defense. But we're ready. For me, I'm just happy to play another game as a college basketball player.”
If victorious in Wichita, the Pack would play the winner of Wednesday night's game between Rhode Island and Northwestern in the second round. Carter said the Pack would likely need 7th-seeded Northwestern to upset 2nd-seeded Rhode Island for the Pack to get a second-round home game this weekend.
Wichita State is led by 5-foot-11 guard Clevin Hannah (12.1 points a game), 6-4 guard Toure Murry (11.9 points) and 6-7 forward J.T. Durley (11.2). The Shockers also have size with 7-foot sophomore Garrett Stutz (7.8 points and 4.3 rebounds) and 6-8 junior Gabe Blair (6.3 points, 4.6 boards).
The Shockers, who don't score a lot of points (69.3 a game) and don't give up many (61.4), will be making their 11th NIT appearance.
“It's not going to be easy,” sid Babbitt, referring to the Pack's 5-10 record away from home this year. “This is one of our toughest road games of the year.”
“They are still disappointed,” Carter said, referring to his team's mindset after a stunning 80-79 loss to the New Mexico State Aggies in the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals last Friday. “It's been tough on everybody. We had a big letdown after Friday. But at this point it's more mental than physical. We have to move forward.”
Carter's challenge is to somehow get his players to forget the disappointment of last Friday and to focus all of their energy and emotions on beating Wichita State (25-9) tonight in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. The game in Wichita (5:05 p.m., 630-AM) will not be televised.
It's not going to be an easy task.
“The guys really felt like we could win on our home floor,” said Carter of the WAC Tournament at Lawlor Events Center. “They are just taking it hard right now.”
Real hard.
“It hurts not to be in the NCAA Tournament,” junior point guard Armon Johnson said. “But we're blessed to get another opportunity to play.”
Johnson, though, didn't hide his disappointment over not winning the WAC title. New Mexico State went on to win the tournament by beating top-seed Utah State, 69-63, on Saturday. Utah State and New Mexico State will represent the WAC this week in the NCAA Tournament as No. 12 seeds.
“I can't speak for anybody else on the team but I'm still mad about it,” Johnson said.
Johnson, though, is looking forward to shaking off the disappointment of last weekend.
“I can't wait to get out there again,” he said. “It's not going to be tough to get up for this game.”
The Pack, who left for Wichita on Tuesday, will be making its fourth appearance in the NIT (1979, 1997, 2003). The 32-team tournament features some high-profile programs who experienced disappointing seasons this year like North Carolina, Illinois, Memphis, North Carolina State and Connecticut.
The Pack (20-12) is the sixth seed in its bracket. The other seeds in the bracket fighting for a chance to get to the NIT semifinal round March 30 at New York's Madison Square Garden are Virginia Tech (No. 1 seed), Rhode Island (2), Wichita State (3), Connecticut (4), Northeastern (5), Northwestern (7) and Quinnipiac (8).
“Now it's like we are getting a fresh start,” senior sixth man Ray Kraemer said.
The Wolf Pack, which hasn't lost two games in a row since a three-game slide in early December, will be making its eighth consecutive postseason appearance. The run started in 2003 in the NIT followed by four seasons in the NCAA Tournament and the last two in the College Basketball Invitational. The Pack's record in the postseason over the past seven seasons is 4-7.
“We now have a chance to play some big-time teams,” said sophomore Luke Babbitt, who scored a career-high 33 points against New Mexico State and is just 16 points away from the Pack's single-season scoring record (Nick Fazekas scored a school-record 721 points in 2005-06).
“We're not in the tournament we wanted to be in but this is exciting,” Babbitt said. “There are a lot of prestigious teams in this tournament. It's going to be tough. But we have a chance to salvage our season and do something positive.”
When asked if he would trade a NIT championship for the opportunity to play just one NCAA Tournament game, Babbitt said, “I haven't thought about that. But, for me, yes, I would take that one NCAA Tournament game.”
And then he smiled.
“But I also want a NIT championship, too,” he added.
Carter knows the road to a NIT title will be difficult. Wichita, which averages more than 10,000 fans at Koch Arena, lost in the title game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament (67-52 to Northern Iowa on March 7) and is 17-0 at home this year.
The Wolf Pack lost to Missouri Valley Conference member Missouri State 62-60 this year in a BracketBusters game. Wichita State beat Missouri State three times this year.
“That's a tough conference,” said Pack senior Brandon Fields, who went scoreless in 35 minutes against New Mexico State. “They play tough man-to-man defense. But we're ready. For me, I'm just happy to play another game as a college basketball player.”
If victorious in Wichita, the Pack would play the winner of Wednesday night's game between Rhode Island and Northwestern in the second round. Carter said the Pack would likely need 7th-seeded Northwestern to upset 2nd-seeded Rhode Island for the Pack to get a second-round home game this weekend.
Wichita State is led by 5-foot-11 guard Clevin Hannah (12.1 points a game), 6-4 guard Toure Murry (11.9 points) and 6-7 forward J.T. Durley (11.2). The Shockers also have size with 7-foot sophomore Garrett Stutz (7.8 points and 4.3 rebounds) and 6-8 junior Gabe Blair (6.3 points, 4.6 boards).
The Shockers, who don't score a lot of points (69.3 a game) and don't give up many (61.4), will be making their 11th NIT appearance.
“It's not going to be easy,” sid Babbitt, referring to the Pack's 5-10 record away from home this year. “This is one of our toughest road games of the year.”
