Nevada Wolf Pack Basketball

The seventh-seeded Nevada Wolf Pack survived in overtime, earning an 87-83 win over the 10th-seeded Texas Longhorns in the South Regional of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Senior guard Kendall Stephens was one of five Nevada starters to score in double figures, pouring in a team-high 22 points.

Longhorns freshman forward Mohamed Bamba finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds and fouled out with 3.8 seconds remaining in regulation.

Bamba's fifth foul capped off what had been a disastrous second half for Texas, though some argued Bamba didn't deserve his early exit:

I'm gonna go out on this limb and say that was a horrible call on Bamba.

— Brian Davis (@byBDavis) March 16, 2018

Mo Bamba's last two fouls were not fouls.

— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) March 16, 2018

Chris Hummer of 247Sports countered that Texas had little room for complaint after it threw away what had been shaping up as a comfortable win:

The foul calls on Bamba were horrible, but Texas shouldn't even be in this position.

— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) March 16, 2018

The Longhorns were up 40-26 with 18:43 left in the game before the Wolf Pack stormed back. Nevada junior guard Jordan Caroline had an opportunity to put his team ahead before overtime but made just one of his two free throws after Bamba fouled out.

Texas freshman guard Matt Coleman, who had 25 points in the game, scored five quick points in overtime to get the Longhorns ahead early in the extra frame. The lead didn't hold, though, as a pair of three-pointers from Wolf Pack junior forward Caleb Martin put Nevada ahead 81-77 with 1:38 left.

Texas junior guard Kerwin Roach II made things interesting with a three-pointer within the final 18 seconds to make it an 85-83 game, but Stephens nailed two free throws to seal the result.

Nevada will meet the second-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats in the second round. Cincinnati had its hands full with the 15th-seeded Georgia State Panthers before pulling away in the second half to win 68-53.

Although Eric Musselman was a hot commodity on the coaching carousel, Nevada ensured the basketball head coach will remain with the program for the foreseeable future.

According to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the program has offered Musselman a significant raise to stay with the Wolfpack. His wife confirmed to KOLO 8 News that the coach isn't going anywhere.

The 52-year-old just completed his second season with Nevada. After inheriting a team that won just nine games in 2014-15, he led the squad to a 24-14 record in his first year. This season was even better as the squad went 28-7 with its first NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years.

While he reportedly interviewed twice for the job opening at California, per KOLO 8, Nevada clearly didn't want to let him go.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure Muss stays with us and stays happy here," Nevada athletic director Doug Knuth said Monday, per Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal. "He means a lot to our community, he means a lot to our department and he means a lot to our basketball program. We want him to stay here and stay here with us for a long time." 

Musselman had never been a head coach at the collegiate level before this job, but he has a lot of experience in the NBA. In addition to numerous years as an assistant, he was the head coach of the Golden State Warriors for two seasons and the Sacramento Kings for one.

He also got acclimated to the college game as an assistant with Arizona State and LSU prior to taking the reins with the Wolfpack.

Although Nevada will lose key players to graduation, the program is clearly heading in the right direction with Musselman.

Every year there is a Cinderella story in the NCAA tournament. Which team has the best shot this year?

Watch as Jordan Schultz makes his pick in the video above.

Nevada trailed New Mexico 90-76 with just over a minute left last night. What happened next was one of the most insane comebacks you'll see. pic.twitter.com/PEqe0wmbqK

— March Madness 2017 (@Madness2017) January 8, 2017

Whether you're winning by two points or 14, no lead in college basketball is safe until the final buzzer sounds.

New Mexico learned that lesson the hard way when it hosted Nevada. It led the Wolf Pack by 14 points with just over a minute left in the game, only to see its lead collapse in the dying seconds of the game.

Nevada tied it at the end of the second period and would go on to hit a game-winning three-point shot with two seconds left in overtime to win 105-104.

Always play until the clock hits zero. Miracles can happen.

This may not just be a candidate for Dunk of the Year. It looks like a winner.

