So Nevada kicks off the MWC portion of the schedule

5-8 Nevada comes to town on January 1 for a 7:00 p.m. game.

That means a team being led by senior guard Deonte Burton plus senior guard Jerry Evans who is starting to score much more this season but also a depleted roster.

One thing is sure: the Spartans aren't going to be overwhelmed in the paint as there is no longer a Nick Fazekas or Luke Babbitt on the roster.

Upfront, 6-foot-9 Richard Bell and 6-foot-11 Lucas Stivrins remain projects while 6-foot-8 Ronnie Stevens is injured (shinsplints) and 6-foot-11 Chris Brown is sidelined via medical issues. That leaves 6-foot-9 AJ West, whose eligibility was recently positively adjudicated, plus 6-foot-9 Cheikh Fall as the powers-that-be upfront. West, the starter, is a shotblocker (just five shot attempts in three games) while Fall has yet to display any particular strengths although he currently has more offensive than defensive rebounds 18/12).

Burton (22.5 ppg., 46%, 33% shooting) and the 6-foot-8 Evans (15.3 ppg., 53%, 42% shooting plus a team-leading 6.2 rpg.) head the backcourt, which is missing sophomore Marqueze Coleman (eye injury), another injured Wolf Packer. Either Burton or Evans have been the leading scorer thus far. UTEP transfer Michael Perez (10.2 ppg., 39%, 36% shooting, 4.2 rpg.) heads the three-player guard tandem for Coach David Carter.

6-foot-8, 205 pounded Cole Huff starts at power forward, which he is not (10.2 ppg., 46%, 37%, 5.1 rpg.)

The Wolf Pack have no signature wins this season. That and a loss to Cal State Bakersfield.

A second-division Mountain West Conference finish is looming as opponents are shooting 48% from the floor, meaning Nevada isn't getting anywhere near enough stops to be on the right side of wins. That and being minus in turnovers (for a small starting lineup) are the dooming effects.

Another concern: Burton leads the NCAA is minutes played and obviously is the target of opposing defenses. It's hard to be consistently effective later in games with all that mileage.

Whoever matches up with Burton is in for an obvious handful but it will be most interesting if Coach Carter matches up Evans with Rashad Muhammad since the former is the best defender outside the paint with his long, lean physique and the latter is the top Spartan scorer at 17.3 points an outing.

A point (or two or three) to literally watch for: Nevada has three two-point victories this season (Cal Poly, San Francisco, Chattanooga) but also a pair of two-point (Pacific, Nebraska-Omaha) defeat and a three-point downing (Long beach State).