Nevada Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Wolf Pack

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 22: Jordan Caroline #24 and Caleb Martin #10 of the Nevada Wolf Pack react after a play in the second half against the Loyola Ramblers during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

Non-conference schedule for 2018-19

Nov. 6 (H) – BYU

Nov. 9 (H) – Pacific

Nov. 16 (H) – Little Rock (Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic)

Nov. 19 (H) – California Baptist (Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic)

Nov. 22 (N) – Tulsa (Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic)

Nov. 23 (N) – S. Illinois/UMass (Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic)

Nov. 27 (A) – Loyola-Chicago

Dec. 1 (A) – USC

Dec. 7 (N) – Arizona State (Basketball Hall of Fame Classic – STAPLES Center – Los Angeles, CA)

Dec. 9 (N) – Grand Canyon (Jerry Colangelo Classic – Talking Stick Resort Arena – Phoenix, AZ)

Dec. 15 (H) – S. Dakota State

Dec. 22 (H) – Akron

Dec. 29 (A) – Utah

The non-conference schedule for the Nevada Wolf Pack isn’t a cakewalk in 2018-19. Last season, the Wolf Pack went 11-3 in non-conference play with wins over the likes of the Rhode Island Rams, Davidson Wildcats and UC-Davis Aggies. This year, they open the season hosting the BYU Cougars. BYU lost leading scorer, Elijah Bryant (18.2 points per game) but still return eight juniors and two seniors this upcoming season. After them, they have another home game against Pacific, a team they beat by 15 on the road in 2017-18.

Two warmup games against Little Rock and California Baptist University should prepare them for their “road-trip” to Las Vegas. Nevada will face the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes in Las Vegas for the official Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic and pending the results, they’ll face the Southern Illinois Salukis or UMass Minutemen in their second game the following day.

After the Classic, two road games against the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers and the USC Trojans will pose a big challenge. The Ramblers were a Cinderella story in their run to last year’s Final Four. They lose three contributing seniors from last year’s team but still should be competitive this upcoming season with top two scorers, Clayton Custer, and Marques Townes, back.

The Arizona State Sun Devils are next on the schedule, another 2018 NCAA Tournament team. The Grand Canyon Antelopes and South Dakota State Jack Rabbits will pose big threats as well. Double-double machine Mike Daum is back for S. Dakota State after averaging 23.9 points and 10.3 rebounds last season while shooting 42.5 percent from 3. A victory over the Akron Zips would be a solid way to close out their home non-conference slate as they close it out with a road game against Donnie Tillman, Jayce Johnson and the Utah Utes.

Nevada has an interesting task ahead of them facing a number of 20-win teams from a year ago. It will prepare them for what’s to come in MWC play, which is what it’s supposed to do but it also will help Eric Musselman solve their rotation issues in the early going to win games.