Nevada senior guard Deonte Burton took off eight feet from the basket and rocked home a one-handed jam over Boise State’s Ryan Watkins on Wednesday night in what could stand to be the nastiest dunk of the 2013-14 college basketball season.

Video of the posterization was uploaded to Instagram by the Mountain West Conference (h/t Rob Dauster of College Basketball Talk). Burton is 6’1”, but took Watkins (6’9”) to the cup with zero hesitation.

General rule: When you dunk on your opponent and their fans scream “Ohhh,” you know you did a bad, bad thing.

Burton left nothing but scorched earth and Bronco tears by the time he left Boise State’s Taco Bell Arena that night. His thievery of Watkins’ soul was just part of a huge individual performance for the senior. Burton dropped 25 points against Boise State and helped Nevada top the Broncos in an 83-81 double-overtime victory. 

Burton is no stranger to life above the rim, however. He’s essentially a one-man poster factory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHZAqUheUMk

It’s a strong man’s game, and Burton is one strong man. 

Burton played all 50 minutes of the game for the Wolf Pack—what else would you expect from a man whose bounce spits in the face of gravity and inertia?

Burton’s dunk has already earned him the No. 1 spot on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10, a distinction that will only help his NBA draft stock.

It remains to be seen why Burton has only been a blip on the national media’s radar, according to DraftExpress.com, despite scoring over 2,000 points in his college career.

NBA scouts love him for his athleticism, but they’re a bit tentative due to his age (per DraftExpress). At the age of 22, Burton is three or four years older than many other top prospects, but athleticism like this doesn’t disappear overnight.

Burton’s skill set is for real, and I’d much rather have him dunk for me than on me.

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After Washington and UMass advanced on Tuesday, there are two more matchups to decide who will battle in the semifinals of the NIT tournament.

Middle Tennessee and Minnesota kick off the action on Wednesday night, while Stanford and Nevada follow.

Here's a look at how I see the games shaking out.

Middle Tennessee (No. 4 Seed, Region 2) vs. Minnesota (No. 6 Seed)

Middle Tennessee has been very efficient shooting the basketball this season. The Blue Raiders shot 49.6 percent in the regular season, fourth in the nation.

Led by LaRon Dendy, Marcos Knight and JT Sulton, the Blue Raiders have the firepower to create havoc, as they did against No. 1 seed Tennessee in the second round.

Minnesota has a big body in Rodney Williams to slow the Middle Tennessee offense down, as well as a good supporting cast on offense. The Golden Gophers have 10 players averaging 14 minutes per game or more.

In the end, I see Middle Tennessee coming away with the victory. The Blue Raiders have a good player in Dendy and I think the offense will be too efficient for the Golden Gophers down the stretch.

Stanford (No. 3 Seed, Region 4) vs. Nevada (No. 5 Seed)

Every time I look at the Stanford Cardinal, I wonder how they keep winning games. Their biggest strength is their rebounding (50th in the nation during the regular season), but they were outrebounded by Cleveland State and Illinois State in the NIT tournament and still came away with victories.

The reason for Stanford's recent success has been its shooting. The Cardinal shot 49 percent against Cleveland State and 52 percent against Illinois State. That impressive shooting percentage is a marked contrast from the regular season when Stanford shot only 44 percent from the field, good for 147th in the nation.

I tend to have more faith in Nevada. The Wolf Pack can outrebound the Cardinal (45th in the nation during the regular season), and they are a better shooting team overall. Nevada shot 50 percent against Bucknell in the second round and attacked the rim, getting to the free-throw line 32 times.

Multiple players have also been stepping up for the Wolf Pack. Dario Hunt has been a rebounding and blocking machine all season long, Olek Czyz and Malik Story just dropped 24 points and 18 points, respectively, on Bucknell, and leading scorer Deonte Burton has been known to hit some timely shots.

The only concern for the Wolf Pack is that they aren't very deep beyond these players, so if they get into foul trouble, momentum could shift to Stanford.

But if the Wolf Pack stay out of foul trouble, I see them upsetting Stanford.

Follow me on Twitter. We can talk about the NIT tournament.

