Fazekas set to return for Nevada

RENO - All American forward Nick Fazekas is expected to play tonight (7:05 p.m. tip-off) at Lawlor Events Center against Fresno State.

How much or how effective he'll be is anybody's guess.

Fazekas, who sprained his left ankle in the first half of the Boise State game, missed games at San Jose State and Hawai'i, snapping his consecutive game streak at 114.

Nevada won all three games to improve to 16-1 overall, enabling it to move up to a school-best 13th in the USA Today poll and 15th in the Associated Press poll.

"It's better," Fazekas said prior to Wednesday's practice. "It gets better day to day. It's gotten better since last week.

"It feels good to walk and run again. I can run fine. It's doing the other stuff; basketball stuff. I know it will be different in a game-like situation. It definitely feels good."

Fazekas said he was fitted Wednesday for an ankle brace, which should prevent further ankle injuries. The Pack's 6-11 forward said taping his ankle isn't good enough anymore.

"It's up to coach Fox," Fazekas said when asked how much he anticipated playing tonight. "We have to sit down and talk about that a little more. There are still no guarantees."

"I know how much I want to play him," Fox said. "I'm not sure if I'm going to have that option. We'll see how he feels Thursday morning (today). He hasn't done much for the last 10 days."

Fazekas said it was extremely tough the past 10 days, having to watch instead of being out there helping his teammates. He said there were times he didn't feel like a part of the team, which is a natural emotion.

With or without Fazekas, the Pack know they will have their hands full tonight against the Bulldogs, who are a tad steamed after losing at Hawai'i and San Jose State.

Fresno State has split the season series against Nevada the past two years.

"Fresno State is an explosive basketball team," Fox said. "They are a team that I think will battle to go to post-season play. They have lots of firepower. They have a number of ways of scoring the ball. It's as good a basketball team as we've seen all year.

"I don't think they just shoot the 3. They make a lot of 3s. They get to the basket; penetrate really well."

The Bulldogs essentially have five players in double figures - 6-6 Quinton Hosley (14.1), 6-9 Hector Hernandez (12.7), 6-8 Dominic McGuire (12.2), 6-3 Ja'Vance Coleman (10.9) and Eddie Miller (9.1). Starting point guard Kevin Bell averages 8.8.

The Bulldogs shoot 43 percent from the floor, and more than half of their field goal attempts are from beyond the 3-point arc. The Bulldogs have been slumping from beyond the arc. Hernandez is shooting 53 percent and Bell is at 39. Coleman is only shooting 29 percent, but Nevada players know he can go off anytime.

Another key is stopping Bell from penetrating. He is at his best when he is able to penetrate and dish the ball out to Hernandez or Hosley for wide-open 3-pointers.

"They like to shoot the 3, we know that," said senior guard Kyle Shiloh, who likely will be matched up a lot against Coleman, his childhood friend. "We have to guard the 3-point line.

"We (Coleman and I) have been talking about it all week. It's fun. We grew up together. I know he's going to come (hard) at me, and I'm going to be doing the same thing."

FSU coach Steve Cleveland knows his team well, and he knows that without a strong post presence, that if his perimeter guys are having a tough night, things can get ugly.

"We're a perimeter shooting team," Cleveland said. "We don't have the post presence, and defenses know that. When guys' jump shots aren't going in, it's going to be tough to score.

"We're a perimeter shooting team. That's not going to change. We do post guys up at times. We're not shooting the ball well now. We need to shoot the ball better. Our margin for error isn't much. We struggle at times scoring as a team. We're a very unselfish team. Our assist-to-basket ratio was the best in the league (before last week). We have to continue to take shots."

Cleveland said earlier in the week that Nevada is the best team in the conference, and he was impressed with the Pack defense.

"I'm assuming he (Fazekas) is playing," Cleveland said. "Obviously, they are very good without him. They are the best defensive team in our league by far.

"Their guard play is outstanding. They are playing at a high confidence level. Sessions is a real talent, he makes them go. He was the difference maker (against Hawai'i). Shiloh is an outstanding defender. He was able to lock Hawai'i up, and it's not easy to do that."

Notes: Nevada, which won four games in eight days, was dragging a bit in practice on Tuesday, according to Fox...Nevada has a split week, and will fly mid-day Friday to El Paso and then bus to Las Cruces for Saturday's game against New Mexico State, which dropped an overtime thriller at Louisiana Tech, leaving Nevada as the only unbeaten team in the WAC.