Denis is a menace against Fresno State

RENO - Denis Ikovlev is sometimes an afterthought in Nevada's offense, and Fresno State paid the price for ignoring him.

Ikovlev scored a career-high 18 points, 10 in the first half, to lead the 13th-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack to a 85-75 win over Fresno State Thiursday at Lawlor Events Center.

Ikovlev hit 6-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-8 from the 3-point line. His offense kept the Wolf Pack in the game in the first half, and he hit a couple of big baskets late in the second half.

"I was open and hit my shots," Ikovlev said. "I was taking what was given to me. I was going to play hard, and if the shot was there, take it."

"Denis played well," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "He missed his first three, and I told him to keep shooting. He's just getting more and more comfortable. It was key for us to have him score that way."

Ikovlev's teammates weren't surprised by his offensive outburst.

"He's a shooter," said Nick Fazekas. "People don't give him enough respect. He's one of the team's best shooters."

Added Marcelus Kemp: "He's got to be more aggressive.''

NICE RETURN

Fazekas limped into the post-game press conference with his ankle wrapped in ice, but said he felt pretty good.

Fazekas sprained his left ankle in the first half of the Boise game, and missed 2 1/2 games.

"It was a little sore, but it felt better tonight than at practice," said the 6-11 Nevada star, who scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. "You're always tentative with an injury, and I had the injury on my mind a little bit."

Fazekas started, and Fox pulled him less than three minutes into the game. He went in and out several times during the course of the game, finishing with 25 minutes.

"He had 20 and 10," Fox said. "That's pretty consistent for him. It's really a huge lift for us to have him back."

TECHNICAL SELLOUT

Nevada sold all the tickets for the second time this year, but there were still several hundred no-shows, which is hard to believe for a game of this stature.

Nevada sold out the game against UNLV earlier this year.

WAC MILESTONE FOR NICK

Fazekas moved into seventh place all-time on the WAC scoring list, surpassing former Arizona star Bob Elliott.

Fazekas has 2,137 points, six better than Elliott. Air Force's Raymond Dudley is the next obstacle in Fazekas' way. Dudley scored 2,178 in his career.

His 12 rebounds also moved him past Elliott in that category. Fazekas is sixth with 1,093, 10 better than Elliott. Rice's Michael Harris is at 1,111.

NOTABLES

The 17-1 record is the best start in school history, surpassing the mark of the 1951-52 team that won 15 of its first 17 games. That team eventually finished 19-3 overall ... The double-double for Fazekas was the 53rd of his career and 12th this season... Kemp moved into seventh all-time at Nevada for 3-pointers made. Kemp has 120, one better than Rod Brown, who played from 1989-93.