Nevada men's basketball team battles to Utah State

Mark Fox is not the type of coach who is going to let himself be fooled by a fancy winning streak.

"We've been winning," the Nevada men's basketball coach said, referring to the Wolf Pack's five-game winning streak, "but I don't know if we've played well yet. There's another level of play that we're still trying to get to."

That level will be staring them in the face tonight (6:05 p.m.) when the Pack takes on the Utah State Aggies at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.

"They are a very complete team," said Fox of the Western Athletic Conference-leading Aggies. "They are terrific at both ends of the floor."

The Aggies are what Fox envisions for his Wolf Pack. Utah State, 19-1 overall and 7-0 in the WAC, will bring a 14-game winning streak into tonight's game. They are ranked 27th in the nation in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 35th by Associated Press. The Aggies have won 11 WAC games in a row and 28 in a row at home. In other words, the Aggies have all the fancy winning streaks and fancy numbers right now.

"They make you work for everything you get," Fox said.

The Wolf Pack is certainly no stranger to a little hard work. The Pack has punched, clawed and scratched its way through its current five-game winning streak, overcoming poor shooting, erratic defense and fatigue to find themselves in second place in the WAC at 5-1 (12-7 overall).

"We're still growing as a team," said Fox, repeating a familiar theme this season.

"There are still a lot of things we need to work on."

One of the areas that needs work is shooting the basketball, especially from 3-point range. The Pack is ninth (last) in the WAC in field goal percentage at .415. Utah State, by the way, is first at .507. The Wolf Pack also is last in 3-point shooting at .268 while Utah State is third at .375.

"Of course we're concerned," Fox said. "We do have guys who are good shooters. It's just a matter of getting comfortable with the new 3-point line (it's a foot deeper this year) and with each other. It will come."

The Wolf Pack and Aggies certainly know each other well. The two teams have met eight times over the last three seasons (twice in the WAC tournament) with each team winning four.

But this won't be the quite the same Utah State team that Fox and the Wolf Pack are accustomed to seeing. The Aggies will be without guard Jaycee Carroll, who completed his four-year Aggies career last year by leading the WAC in scoring (22.4) and being named the conference's Player of the Year.

"He was obviously a great player," said Fox of Carroll, who averaged 26.5 points in two games against the Pack last year. "But their team last year and this year has a lot of similarities. They still run the same system and do all the things they did last year."

The Aggies return three starters from a year ago in sophomore forward Tai Wesley, senior forward Gary Wilkinson and sophomore guard Tyler Newbold. The 6-foot-9 Wilkinson scored 23 points and the 6-7 Wesley added 14 last year in Logan when the Aggies beat the Pack, 77-63.

"They have two proven interior scorers," said Fox of Wilkinson and Wesley. "But they can also shoot the three (Newbold is 20-of-36 from beyond the arc this year).

Wilkinson is second in the WAC in scoring at 17.0, fourth in rebounding (7.5) and fourth in field goal percentage (.593) and second in free throw percentage (.841). Wesley averages 12.5 points and 5.9 rebounds.

"What makes (Wilkinson) so effective is that he can score from the perimeter," Fox said. "He's been able to score inside and outside."

The Wolf Pack has an answer to Wilkinson in 6-9 freshman Luke Babbitt. The Galena High graduate is averaging 15.9 points (the fifth best freshman in the country) and 7.7 rebounds this year as he gets his feet wet in college basketball. Fox, though, said the chore of covering Wilkinson will not be Babbitt's alone. Freshman Dario Hunt (6-8) and sophomore Malik Cooke (6-6) also will take turns trying to control the Utah native.

"It will be by committee," Fox said.

The Aggies also will feature junior guard Jared Quayle (12.6 points) tonight.

"He's been able to come in and play very comfortably for them because he has three returning starters around him," Fox said.

The Aggies are in first place right now because of defense. Utah State leads the WAC in defense, allowing just 59.4 points a game despite being last in the conference in blocked shots (2.65 a game) and eighth in steals (4.85). The Pack, by comparison, is seconds in blocks (4.58) and first in steals (7.53).

"When you play them there are no easy baskets," Fox said. "And they constantly change defenses. If they score they'll be in one defense and if they don't score they'll be in another defense. It's just hard to find a rhythm offensively against them."