The last thing the Nevada Wolf Pack basketball team was thinking about in late December 1965 was a long winning streak.

Center Bill Nicholson had missed the last six games because of an emergency appendectomy on Dec. 11.  And forward Nap Montgomery and guard Bob Gilliam were laying in Steptoe Valley Hospital in Ely because of injuries suffered in a two-car accident on an icy Highway 50 the night of Dec. 28.

Winning streak? The only thing Pack coach Jack Spencer was worried about as the calendar flipped from 1965 to 1966 was finding enough healthy bodies to finish the season.

“With Bill Nicholson, Nap Montgomery and Bob Gilliam out, our chances are uncertain,” Spencer told the Nevada State Journal.

Uncertain was about as positive and upbeat as Spencer could sound with a game on New Year’s Day in the Nevada gym against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo looming on the schedule.

“I’d say the only thing in our favor is that the game is on our own home court,” said Spencer, in his seventh year as Pack coach in 1965-66.

How’s that for optimism?

But who could blame Spencer for tempering his enthusiasm? Three starters were out. The doctors even warned that Gilliam, who suffered a cracked kneecap in the crash, would likely have to miss the rest of the season. Four losses in the last five games left Spencer’s Pack at 4-5 with the Far Western Conference season about to begin in a week.

A season that began with hope and promise because of the return of four starters from a 12-12 team in 1964-65 now seemed on the verge of destruction.

“We’re just going to have to make do with the players we have,” Spencer said. “We have a lot of capable players.”

Little did Spencer or anyone else in northern Nevada, for that matter, know that the Wolf Pack was about to embark on a historic 16-game winning streak, a streak not equaled until this year’s Wolf Pack saw its own 16-game streak come to an end last Saturday with a 72-68 loss to Idaho.

A game-by-game look back at the Pack’s 16-game winning streak in 1965-66 . . .

Game 1: WOLF PACK 84, CAL POLY SAN LUIS OBISPO 83 (Jan. 1, 1966): A nice way to start the new year. Up 84-79 with under a minute to play, the Wolf Pack had to hang on for dear life. Cal Poly’s Bill Bruce almost won the game with a shot from half court at the final buzzer. The victory, though, wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing recovery and return of both Nicholson and Montgomery. The 6-foot-5 Nicholson scored 17 points and Montgomery, who ended up not missing a single game after the accident, had a dozen as the Pack evened its record at 5-5. Larry Moore also had 17 and Frank Bruno had 16.

Game 2: WOLF PACK 91, HUMBOLDT STATE 68 (Jan. 8, 1966): The Pack opened its Far Western Conference season on the road with an easy victory as Moore, a senior from Richmond, Calif., scored a career-high 37 points. Montgomery had 20 points, Bruno had 17 and Nicholson 11 as the Pack broke open a close game (they were up by just 2 with 10 minutes to go) in the second half.

Game 3: WOLF PACK 74, NEVADA SOUTHERN 70 (Jan. 10, 1966): The Wolf Pack went down to the Las Vegas Convention Center in January 1966 having never won a basketball game in four tries in the city of Las Vegas. And they would make the trip with Gilliam, who would stun everyone by missing just two games after the car accident. The Pack got its first win ever in Las Vegas as Moore scored 21, Montgomery had 15, Bruno had 14 and Gilliam added 13 as Spencer played just six players. He might have played just five had Nicholson not fouled out (replaced by Jerry Hart) with 16 minutes to go.

Game 4: WOLF PACK 79, SACRAMENTO STATE 71 (Jan. 12, 1966): The Pack improved to 2-0 in the FWC as Moore erupted for 30 points. Spencer again played just six players as Montgomery contributed 21 points, Bruno had 15 and Gilliam had 10. The Pack led just 54-52 with eight minutes to go but Moore scored six points to key an 8-0 run.

Game 5: WOLF PACK 78, SANTA CLARA 72 (Jan. 26, 1966): The Wolf Pack ended a 14-day lay-off by staging the first-ever college game at the brand new Centennial Coliseum on south Virginia Street. The Pack seemed to like its new surroundings as the 6-2 Montgomery scored 29 points and Nicholson had his best game since returning from his surgery with 20 points.

