Pack finalizes men’s basketball schedule

RENO (Nevada Athletics) — University of Nevada head men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman announced the remainder of the Wolf Pack’s 2015-16 nonconference schedule today. The Wolf Pack will play 12 nonconference games this season with five coming at home. There are 16 homes games which includes two exhibition games and nine Mountain West contests.

The first chance to see first-year head coach Eric Musselman’s team will be on Oct. 30 in a home exhibition contest against Dominican University. The second exhibition game is set for Nov. 6 versus Alaska-Fairbanks at Lawlor Events Center.

Nevada opens the regular season in the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic hosted by the University of Hawai`i at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Pack takes on Coastal Carolina on Nov. 13 and Montana State Nov. 14. The game with Hawai`i is set for 1:00 a.m. PT on Nov. 17 and will air on ESPN2 as part of the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

“Our players are excited about the upcoming season and the first three games in Hawaii will be a very challenging test out of the gate, with our first game being against Coastal Carolina, a back-to-back NCAA tournament team,” Musselman said.

The four-game road swing to start the season continues at Pacific on Nov. 21. The first regular season home contest is Nov. 25 when Portland State comes to Lawlor. A trip to Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 28 is followed by a home game with Holy Names to close out November on the 30th.

Nevada starts the month of December at Pac-12 member Oregon State on the 5. The Pack returns home for a three-game homestand, the longest of the season hosting Fresno Pacific, Drake and Santa Clara. The Drake game on Dec. 12 is part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.

Nevada travels to national power, Wichita State on Dec. 22 to complete the nonconference portion of the schedule. This Shockers have appeared in the last four NCAA Tournaments including a trip to the 2013 Final Four. The 2014-15 team went 30-5 and lost in the NCAA Sweet 16 to Notre Dame.

“We are very excited to play two extremely challenging road games at Wichita State and Oregon State,” added Musselman. “Gregg Marshall does a great job at WSU and it is one of the toughest places in the country to play. They have sold out 31 straight games at Koch Arena and have won 32 consecutive home games, which is the third longest active streak in the country. OSU will be an extremely tough road game. Wayne Tinkle has done a great job and the Beavers will be one of the top teams in the Pac-12 this year. They return Gary Payton, Jr. who is one of the front-runners for Pac-12 player of the year.”

“We are eager to play in front of the great Wolf Pack fans at Lawlor Event Center. We have some of the best fans and we are excited to show them our brand of basketball.”

The MW schedule was announced in June. The Wolf Pack will play eight home-and-home series and two one-time games again this season. Nevada will play just one game at San José State and host the defending co-MW Champion San Diego State Aztecs just once.

Wolf Pack Men’s Basketball season tickets are on sale now. Prices start out as low as $185 for adults and $79 for youth. To purchase online please visit NevadaWolfPack.com/tickets or call the Wolf Pack Ticket Office at (775) 348-PACK (7225) to speak with a Wolf Pack representatives.