Nevada rode a big second-half surge to a Mountain West-opening 79-70 victory over New Mexico Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack (7-5, 1-0 MW) got double-doubles from three players Saturday.
The Sierra Nevada Classic, one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the state was canceled last week due to the winter storm that hit the area and closed US 50 and Interstate 80 for days.
Matt Bradley had 17 points and seven rebounds and Keshad Johnson recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds to carry San Diego State to a 62-55 win over UNLV on Saturday in a Mountain West Conference opener. San Diego State (9-3, 1-0) earned its fourth consecutive victory. Chad Baker added 11 points. Nathan Mensah had 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
The Pershing County wrestling team has a big weekend ahead of them. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 7 and 8, they’ll compete in the Sparks Railroader Tournament. They’ll also have the chance to wrestle in the Carson City Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 8.
Turning more bowls into playoff games would give more players a worthy reward for risking millions in potential future earnings to participate in the postseason. Players opting out of bowl games became the underlying theme of New Year’s Day in college football, which was a shame because the games themselves were entertaining — even with some missing All-Americans.
The Pershing County boys basketball team has its eye on the prize. They aim to make it to the playoffs. Despite this week’s losses that goal remains within their grasp. Tuesday the Mustangs lost to Dayton (46-24) in a non-conference match-up. Thursday they suffered a five point loss to the Coral Academy Falcons (44-39).
The Pershing County High School girls basketball team won two road games this past week. On Tuesday they edged ahead of Dayton in a close win 39-34. This past Thursday, in their first league game of the season, the Mustangs blew away Coral Academy 57-8.
If a team is unavailable to play in College Football Playoff semifinals on New Year’s Eve because of COVID-19 issues, the game will be forfeited and the available team will advance to the championship. With COVID-19 cases spiking across the country due to the omicron variant, the CFP announced Wednesday contingency plans for the semifinals and national championship game, which is scheduled for Jan. 10 in Indianapolis but could be delayed as much as four days. No. 1 Alabama is scheduled to face No. 4 Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl in one Dec. 31 semifinal and No. 2 Michigan is set to play No. 3 Georgia in the Orange Bowl in the nightcap of the CFP doubleheader.
Top-ranked Alabama arrived Sunday in North Texas without offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien or offensive line coach Doug Marrone, but coach Nick Saban expected both assistants to make it for the playoff semifinal game at the Cotton Bowl.
The University of Nevada softball team has released its 2022 spring schedule, head coach Linda Garza announced last week. Nevada’s 52 game slate includes five away tournaments and 24 conference games in the season. The Pack will have 14 home games, including two home non-conference doubleheader games, and 12 away games in the conference schedule. Nevada will face one Power 5 opponent and two teams that were in NCAA postseason tournaments last season, UCLA and conference opponent Fresno State.
Head coach Jay Norvell isn’t the only member of the 2021 Nevada Wolf Pack football team who didn’t truly believe that home means Nevada. Nearly two dozen players, coaches and recruits, who were on the Wolf Pack roster or verbally committed to the school, all chose to be Rocky Mountain high with Norvell’s Colorado State Rams.
With the Raiders trailing by six points at halftime Sunday, Josh Jacobs told the coaches to give him a chance to get into a rhythm, to make up for a lost fumble, and to put their trust in his running abilities. They obliged.
Josh Johnson joined the Ravens 10 days ago, and the well-traveled quarterback started his first game in 1,092 days with first place in the AFC North on the line Sunday at Cincinnati. The Chargers didn’t have outside linebacker Joey Bosa, running back Austin Ekeler, receiver Mike Williams and center Corey Linsley when they faced the Texans. The Vikings were missing running back Dalvin Cook for their matchup against the Rams. Blame COVID-19.