Nevada Wolf Pack notebook: Martin says win will help team later in season

RENO – Cody Martin believes Monday’s 88-81 win over Rhode Island could bode well for the Nevada men’s basketball team’s future.

The 6-foot-7 swingman said it helped the team to have a game like this early in the season.

“I think it helps,” he said. “We hadn’t dealt with it (as a team), and now we know we can handle it. We have a lot of leaders on this team, and that helps.”

Certainly Caleb and Cody Martin went through their share of barnburners like Monday night when the duo played at North Carolina State. And, Lindsey Drew and Jordan Caroline certainly were involved in some rugged games.

That kind of experience certainly helps, and now this year’s team has done it once, that should help when the team gets in tight battles down the road.

And, speaking of the road, wins against Santa Clara and Pacific will look good on the Pack’s resume come March. Road wins are now supposed to carry more weight than in past years.

MOVEMENT IN POLL?

Nevada garnered just seven points in the first AP basketball poll of the season, and Rhode Island just barely missed making the Top 25.

It would stand to reason Nevada may garner a little more attention in the coming weeks. The next two games are road games, but both are winnable.

MORE CAROLINE

Besides it being Caroline’s 15th career double-double, Caroline led the Pack in scoring for the eighth time and 21st time in rebounding in his career. It was his 17th career double-figure rebounding game, according to Nevada officials.

NUMBERS GALORE

The Pack scored 88 points in each of its first two wins of the season … Nevada is 31-4 under Musselman at Lawlor Events Center, including 15-1 in its last 16 games … Caleb Martin is averaging 25 a game thus far … Kendall Stephens has cooled off since the exhibition games. He was 1-for-6 from beyond the arc against Idaho, and he failed to get up a shot in 18 minutes against Rhode Island … Cody Martin has two straight double-figure scoring games … Nevada still isn’t getting what it needs from Elijah Foster and Darien Williams. Against RI, the duo combined for four points, three rebounds, one assist and one turnover.

MUSS ONE OF 11

Nevada coach Eric Musselman is one of 11 former NBA head coaches now in the college ranks. The others are Lon Krueger (Oklahoma), John Calipari (Kentucky), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State). Avery Johnson (Alabama), Reggie Theus (Cal-State Northridge), Mike Dunleavy (Tulane), Eddie Jordan (Rutgers) and Rick Pitino (Louisville). The latter was recently fired.