Game 6: WOLF PACK 85, CHICO STATE 76 (Jan. 28, 1966): The Wolf Pack returned to FWC play by beating the Wildcats behind 26 points from Moore, 24 from Bruno and 19 from Montgomery. The Pack was up by 21 at halftime but Chico pulled to within 76-70 with three minutes to go. Spencer played his five starters the entire game.

Game 7: WOLF PACK 88, UC DAVIS 62 (Jan. 29, 1966): The Pack, playing its third game in four days (all at home) whipped Davis from the opening tip. The Pack jumped out to a 15-2 lead and led 72-39 with 10 minutes to play. Moore scored 20 and Nicholson and Bruno each added 17 as Spencer finally emptied his bench. George Corder, a 5-10 junior from Weed, Calif., scored 10 off the bench and George Shoenberger, a 5-11 junior from Sacramento, added three.

Game 8: WOLF PACK 88, CAL STATE HAYWARD 80 (Feb. 4, 1966): The Pack, playing its first road game in almost a month, outscored Hayward with its third consecutive offensive output of more than 80 points. The Wolf Pack held off Hayward despite Moore, Montgomery and Gilliam all fouling out within 20 seconds of each other with the Pack up by 19 with four minutes to go. Moore had 26 points, Montgomery 21, Bruno 17 and Nicholson 14 as the streak reached its halfway point at eight in a row.

Game 9: WOLF PACK 103, SAN FRANCISCO STATE 101 (Feb. 5, 1966): It was an historic night at the gym on the Nevada campus as the Pack and Golden Gators turned in the first game in Wolf Pack history where both teams scored 100 or more points. The most amazing thing about the FWC game, though, was that Spencer once again played just five players the entire game despite going into overtime. Moore, who had 23 points, hit a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left in the overtime to give the Pack a 103-100 lead. Montgomery scored 28, Gilliam had 20 and Bruno had 18.

Game 10: WOLF PACK 78, NEVADA SOUTHERN 73 (Feb. 8, 1966): The day before the Rebel game, Spencer told the Nevada State Journal, “The hardest thing now is keeping them (the Pack players) up for the rest of the way.” The Pack, as is still the case, didn’t have any problems getting up for the Rebels as Nevada Southern, in just its fifth year of existence, fell to 0-5 in Reno. Spencer, though, called the win over the Rebels “one of our worst efforts in the last 10 games. Our boys just stood around on defense and offense.” Despite all that standing around, Spencer didn’t go to his bench once again at all as the Pack earned its first 10-game winning streak since the 1956-57 season. Montgomery and Gilliam each had 19.

Game 11: WOLF PACK 90, CHICO STATE 70 (Feb. 11, 1966): The Pack got a monster game out of Montgomery. The Chicago native had 24 points and 20 rebounds in the win at Chico. Moore (24 points, 12 rebounds), Nicholson (11 points, 16 rebounds) and Bruno (20 points) also contributed heavily to the victory as the Pack improved to 6-0 in the FWC. The 11-game streak was the Pack’s longest since the 1951-52 team started the year by winning its first 14 games (the school-record win streak).

Game 12: WOLF PACK 60, UC DAVIS 57 (Feb. 12, 1966): The streak almost came to an end on this night. Down eight with three minutes to go on the road, Spencer told his defense to start pressing. A steal and a lay-up by Bruno tied the game at 54-54. Two free throws by Moore gave the Pack a 58-57 lead. Gilliam then put the game away with a pair of free throws with three seconds to play. Once again the Pack’s iron men — Gilliam, Bruno, Montgomery, Moore and Nicholson — never left the floor. Gilliam and Bruno each had 16 points, Montgomery and Moore each had 11 and Nicholson had six. “The press is what saved us,” Spencer said after the game. “It was our greatest comeback of the year.”

