Nevada, UCLA near agreement on Wooden Classic

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Nevada: The basketball team has a tentative agreement to play UCLA in the Wooden Classic at the Arrowhead Pond at Anaheim, Calif., on Dec. 10, Wolf Pack coach Mark Fox said.

"We haven't signed a contract yet, but I think we're close to signing it. I anticipate we will," Fox told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The Los Angeles Daily News reported that Bruins coach Ben Howland told boosters during a function Tuesday night that UCLA would play Nevada in the Wooden Classic.

Nevada, which went 25-7 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, has had difficulty scheduling home games for the coming season.

The Wolf Pack could play as many as six non-conference road games in addition to its eight Western Athletic Conference road games. The WAC will go from 10 teams to nine, and each team will play a 16-game conference schedule instead of the 18 games it played the last three seasons.

If Nevada signs the Wooden Classic contract, it will be its first game against UCLA since losing to the Bruins, 51-38, in the 1947-48 season. The Wolf Pack is 0-3 all time against UCLA.

BYU: Former Utah State assistant Dave Rice is moving south to join new coach Dave Rose's staff at Brigham Young.

Rice, a member of UNLV's 1990 national championship team, spent 11 seasons as an assistant at his alma mater before joining the Utah State staff for last season. Rose announced Friday that he had hired Rice, 36.

"Dave has exceptional experience in all facets of coaching," Rose said. "He has always been part of successful programs as both a player and a coach and has years of coaching experience in our league."

Rose was promoted last month to replace Steve Cleveland, who left BYU to take over at Fresno State.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

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