It's on the road at Nevada on Saturday night

The Nevada roster is chock full of newcomers -- seven or eight depending on the definition -- but Coach Davis Carter recently labeled his freshman as sophomores at this point in the season. As expected, the Wolf Pack stumbled out of the proverbial gate but has put together a 5-4 WAC record (8-14 overall). Maybe more importantly, Nevada is 4-1 in conference play at home. Also, the non-league schedule included toughies Pacific, at George Washington, UNLV, at Houston, Arizona State, at Washington and at Portland.

The emergence of freshman Deonte Burton has led this turnaround. Known as a crafty penetrator, his outside-shooting of late has emerged as an equal talent. Besides that development, big man Dario Hunt has expanded his offensive game to where he has doubled his points per game total from last season. But also remember that the now departed Armon Johnson and Luke Babbitt took the majority of shots last season.

The Wolf Pack WAC schedule to date

Dec 31 Hawai'i 86 - 69 (W)

Jan 03 @ Fresno State 74 - 80 (L)

Jan 08 Utah State 67 - 81 (L)

Jan 12 @ Idaho 67 - 72 (L)

Jan 15 @ Boise State 69 - 67 (W)

Deonte Burton scored 20 points and Malik Story added 16 to lead Nevada to a 69-67 victory over Boise State on Saturday night. Dario Hunt had 12 points and eight rebounds as Nevada (5-13, 2-3 Western Athletic) snapped a three-game losing streak. Nevada trailed 56-52 with less than six minutes remaining before Story staged a personal 8-0 run, scoring on a layup and two high-arching 3-pointers from the left corner. The second gave the Wolf Pack a 60-56 advantage with 3:34 left.

Jan 20 New Mexico State 90 - 71 (W)

Deonte Burton scored 22 points to lead five Nevada players in double digits as part of a 90-71 win over New Mexico State on Thursday night. The Wolf Pack (6-13, 3-3 WAC) led 43-36 at halftime and never trailed after that. Dario Hunt picked up a double-double for Nevada with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Olek Czyz added 15 points, Malik Story 10 and Derrell Conner 10 for the Wolf Pack.

Jan 22 Louisiana Tech 66 - 58 (W)

Deonte Burton scored 18 points and Dario Hunt had 16 as Nevada rallied to beat Louisiana Tech 66-58 on Saturday night. Malik Story added 10 points for the Wolf Pack (7-13, 4-3 WAC). Louisiana Tech led by as many as eight points in the first half and led 33-28 at halftime. Nevada opened the second half with a 16-6 run to go up 44-39 with 14:16 left and stretched the lead to 57-45 on a jumper by Jordan Burris with 7:33 to play.

Jan 27 Fresno State 79 - 76 (W)

Dario Hunt had 24 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night as Nevada held on to beat Fresno State 79-76. Deonte Burton added 17 points and Malik Story 13 for the Wolf Pack (8-13, 5-3 Western Athletic), who won their fourth consecutive game.

Feb 2 @ Utah State 67-45 (L)

Brockeith Pane scored 18 points to lead No. 22 Utah State to a 67-45 win over Nevada on Wednesday night for the Aggies' 16th straight victory. The Aggies led 29-28 at the half before beginning the second half with a 21-6 run to take control of the game. Jardine sparked the team during the spurt. Deonte Burton scored 11 points and Dario Hunt grabbed 10 rebounds for Nevada (8-14, 5-4), which was held to its lowest offensive output in 10 years - shooting just 25 percent from the field in the second half.

David Carter's Starting Five

* 6-foot-1 Deonte Burton - 13.5 ppg., shooting 42% overall and 30% from long distance respectively, a team-leading 77 assists, team-leading 26 steals

*6-foot-5 Malik Story - 13.4 ppg., shooting 38% and 42% respectively (figure that one out), 3.4 rpg., he more of a streaky shooter

* 6-foot-8 Jerry Evans - 4.1 ppg., 3.8 rpg., shooting 37%, is long and lanky, starting because of his defensive prowess

* 6-foot-7 Olek Czyz - 13.4 ppg., shooting 56% and 42% respectively, 5.7 rpg., the quickest jumper on the team, not a creator as yet with the ball

* 6-foot-8 Dario Hunt - 13.7 points per game, shooting 54% overall, 72% at the line (he was at 47% last season), 9.4 rebounds a contest, 34 blocked shots but foul trouble in the last few games has limited his playing time

Off The Bench

* 6-foot-6 Patrick Nyeko - like Evans, he's a + defender so he may be used against Adrian Oliver and Justin Graham

* 6-foot-10 Devonte Elliott - has a world of promise, needs to add weight and develop an offensive repertoire

* 6-foot-9 Kevin Panzer - best known as a face-the-basket shooter in high school, he's still adjusting to D-1 basketball

* 6-foot-0 Derrell Conner - the backup at the point, he has been playing better of late, more than half of his shots have been treys, has a 33/33 A-to-TO ratio

* 6-foot-7 Jordan Burris - playing better of late but still rushing his shooting stroke, is more of a shooter than anything else at this point

As a team, Nevada is shooting 43% overall, allowing opponents to make 42%. minus 65 in turnovers, minus 55 in steals.

The Nevada Roster (alphabetized and by position)

Jordan Burris G 6-7 205 Fr
Deonte Burton G 6-1 185 Fr
Derrell Conner G 6-0 165 Jr
Jerry Evans G 6-8 188 Fr
Jordan Finn G 6-4 190 Fr.
Keith Fuetsch G 6-0 170 So
Patrick Nyeko G 6-6 180 So
Malik Story G 6-5 225 So

Adam Carp F 6-7 215 Sr
Marko Cukic F 6-9 250 So
Olek Czyz F 6-7 240 Jr
Devonte Elliott F 6-10 220 Fr
Dario Hunt F 6-8 230 Jr
Keith Olson F 6-10 270 Jr
Kevin Panzer F 6-9 205 Fr