Game 13: WOLF PACK 90, SACRAMENTO STATE 89 (Feb. 15): Spencer spoke too soon. This was the Pack’s greatest comeback of the year. Bruno hit a dramatic jumper with three seconds to play for the game-winner as the Pack rallied from a 15-point deficit with seven minutes to play. “Nevada was as good as counted out by an overflow crowd of moaning partisan Nevada rooters,” Tim Anderson of the Nevada State Journal wrote. Bruno, Anderson continued, “sent the crowd home happy and wound up riding off on the shoulders of the fans.” Gilliam led the way with 26 points, Montgomery had 24 and Nicholson and Bruno each had 15. The victory improved the Pack to 8-0 in league play.

Game 14: WOLF PACK 96, HUMBOLDT STATE 71 (Feb. 19): The Pack clinched at least a tie for the FWC title with balanced scoring from Moore (18 points), Nicholson (17), Gilliam (17), Montgomery (17) and Bruno (15). The victory equaled the school record for consecutive wins at 14, set in 1951-52.

Game 15: WOLF PACK 80, CAL STATE HAYWARD 69 (Feb. 25): The Wolf Pack set a school record with its 15th consecutive win as Bruno pumped home 22 points. Montgomery added 16, Moore had 15 and Nicholson 14 as the Pack improved to 10-0 at home.

Game 16: WOLF PACK 112, SAN FRANCISCO STATE 100 (Feb. 26): The Pack completed a perfect 10-0 Far Western Conference season by outscoring the Gators once again in another game void of defense. “A screaming overflow crowd of 3,500 fans,” according to the Nevada State Journal, saw four Pack players score 20 or more points. Gilliam had 29 followed by Bruno (23), Montgomery (21) and Moore (20). Nicholson chipped in with 17 as the starters scored 110 of the 112 points. To this day the 1965-66 Wolf Pack are the only team in school history to complete an unbeaten season in conference play. The victory also completed the home schedule with a perfect 11-0 mark. The Pack wouldn’t go unbeaten at home over an entire season until 2003-04.

THE AFTERMATH OF THE STREAK: The winning streak came to an end with a lopsided 127-78 loss in the College Division’s Pacific Coast Regional at Fresno State on March 4, 1966. The Pack, which beat San Diego, 74-71, in the third-place consolation game of the regional the following night, finished its season at 21-6 overall. The 21 wins were the Pack’s most in 20 seasons.

The 1965-66 team and the 2011-12 Wolf Pack have a few things in common in addition to the school-record 16-game winning streak.

Both teams earned upset victories over prominent national programs earlier in the season at home.

This year’s Pack stunned Washington while the 1965-66 team shocked the Miami Hurricanes 87-79 in overtime on Dec. 11, 1965. The Hurricanes were without All American Rick Barry, who graduated after the previous season (Barry had scored 29 points to beat the Pack 81-78 two years before in Reno). But the Pack was also missing an important piece as Nicholson was rushed to the hospital with his appendicitis just two hours before tip-off.

Both the 1965-66 and 2011-12 Pack also went to Illinois for preseason tournaments, setting the stage for their winning streaks. This year’s Pack lost to BYU and beat Bradley in suburban Chicago to start their streak. The 1965-66 Pack beat Creighton and lost to Texas Western (the eventual 1966 national champs) in Rock Island, Ill. The streak would begin with their next game 10 days later against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The other thing the two teams 46 years apart have in common is that their streaks seemingly came out of nowhere.

This year’s Pack team started off 3-3 after a 13-19 season the year before. The 1965-66 team started 4-5, and had three starters sidelined with injuries and illness. The program also had not won 16 games in a season — let alone 16 in a row — in nine years.

Gib Landell of the Nevada State Journal summed up the surprising 1965-66 Wolf Pack in late February, 1966 . . .

“On paper, the current Silver and Blue basketball edition might be stamped as anything but championship caliber. The team has neither extraordinary height or speed. Its shooting fluctuates between hot and cold. Defense? Sometimes the Wolf Pack press remotely reminds one of UCLA. At other times, Nevada defenders look like a charity unit out to promote good will for the Silver State.”

The newspaper, though, was a bit more kind a week later as regional game at Fresno drew nearer, calling the Pack “brilliant” in one headline and stating, “the Pack has made up for its shortcomings this year with hustle, aggressiveness and a drive in the clutch.”

Spencer put it perfectly.

“We’re a team effort,” he said.