A smarter, leaner, more focused Malik Story is paying huge dividends for the Nevada Wolf Pack men‘s basketball team this season.

“My shot selection has been much better and I’m making sure I’m getting in a good rhythm this year,” Story said.

Story is currently fourth in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage at .491 ((54-of-110). The junior shooting guard is also second on the Wolf Pack in scoring at 14.5 points a game, behind Deonte Burton (15.6).

“This year I’m keeping my mechanics the same on every shot,” Story said. “I’m not rushing it like I would sometimes last year. “I’m making sure I’m always ready to shoot.”

Burton’s emergence as a scorer who can carry the team this year has helped relieve some of the pressure off Story. Story led the Pack in scoring last season at 14.5 points a game but has improved his 3-point percentage immensely, up from .386 a year ago.

“That helps a whole lot,” said Story of Burton taking over a bulk of the scoring responsibility in crucial moments of the game at times this year. “We feed off each other. When he‘s taking over I can go and do other things to help us win, like rebound and play defense and pass the ball. It makes it a lot easier when you know you don‘t have to always do it by yourself.”

“Since Deonte has taken over some games that frees Malik up,” coach David Carter said. “Teams now have to focus on Deonte and they are leaving Malik open at times. Last year teams would guard Malik a lot closer because Deonte hadn’t proven he could take over games.”

Story also dropped 20 pounds this past off-season, keeping his legs fresher this year.

“I feel w lot better this year,” Story said. “there were a few games when I did get tired but I’m past that now. I have my second wind and I should be fresh for the rest of the season.”

NYEKO STEPPING UP: Carter appreciates the effort of role player Patrick Nyeko this year.
“Patrick has been very consistent all season,” Carter said. “When I put him in there I know what I’m going to get, offensively and defensively. That is big for us.”

The 6-foot-6 Nyeko is now in his third Wolf Pack season after playing in just 26-of-66 games the past two years for a total of 332 minutes (8.1 an appearance). This year Nyeko has appeared in all 19 games and is averaging 14.6 minutes a game as well as 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds. He also has contributed 13 assists, two blocks and eight steals this year.

Nyeko has still struggled on offense this year, making just 10-of-30 shots (.333), 13-of-22 free throws (.591) and just 2-of-13 3-pointers (.154). The past two years combined he was 10-of-35 from the floor
(.286), 3-of-15 on threes (.200) and 18-of-24 on free throws (.750).

Carter, though, isn’t worried about Nyeko’s offense.

“Patrick has done a real nice job for us,” Carter said. “I can depend on him coming off the bench. He won’t take shots outside his comfort zone and he always goes out there and hustles on the defensive end and gives us a spark.”

TOUGH TEST AT LAS CRUCES: Carter calls the New Mexico State Aggies — the Wolf Pack’s opponent Thursday night in Las Cruces, N.M. — the most physical team in the Western Athletic Conference.

“They are going to want to go inside on us,” Carter said. “They are going to want to get our big men in foul trouble because they have more depth than we do. We need Dario (Hunt) to stay on the floor. We need Olek (Czyz) to stay on the floor.”

The 16-3 Wolf Pack will take a 13-game winning streak to Las Cruces.

“They are a real big physical team,” Hunt said. “They will try to be physical with us. And we can‘t back down from them.”

The Aggies are led by 6-6 forward Wendell McKines, who leads the WAC in scoring (18.4) and rebounding (10.5). Hamidu Rahman, a 6-11 center, also averages 6.6 rebounds and point guard Hernst LaRoche is averaging 12.1 points a game as well as 1.8 steals.

The Aggies also lead the nation in free throws attempts (670) and free throws made (450).

“We can’t control the whistles,” hunt said. “We just have to go down there and play our game.”

FREE THROW STRUGGLES: The Wolf Pack continues to have problems at the free throw line. The Pack is shooting just .636 from the line and is ranked 300th in the nation out of 338 teams.

“At this time of year your team kind of is what it is,” Carter said. “We’re not a good free throw shooting team. But we continue to work on it everyday in practice. We’re going to continue to try and get better.”

The Wolf Pack has six players (among those with 10 or more attempts) under. 600 at the line: Czyz (.562), Hunt (.459), Devonte Elliott (.500), Kevin Panzer (.500), Jordan Finn (.538) and Nyeko (.591).

Burton, at .795 (89-of-112), Story at .786 (44-of-56) and Jerry Evans Jr. at .714 (209-of-28) are the Pack’s top free throw shooters.

CARTER REACHES MILESTONE: Carter became the 10th Wolf Pack coach in history to win 50 games with a 74-61 victory over Fresno State last Saturday.

The last seven Pack coaches (Jim Carey, Sonny Allen, Len Stevens, Pat Foster, Trent Johnson, Mark Fox and Carter) have all passed the milestone. Just three (Doc Martie, Jake Lawlor and Jack Spencer) of the first 10 did it.

Carter has a career record of 50-35. It took him 51 games to earn his first 25 victories and just 34 to get his second 25.