The Nevada Wolf Pack will be at Arena-Auditorium to take on the Wyoming Cowboys in a Mountain West matchup. The game gets underway at 9:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
The Cowboys won a close one over New Mexico 70-68 on Saturday. Josh Adams led all scorers on the team with 38 points on 10-for-15 shooting. The Wolf Pack are coming off a 74-67 loss to Boise State on Wednesday. Marqueze Coleman had a team-high 17 points.
Over the last five games, Coleman has been on fire for the Wolf Pack. During that stretch, he has averaged 20.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.6 steals, and 0.8 three-pointers.
The aggressive Wyoming offense seems poised to dominate from the foul line. It ranks seventh in the nation with a FTA rate of 48.4, while Nevada is among the nation’s most foul-prone squads (giving up a 288th-ranked FTA rate of 41.6).
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Wolf Pack won the first game 71-68. Coleman was a top performer in the victory with 23 points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two three-pointers.
Wyoming is a four-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 136 points. The Cowboys are attempting to build on their records of 10-9 Straight Up (SU) and 9-5-1 Against The Spread (ATS). The Cowboys are an impressive three-point shooting team with 9.0 made per game, one of the highest marks in Division I. Expect Wyoming to have lots of opportunities at the line against the Wolf Pack, who are one of the most foul-prone teams in the nation with an average of 22.3 fouls per game.
On the other side, the Wolf Pack head into the game with records of 5-10 ATS and 10-7 SU. Nevada has been particularly bad ATS over its past 10 matchups, going 2-7. Nevada is one of the top foul-shooting teams in the nation, hitting 18.0 shots from the line per game. The Wolf Pack are a force on the boards, grabbing an average of 41.3 rebounds per game. Switching gears to the Nevada defense, teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Wolf Pack, who are the 41st-best team in the nation in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .397. They average 7.8 steals per game, good for 49th in the nation.
Nevada beat Wyoming in their most recent meeting this season, but Wyoming still leads the head-to-head record, 6-2 SU, over their most recent matchups. Additionally, Wyoming leads the matchup ATS with a record of 5-3. Neither Wyoming nor Nevada has led in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers) over their most recent five games.
Predictions: SU Winner – Nevada, ATS Winner – Nevada, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Wyoming’s last 6 games.
Wyoming is 20-5 SU in its last 25 games at home.
Wyoming is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Nevada.
Nevada averages 78.2 points per game (ranked 79th). Wyoming, on the other hand, allows 68.8 points per game (ranked 120th).
Nevada beats Wyoming in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Wolf Pack average 73.5 possessions and 1.065 points per possession, while the Cowboys average 67.8 possessions with 1.048 points per possession.
The Wyoming Cowboys average an effective field goal percentage of 52.8% this season. The Nevada Wolf Pack have split their games this season (2-2) when opponents have an eFG% of 52.8% or greater.
Wyoming attempts an average of 25.0 three pointers per game and Nevada attempts 17.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Wyoming Cowboys have an 8-9 record while the Nevada Wolf Pack have a 2-3 record.
Nevada, the 26th-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 41.3 rebounds per game. Wyoming does worse, ranked 337th with 31.4.
The Nevada Wolf Pack rank 43rd in offensive rebounds. The Wyoming Cowboys rank 163rd in the nation in defensive rebounds.
On average, Nevada forces a turnover rate of 18.9%. When Wyoming turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 5-2 record.