Cinderella Madness

WhatIfSports.com and CollegeHoops.net have partnered up to bring you Cinderella Madness 2012.

This college basketball simulation tournament features 16 of the most memorable Cinderella stories from the past eight seasons. We invited teams outside the Big Six conferences, seeded 7th or lower that advanced to the Sweet 16 or beyond in their bracket to participate.

Utilizing our award-winning college basketball simulation engine, we "played" each matchup 501 times.

View the 16-team Cinderella Madness bracket.

2009-10 Cornell

The third of Steve Donahue's Ivy League champion teams was the best, and the Big Red would show that in decisive wins over Temple and Wisconsin. Surprisingly enough, Cornell's lone league defeat would come at the hands of a Penn squad that would go on to finish the season 6-22, and from that point on the Big Red went on to win nine straight before falling to Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

Ryan Wittman was the leading scorer while seven-footer Jeff Foote and guard Louis Dale also averaged double figures, and nine players would play at least 10.7 minutes per game.

2003-04 Nevada

Mark Fox's Wolf Pack were the class of the WAC throughout the 2003-04 season and led by wing Kirk Snyder, Nevada would win 26 games before falling to Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16.

But Snyder wasn't alone as the versatile Nick Fazekas had the ability to score either inside or out, and Todd Okeson was a more than capable sidekick on the perimeter.

All five starters averaged at least 9.4 points per game, and their NCAA tournament wins would come at the expense of Michigan State and Gonzaga. Nevada averaged a shade less than 76 points per game and shot 45 percent from the field while limiting opponents to 41 percent shooting.

-Raphielle Johnson, CollegeHoops.net

Game recap

At the time of publication, only two NCAA basketball programs were shooting over 50 percent as a team in 2011-2012 (Creighton/Missouri). Cornell allowed Nevada to shoot 52.6 percent from the floor (30-57 FG) and were out-rebounded by 12 (36-24) in their opening-round matchup.

The Wolf Pack were in prime position to knock the Big Red out in the first half with a firestorm of hot shooting, but Dale drilled back-to-back three-pointers followed by a Foote floater in the lane to keep the game within reach.

The story of the second half was a six-and-a-half minute stretch of uninterrupted action. Nevada outscored Cornell 15-7 during that stampede and led by eight in the game's final minutes. Jon Jacques' three-pointer would pull Cornell within two, but Andy Bernard's alma mater could get no closer.

The Wolf Pack advance with a 75-73 win.

Player of the game: Kirk Snyder (19 PTS, 13 REB, 6 AST)

Winning percentage of 501 simulations: '04 Nevada 51.3 percent -'10 Cornell 48.7 percent

Dominic Artis is an artist with the basketball. He has some of the best ball handling in the class of 2012, but Artis is very underrated. ESPN.com has Artis rated a 40 out of 100, but he hasn’t gone completely unnoticed.

Artis, 5’11", 165 pounds, has offers from California, Florida International, Nevada, UC Davis and Washington State. Florida International and Nevada are strongly pursuing Artis, and who could blame them? With a killer step-back jumper to go along with the handles, imagine a young Allen Iverson. Flashy passing and quick hands on defense are also apart of Artis arsenal.

Artis can get up there too, yes he has hops. If Artis was playing on the East Coast, he could be seeing offers from UNC, Kentucky, etc., but as the summer progresses, we should see more offers rolling in for this high quality player.

Artis will be called "undersized" but we’ve heard this before with many players. Artis has very high elevation on his jump shot which will help against taller defenders.

Currently playing AAU ball with the Drew Gooden Soldiers, Artis has had some well known teammates, 2011 Arizona guard Nick Johnson. Along with Johnson, Artis has played next to Kiwi Gardner and Jabari Brown.

Look out for the 2011 Drew Gooden Soldiers, who also go by the Oakland Soldiers, to wreak havoc on the west coast and wherever they travel.

If you’re still uncertain about Artis, just watch this and you will not have ANY doubt in your mind.

Shoutout to Yay Areas Finest for all the quality footage of Artis, Johnson, Gardner and Brown!

