Moody and Murray plus Chris Gabel on last night's Nevada - NC game

Darrell Moody and Chris Murray, plus Chris Gabel cover last night's Wolf Pack - Tarheel game.

No. 1 Tar Heels too much for Wolf Pack
Darrell Moody
Nevada Appeal

RENO — Nevada basketball coach Mark Fox said his team played exactly how it wanted for a majority of the first half.

Unfortunately, Nevada couldn’t sustain it and dropped an 84-61 decision to top-ranked and unbeaten North Carolina Saturday night before a crowd of 10,526 fans at Lawlor Events Center.

Nevada dropped to 7-6 entering Saturday’s Western Athletic Conference opener at home against Idaho, while North Carolina improved to 13-0 heading into its ACC opener at home against Boston College.

“We had the game where we wanted it,” Fox said. “We were playing with purpose. My expectation was to win. We’re not into moral victories. We knew we were playing a great team and had to play well. We just didn’t play it right long enough. It was a great test for our young team. I was pleased with a lot of things we did tonight...

Go here for the remainder.

Here's Chris Murray first with a game report then separate articles on Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson.

Heels step on Wolf Pack
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette Journal
January 1, 2009

For about 10 minutes, the Nevada basketball team gave its faithful a reason to believe it could upset No. 1-ranked North Carolina on Wednesday night at Lawlor Events Center.

The Wolf Pack had the game's tempo right where it wanted it: Luke Babbitt was tossing rainbow after rainbow through the net and Nevada was holding reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough in check.

"We played exactly like we wanted to play for the first two-thirds of the first half," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "I thought we played it perfectly. It's exactly how we wanted to play."

Then UNC cranked up the defensive pressure and Nevada started to fatigue. What resulted was an 84-61 Tar Heels victory in front of a season-high 10,526 fans. Although Nevada never cut the UNC lead into single digits after intermission, it did have the Tar Heels on the run early...

Go here for the remainder.

and

Babbitt performs on big stage against UNC
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette Journal
January 1, 2009

In a game that likely featured multiple future first-round NBA draft picks, the player who shone the brightest throughout the Nevada-North Carolina game was a freshman only 13 games into his college career.

In his first college game on national television, Nevada power forward Luke Babbitt held his own against reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough. And, to think, Babbitt almost didn't play at all.

"Luke sprained his knee and didn't practice yesterday, didn't go through shootaround (on Wednesday)," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "As of 10 this morning, I wasn't sure he was going to play..."

Go here for the remainder.

and

Wolf Pack Basketball: Johnson's touch not the same
Chris Gabel
Reno Gazette Journal
January 1, 2009

The team results between Wednesday and last season's meeting with North Carolina were pretty much the same -- a 20-plus-point defeat for the Wolf Pack -- but the individual effectiveness of Nevada's Armon Johnson was much different.
Advertisement

Johnson set a career high with 23 points in last year's game in Chapel Hill, N.C. He had a respectable 15 in the 84-61 loss Wednesday at Lawlor Events Center, but it came on 6-of-17 shooting.

"Sometimes you have (a) tough night, just couldn't get them to go down," Johnson, who did not have a good look all night, said afterward.

It was the second straight off night for Johnson, after he went 3-of-12 for six points against Idaho State on Saturday, following his 33-point performance against Cal State on Dec. 20, which was a new career high...

Go here for the remainder.