The Nevada men's program has produced 20 or more wins eight different times, and tonight the 13th-ranked Wolf Pack will shoot for their ninth 20-win season when it visits Louisiana Tech.
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La. This will be the second meeting in six days between the teams.
Nevada made it to 19 wins faster than any team in school history. The 1945-46 team was 17-4 after its first 21 games. The Pack and New Mexico State are atop the WAC with just one loss apiece.
"We have accomplished nothing," Nevada coach Mark Fox said after Nevada's win over Utah State Saturday night. "All we've done is put ourselves in a position to accomplish something. But we haven't done anything yet."
"We feel good about what we're doing now," All American forward Nick Fazekas said. "Our overall record looks good and everything, but it's not a race yet. It's only halfway through the conference season. We're taking it one game at a time because we've been told to do so. There is no need to look at games down the road. We're looking at Louisiana Tech now and take it from there."
Nevada beat Tech 84-67 back on Jan. 25 at Lawlor Events Center, breaking open a 37-all halftime tie with a 15-4 run in a 4 minute 54 second span at the start of the second half.
"Louisiana Tech is playing probably their best basketball of the year," Fox said. "The game was tied at the half. They have figured a style of play that's been successful for them. It (playing a team so soon) doesn't matter to me. We did it last year with a couple of teams. It's not that big of a difference."
Tech coach Keith Richard isn't wild about having a rematch so quickly. He said he'd rather think about another team and play Nevada later in the season. Of course you can't blame him, considering Nevada is one of the top teams in the nation. He's hoping his team can build off its first-half performance against the Pack.
"I think we have to examine what happened in the game," Richard said during Monday's WAC teleconference. "Examine what we did well and what we didn't do well. We have to see if we can close the gap.
"I would think (that first half) would help. The second half showed them just how good Nevada is, and that you have to play well for 40 minutes. That 20 would be good enough (to beat) a lot of people and may have carried over.''
• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281