Let's just get it out of the way. Luke Babbitt (hell, throw Gordon Hayward in the mix, too) is white. He has a decent handle, a sweet jumper, and can create his own shot.

Which, naturally, automatically means he can't play defense, has zero lateral quickness, isn't explosive, doesn't have a true position, is a "tweener", can't keep up with elite athletes, and can't do any of the awesome things he did in college at the next level.

Because if he did, the world would stop spinning.

If he, or anyone else for that matter, actually did live up to those ungodly Larry Bird, Dirk Nowitzki, Rick Barry, or Detlef Schrempf comparisons, the NBA as we know it would cease to exist.

Come on, people. Let's give it a rest.

NBA experts, fans, and writers, can we all just agree on something? White guys are not all the rage in the NBA.

You don't like them, don't respect them, and damn sure don't appreciate them.

Either they can't dunk, or they can and they can't shoot. Or they're really quick, but have a terrible handle. Or they have the best offensive game you've ever seen, but can't cover a rock.

Whatever it is you want to say about Babbitt, let it out. It's old news. It's been said before. Because, really, who cares if he can't play defense?

I mean, who does in the NBA? Even LeBron James isn't actually that great of a defender. Don't give me some line about his steals per 48 minutes or his one block off of the glass in every three games.

That isn't an elite defender. That's an appearance on a highlight reel every now and then. Allen Iverson routinely was near the top of the league in steals, but was he really an elite defender? No, he wasn't.

Heck, even J.J. Redick has shown of late that some hard work and a tough attitude can help you play decent defense in this league.

Is Dirk Nowitzki an elite defender? No, so let's drop this "he can't play defense, so he's gotta be a role player" crap.

Luke Babbitt can flat-out shoot the ball, create his own shot, tear down boards off the glass, and run the floor.

Case closed. The kid is good, and he belongs in the lottery. And at the very worst, he's a top-20 pick.

But, of course, there's that crap about him being another version of Adam Morrison. Why, because he's white, was awesome in college, played for a small school, and has a shag hair-cut?

Yes, Babbitt is crafty, versatile, and a scoring machine. But he doesn't have a mustache, actually cut down his shag, and is a tenacious rebounder and much better passer than Morrison.

Game break.

Starting Adam Morrison tanget...

But before I finish off why Babbitt is ten times better than you, Stephen A. Smith, or any other hater pretends he is, let me say this:

Adam Morrison is not a conventional bust. Comparing a player to him should not be an insult.

The guy was actually tearing up the league in his rookie year. It was his first season. He was scoring in double figures almost every night, routinely topping 20 points, and developing a closer mentality.

And this was in Charlotte as he played for the friggin' Bobcats, who were terrible at the time, and were widely known for their horrible team offense.

He was on a team and in a city that never truly embraced him, respected him, or appreciated him.

From the start, he was yanked in and out of the starting lineup, benched, served inconsistent minutes, and eventually half-way run out of town toward the end of his rookie season.

Then, before he had the chance to redeem himself from fate's ugly hand, he was served an hot, heaping bowl of bad luck.

The guy tore his ACL running out to defend Luke Walton in the pre-season. After he fought his way back and managed even the smallest amount of confidence in his surgically repaired knee, Larry Brown killed his mustache/high-knee sock mojo with repeated benchings and sporadic minutes.

If you're not biased or already a Morrison hater, a look at his rookie tape, his injury, and his situations on the Bobcats and Lakers the past three years tells the true story.

Seriously, isn't this the same bust that tore up summer league in 2009 for 20+ points per game? Check it out, folks, because the answer is, "hell yes".

Game on.

In other words, don't call Luke Babbitt white. Don't knock him for something so stupid like defense when his offense is literally better than just about everyone in this entire NBA Draft not named Evan Turner.

Play the "Player A vs Player B game" and you'll find the truth. And the worst part is, my small voice, my small stature as a writer, has said this before.

Luke Babbitt is not Adam Morrison. He's Luke Babbitt.

But if he were Adam Morrison, it wouldn't be such a bad thing. He'd just actually need a fair shake.