GAME NOTES: Two of the top teams in the Western Athletic Conference square off in Reno tonight, as the Utah State Aggies come calling on the Nevada Wolf Pack. This game was originally scheduled for January 5th, but was postponed due to inclement weather. Utah State opened the season a rather lackluster 5-5, but since that point, the team has gone 13-1 and currently sits atop the WAC standings with an 8-1 mark. The Aggies took out visiting San Jose State in their most recent outing, 78-73, improving to 14-0 this season at home. USU, which is in the midst of a run that will see the team play five games in 10 days, has struggled a bit away from Logan though, logging a 3-5 mark in true road bouts. As for Nevada, it is in the thick of the WAC race with a 7-3 league mark, and the club has won five of its last six games to climb to 15-8 overall. The Wolf Pack is an impressive 10-2 in Reno in 2007-08 and is coming off an 88-68 pasting of Hawaii on Saturday in its most recent affair. Utah State owns a 25-11 edge in the all-time series, and the two teams met on February 2nd in Logan with the Aggies prevailing in a 77-63 final. As a result, USU has won the last three meetings with the four-time defending WAC champion Wolf Pack.

Led by All-America candidate Jaycee Carroll, Utah State is one of the more productive offensive teams in the WAC, putting up 72.9 ppg behind 50.5 percent shooting from the field and a league-best 39.9 percent from three-point land. Carroll is a 52.6 percent shooter from the floor who has drained 77 of his 152 three-point tries (.507) and 92-of-100 (.920) free-throw attempts. As a result, the 6-2 senior guard is averaging 21.5 ppg while also doing his share on the glass with 6.2 rpg. The only other double-digit scorer for USU at the moment is Gary Wilkinson (13.3 ppg), but both Tai Wesley and Stephen DuCharme are close to joining the ranks, checking in with 9.7 and 9.6 ppg, respectively. Not surprising, Carroll has led the team in scoring or shared the lead 14 times this season, and is enjoying a run of three straight games in which he has scored no fewer than 22 points. Carroll notched a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds in the recent win over San Jose State, while Wilkinson added 15 points and seven boards, and Wesley finished with 13 points.

As valuable as Carroll is to the Aggies, Marcelus Kemp serves in the same capacity for the Wolf Pack, as the 6-5 senior guard is averaging 19.2 points and 5.3 caroms per contest. An 86.1 percent foul shooter, Kemp has more free throws made (93) than every other player on the roster except for JaVale McGee has attempted. McGee is netting 13.4 ppg and he leads the team's rebounding effort with 7.8 rpg, while Brandon Fields (12.6 ppg) and Armon Johnson (11.6 ppg) both average double digits in scoring as well. As a team, the Wolf Pack is netting 74.9 ppg and yielding 69.7 ppg. Turnovers have plagued the squad (14.9 per tilt), but shooting 48.2 percent from the field and claiming a +3.5 rebounding advantage has played a major role in the team's success. With McGee leading the way with 62 rejections, Nevada is averaging a gaudy 5.9 blocked shots per outing. Kemp and McGee are both coming off 20+ point efforts in the recent win over Hawaii, with the former nailing 5-of-6 three-point attempts on the way to 25 points, and the latter hitting for 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Nevada dropped a blistering 61.2 percent of its total shots in the game, including 11-of-17 triples, while limiting the Warriors to just 4-of-17 out on the perimeter and a .441 overall shooting percentage.

Utah State got the better of the Pack in Logan a little while back, and Nevada would love to return the favor here. Carroll is the best player on the court most nights the Aggies laces 'em up, but Kemp, McGee and company might just have what it takes to neutralize USU's star and steal a win in front of the hometown faithful.