By DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Staff Writer
FRESNO - A taste of March Madness is what every college basketball team dreams about.
The Nevada Wolf Pack realized that dream after knocking off UTEP 66-60 Saturday night in the WAC finals at Save Mart Center, earning a spot in the post-season tournament for the first time since the 1984-1985 season.
Nevada, 23-8, will find out its first-round destination and opponent today at 3 p.m.
"I mentioned to the kids I'm so glad we get to play somebody else besides teams in our own league," said the Nevada coach Trent Johnson, who appeared in his sweat clothes after being doused with liquid in the locker room. "I'm excited especially considering who we beat.
"This feels great. I give the credit to the team. They bought into what we were trying to do, and battled all year long. The games against UTEP were slugfests."
Indeed. Nevada, which won for the first time this year when trailing at the half, shot 31.3, and UTEP wasn't much better with a 32.8 mark, as defenses dominated. Those who liked old-fashioned basketball were in seventh heaven. This game was void of finesse, and that was OK with UTEP coach Billy Gillispie.
"It was a heckuva game to watch," said Gillispie, whose team is now 24-7. "Two teams battled extremely hard for 40 minutes. There were a lot of missed shots that were contested, a lot of rebounds that were contested. They ended up making more foul shots and layups than we did.
"Okeson hit two big ones that got them in front. They were better than us today. They've been good all year long. They're a really good team. I think they can go a long ways in the tournament."
Johnson said he didn't have a feel for where the Wolf Pack would be seeded.
"I don't know," he said. "When you get to the tournament, it's all about matchups. We're going to come out and try to do a lot of the same things we've been doing all year long."
Johnson would love to see his team shoot a little better than it did against UTEP.
"We haven't been shooting real well the last five or six games," Johnson said. "What these guys have been doing is defending well. When you aren't shooting well, you have to find ways to make plays."
And that's exactly what Nevada did, holding UTEP to only two free throws in the final three minutes to complete what was an uphill struggle for most of the second half.
One of the Wolf Pack's unsung heroes, Kevinn Pinkney, came up with some big hoops down the stretch. Pinkney, who scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, missed last year's WAC tourney because of a thigh injury which forced him to miss the last 16 games.
After tourney MVP Kirk Snyder hit a lean-in shot to give the Wolf Pack a 59-58 lead with 3:14 left, UTEP had two chances on its next possession, but couldn't get either attempt to drop.
Pinkney drained an 18-foot jump shot for a 61-58 lead, and then Jermaine Washington (10 points, 4 rebounds) fed a nice pass to Pinkney, who dunked it for a 63-58 lead.
"I had a good look," Pinkney said. "You have to take those shots, and not worry about missing."
After Jason Williams missed a layup, freshman center Nick Fazekas drained two free throws for a seven-point lead with 15.8 left, and the celebration was on along the Nevada bench.
"He (Pinkney) and Jermaine played really well," Fazekas said. "They both gave us a big boost."
"He wasn't able to play last year, and I think he wanted to make up for it this year," Okeson said.
The game started on an ominous note for Nevada, as Fazekas picked up two quick fouls, and missed the last 16-plus minutes of the half. Add to that the fact that Nevada shot only 28.6 from the floor, and Snyder was a woeful 1-for-8, and it was a small miracle that Nevada only trailed 34-32 after the first 20 minutes.
UTEP had some foul woes of its own, as Roy Smallwood and Jason Williams were limited to seven minutes apiece because of their own foul problems.
"Defense was keeping us in the game," Okeson said. "I thought we were playing pretty good defense. I think we finally caught fire in the second half. It took a little while."
UTEP, thanks to the play of Williams, maintained its lead through the first 10 minutes of the half. When Nevada closed to 38-37, Williams scored on a putback and a three-point play to up the lead to 43-37.
Nevada briefly took a 46-45 lead with 11:22 left on a layup and two free throws by Okeson, but Fili Rivera scored on a three-point play and John Tofi scored in the lane to make it 50-46. Washington scored on a three-point play and Rivera drained a three ball to make it 53-49 with 9:04 left.
That's when Okeson stepped up with back-to-back three pointers for a 55-53 lead. Williams gave UTEP a 56-55 lead. That set the stage for Pinkney, who scored twice in a 46-second span to put Nevada ahead for good.