Nevada sluggish, still wins

By DARRELL MOODY

Nevada Appeal News Service

RENO - Simply put, it wasn't one of University of Nevada's better efforts.

The Wolf Pack had lapses at both ends of the floor, but still managed to knock off pesky Boise State 92-78 before a crowd of 7,342 Thursday night at Lawlor Events Center.

The win puts Nevada at 9-4 in the Western Athletic Conference and 15-7 overall heading into Saturday's showdown with first-place UTEP, which is 9-3 in conference play after knocking off Fresno State. Visiting Louisiana Tech upset Hawaii 62-61, sending UTEP to the top spot in the WAC.

"From my standpoint we played good enough to win," Nevada coach Trent Johnson said. "We didn't play well at times offensively and we didn't play well at times defensively. We were sluggish.

"A lot of it had to do with them being on the road for a week. They had a lot of catching up to do mentally and physically. We're definitely going to have to be better on Saturday (against UTEP). We won which is nice when you don't play well."

Nevada's job was made easier by the fact that Boise State was without forward Jermaine Blackburn, who missed the game with a dislocated shoulder.

Blackburn averages 16 points a game, and gives the Broncos another weapon to go with Jason Ellis and Aaron Haynes. His real value could have been defensively because he could have defended Kirk Snyder on the perimeter. After a slow start, Snyder scored 17 second-half points and finished with 24.

The win was Nevada's 11th straight at home this year, a fact not lost on Andy McClouskey, Boise State assistant coach.

"They play terrific at home," he said. "Only one team has beaten them here, and that was in an exhibition game. I thought our kids played hard."

"The kids feed off the emotion of the crowd," explained Johnson when asked about the difference between playing at home and the road. "We play well at home."

Todd Okeson jump-started the Nevada offense. He bombed in three treys in the first four-plus minutes, and all three were from the 23 to 24-foot range, helping the Wolf Pack grab an early 18-9 lead. Okeson had 12 of his 14 in the first half.

"It was a matter of being in the right spot at the right time," Okeson said. "I was open and let it go. Last year, the shots came easy. This year, I've had to work twice or three times as hard for shots."

"Todd stepped up and knocked down threes," added Johnson. "He was in a rhythm tonight. They adjusted to him. When we're in rhythm and shooting the ball, we're pretty tough to guard."

Indeed. The Wolf Pack shot 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range in the first half, yet was unable to put the Broncos away.

With Aaron Haynes (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Jason Ellis (20 points, 16 rebounds) leading the way, the Broncos trimmed a 36-23 deficit to 42-34 with 1:26 remaining in the first half. Haynes had six of his eight points in that span. Nevada got the lead back to double digits, 46-34, when Garry Hill-Thomas and Marcelus Kemp each hit two free throws apiece in the waning seconds.

Johnson was displeased with the way his team played with its first-half lead. He said the team wasn't patient enough, took shots too quickly and didn't work the ball inside-out like he prefers.

Boise made a couple of good runs in the second half, but Nevada was equal to the task each time.

An early 11-2 surge, led by Ellis' basket and two free throws, and a three by Coby Karl, cut Nevada's lead to 51-45 with 16:58 left, and the once-quiet Wolf Pack faithful started to get excited.

Snyder answered back with a trey as did Fazekas (21 points, 7 rebounds) to make it 57-45. Karl scored on a putback and Snyder knocked down two more free throws, stretching the lead to 59-47 with 14:20 left.

The Broncos went on a 7-0 run, all by Ellis, to cut the lead to 59-54. Again, the Wolf Pack answered back with an 8-0 run of its own to make it 67-54 with 7:08 left. Kevinn Pinkney (10 points) and Fazekas added three each and Snyder had a putback. Boise shot itself in the foot in that span, missing eight straight shots.

"They've got good players," McClouskey said. "Garry Hill-Thomas is really tough, Kirk Snyder is a great player, Fazekas is an unbelievable freshman and Okeson is the heart and soul of this team. That's a good basketball team.

"We had something going and we were playing well offensively. We needed to make some stops, but we weren't able to do that."

After that spurt, Boise never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

Notes: Pinkney hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, the first of his career. It probably wasn't the best shot to take, considering both coaches had already shook hands on the sidelines and the Wolf Pack should have run out the clock ... Snyder said he got bumped a few times on his injured hip, but that he was OK... Kemp came off the bench to score seven points, six of those in the first half.