March 9, 2006
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RENO, Nev. (AP) - Nevada coach Mark Fox didn't mind that the No. 21 Wolf Pack had an off night en route to a 68-55 win over last-place Idaho in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
Nick Fazekas had 20 points and nine rebounds Thursday night to lead Nevada (25-5) to its 12th consecutive victory, the second-longest winning streak in the NCAA behind Gonzaga's 18 straight.
"We didn't play particularly well, but we made enough plays to win," said Fox, whose squad won its third regular-season WAC title in a row and is bidding for its third consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.
"I trust my team. We've had games like this before and won. I don't panic."
Marcelus Kemp added 14 points, Demarshay Johnson 11 and Mo Charlo 10 for the Wolf Pack, who are 15-1 at home this year. They will play either Hawaii or New Mexico State in Friday night's semifinals. Utah State (22-7) faces Louisiana Tech (20-11) in the other semi.
Freshman David Dubois had 25 points and eight rebounds and Tanoris Shephard added 16 points for the Vandals (4-25), who were outrebounded 39-29 and shot 39 percent from the field to Nevada's 50 percent.
"We didn't play as well as we could have, but a win is a win," Kemp said.
Fazekas scored eight in a row for Nevada late in the game on a dunk, a rebound, a hook shot and a free throw to put the game away at 62-47 with 4:14 left. He made eight of nine shots but fell one rebound short of his seventh consecutive double-double.
The junior moved past Alex Boyd into second on Nevada's all-time scoring list with 1,745. He's now 32 points behind the school's all-time leading scorer Edgar Jones, who had 1,877 points from 1975-79.
Fox substituted liberally throughout the game, sometimes five players at a time.
"I didn't want anyone to play more than 25 minutes and we accomplished that. We weren't able to get into rhythm and that's my fault. But hopefully we'll be fresh for the rest of the tournament," he said.
With Nevada leading 42-27, Shepherd and Keoni Watson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within 42-33 at 14:20. Charlo scored inside but Brett Ledbetter answered with another 3 to make it 44-36 at 13:05.
Ramon Sessions, who had six assists, scored underneath off a pass from Fazekas then returned the favor with a no-look assist to Fazekas to push the lead to 50-37 with 11:28 to play.
The Vandals cut it to 51-40 on Watson's 12-footer but couldn't get any closer.
"We missed some opportunities in the first half to close the gap, but I thought we played as well on the defensive end as we can play," said Idaho coach Leonard Perry, who said it will be decided in the next few days whether he returns as coach next year.
He said he can envision Nevada advancing as far as the NCAA's Sweet 16, as it did two years ago.
"I hope they go all the way. I hope they get two wins, maybe more," Perry said. "I like their team. I think they are really talented. They execute, they are smart, they know how to play."
Nevada went on a 15-4 run midway through the first half to take a 24-10 lead on Charlo's two free throws with 7:38 remaining.
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