Nevada will host Rice

RENO - When you think Nevada basketball, Nick Fazekas and Kevinn Pinkney are the first two names that come to kind, and with good reason.

The Wolf Pack co-captains are 1-2 in scoring and rebounding on the team. The 6-foot-11 Fazekas is averaging 21 points and 8.8 rebounds, and the 6-9 Pinkney is at 13 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest.

However, it has been the performances by returnees Seth Taylor and Kyle Shiloh, both of whom played little on last year's Sweet 16 squad, and the development of newcomers Mo Charlo and Ramon Sessions that have been vital and often overlooked during Nevada's 18-5 start.

Nevada (18-5, 11-2) will need big nights from all of them when it hosts Rice (13-8, 7-5) tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Lawlor Events Center in a Western Athletic Conference match-up.

"They (Nevada) have established themselves as the class of the conference," Rice coach Willis Wilson said. "They have done a great job here and on the road. Mark Fox has done a great job. They are playing together.

"They have a lot of people who can step up. Nick Fazekas is still No. 1. He's a great, great player. They have a strong inside game."

Probably the biggest development has been the play of baby-faced point guard Ramon Sessions, who is averaging 9.3 points and 5.2 assists per game. Many teams passed on Sessions, the South Carolina 3A Player of the Year, because he was a late qualifier. Quite simply, he has been a huge steal for Fox.

Sessions scored a career-high 23 at Boise State last week, and followed with an 11-point effort at UTEP. Not a bad weekend. He is the conductor of the Wolf Pack offense, and right now he's making some sweet music.

"The development of Sessions has been huge for Nevada," Wilson said. "I saw them play early, and their guard play being new with (Kyle) Shiloh and (Seth) Taylor was unproven. They have weathered through it. Shiloh is playing with a lot of confidence, and Taylor shooting the ball really hurt us the last time. Having a guy like that shoots it like that is huge."

Ray Lopes of Fresno State said that he's been impressed by Sessions' maturity, and that the first-year point guard has been a big part of Nevada's success.

Taylor has had several big games. He had eight first-half points against UTEP last Saturday that was huge in keeping Nevada within one point at the half, 34-33. He hit two three-pointers in the first win over Rice and scored nine in Nevada's rout of Boise State.

Shiloh's contributions have been more on the defensive side of the ball and complementing Sessions as a second point guard. He scored 11 points in a recent game against SMU, and is averaging three assists a game.

Mo Charlo, the JC transfer from Eureka, Calif., via Diablo Valley College, has scored 14 points in two of the last three games. He has, by his own admission, been a tad inconsistent. The 14-point efforts against Louisiana Tech and UTEP were perhaps his best of the season in the sense that he didn't force the issue much on the offensive side of the ball, and made sound decisions.

"Charlo has had a huge impact; a very good impact," said Keith Richard, Louisiana Tech head coach.

"He's been up and down," Boise State's Greg Graham said. "He's been much better defensively than I thought he would do. I thought he was more of a scorer."

FOX RESPECTS RICE

Fox has a healthy respect for the Owls, who almost came back and beat the Pack earlier this year in Houston, 62-59.

"Rice is a terrific team, one with a lot of balance," Fox said. "Michael Harris is a Player of the Year candidate, Brock Gillespie shoots the ball well and Jason McKrieth is well respected."

Harris averages double figures in points (19.8) and rebounds (11.5). McKrieth averages 14.2 and Gillespie 10.4.

The Owls' front line of 6-6 Harris, 6-8 Patrick Britton and 6-5 Jamaal Moore will give up plenty of height to the Pack's Fazekas (6-11), Pinkney (6-9) and Charlo (6-7), which means Nevada should be able to score inside.

Nevada is playing short-handed tonight. Senior forward Jermaine Washington is serving a one-game suspension for his ejection in the UTEP game last weekend.

Notes: Along with Washington's suspension, the WAC also announced that UTEP's Omar Thomas will sit out the first half of tonight's game at San Jose State as a result of his involvement in Saturday's incident with Washington.