GAME NOTES: The Nevada Wolf Pack seek their first win away from home as they challenge the Long Beach State 49ers in non-conference action at Walter Pyramid.

The Pack has played two games at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno and won both decisions against Cal Poly and Adams State early on in the campaign. But since then the team has strung together four consecutive defeats, the latest of which was a 78-54 blowout loss to Nebraska-Omaha over the weekend on the road. While that was the first true road loss of the season, it came on the heels of three straight setbacks in the Virgin Islands as well.

Meanwhile, the 49ers have alternated wins and losses through the first eight games. On Sunday the program defeated a second school from one of the power conferences, previously taking down Kansas State (69-60), by topping Xavier in a 73-70 final at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

The 49ers lead the all-time series by a 12-6 margin, winning three in a row, including an 80-77 overtime affair in Reno last season.

Nevada led the Mavericks of Nebraska-Omaha at the break by a single point, even though the visitors shot a disappointing 36.1 percent from the floor through the first 20 minutes. Surely the Pack would have loved to have shot that well in the second half when they made good on a paltry six field goals and were 0-of-6 behind the 3-point line, en route to the 24-point loss. AJ West ended up as the lone double-digit scorers for Nevada with 10 points, to go along with seven rebounds. Marqueze Coleman accounted for nine points, but was also charged with seven of his team's 20 turnovers.

The Pack has been struggling on offense through the first two weeks of the season and it probably won't get much better once the Mountain West Conference schedule kicks into gear either. At this stage the group is scoring a mere 59.0 ppg, but at least the defense is pretty much keeping opponent in sight with only 62.8 ppg allowed. Coleman and D.J. Fenner lead the team in scoring with 10.7 ppg, followed by West and Michael Perez with 10.2 ppg each.

Trailing by as many as 10 points late in the first half, the 49ers surged heading into intermission and was behind by just three points at the break against Xavier. In the second half the team knocked down not only 51.6 percent from the floor but also 8-of-11 behind the 3-point line in order to claim the close call.

Mike Caffey led four in double figures with his 24 points, converting 5-of-8 beyond the arc, followed by Tyler Lamb with 16 points, Temidayo Yussuf 15 and reserve Branford Jones with 13 points in a game that featured six ties and nine lead changes.

Caffey, a 47.6 percent shooter behind the 3-point line through eight games, not only leads Long Beach State in scoring with 18.9 ppg, he is also first in passing with 33 assists, accounting for one-third of the unit's total in that department. Lamb, who has missed a pair of contests, checks in with 10.8 ppg and is one of the better rebounders with 5.2 per outing.

Having built up confidence with some victories over significant competition, this might be the right time for the 49ers to break out of their current trend and put together back-to-back wins versus a weak Nevada group.