RENO, Nev. (AP) - Nevada's Nick Fazekas is back to nearly full speed, which could be bad news for opponents of the 18th-ranked Wolf Pack.
Sidelined for two games with a sprained ankle earlier this month, Fazekas, a 6-11 senior, scored 24 points and tied his career high with 18 rebounds to lead Nevada past Utah State 79-62 in the Western Athletic Conference Saturday night.
``He's back to the old Nick,'' Nevada coach Mark Fox said.
``He's still in the brace and that limits his mobility quite a bit, but he's close to getting out of that I hope and it was nice to see him back,'' he said.
Junior Marcelus Kemp added 15 points, junior Ramon Sessions 13 and senior Kyle Shiloh 10 for the Wolf Pack (19-2, 7-1 WAC), the three-time defending league champions who went on a 10-0 run late in the game to avenge their last WAC home loss at the hands of Utah State, 59-53, on Jan. 23, 2006. They've won 12 of their last 13 and are now 56-6 at home since the start of the 2003-04 season.
Jaycee Carroll scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half and Chaz Spicer added 12 for Utah State (15-5, 4-3 WAC), which had won five in a row.
``They are good defensively and play very physical,'' Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. ``They always put their hands on the ball.''
Fazekas tied his career high for rebounds and recorded the 54th double-double of his career.
He moved into sixth on the all-time WAC scoring list with 2,195 points, passing Raymond Dudley, who had 2,178 for Air Force from 1986-90. He also moved into fifth place in the league in career rebounds with 1,123, passing Rice's Mike Harris, who had 1,111 from 2001-05.
``Because of my ankle, I haven't had much lift the last two games. I was relying on the ball to come to me,'' Fazekas said. ``I did a much better job tonight, but I still have strides to make with my ankle.''
Nevada led 49-33 early in the second half before Carroll brought Utah State back into the game scoring 11 points during a 17-6 run. The Aggies closed to 57-50 with 10:43 left.
Fazekas put together his own string of six straight points for Nevada on a dunk off a pass from Shiloh and a pair of hook shots, and Shiloh hit a 3-pointer to put Nevada up 64-53 at 8:02.
Nick Hammer's 3-pointer cut it to 64-56 but Nevada answered with 10 in a row, including 3-pointers by Shiloh and senior Denis Ikovlev to go ahead 74-56 with 5:19 left and put the game away.
''Any time you get a win, especially against a great team like Utah State, we'll take it,'' Sessions said. ``We have a lot of respect for them.''
Sessions had seven assists and Shiloh six for Nevada. Kemp moved into sixth on the school list for 3-point goals made with 125, passing Shawn Pughsley, who had 124 from 1992-95.
Morrill said he was especially impressed with Sessions, a junior point guard who was slowed by a hip injury last year after making the WAC's all-freshman team.
``He is better in every phase of the game. He is a classic example of a guy in a good program getting better every year,'' Morrill said.
Carroll entered the game fifth in the NCAA in free throws with 93.3 percent (83-of-89) and had made all 26 attempts from the free-throw line in WAC play this season, but made only 3-of-5 against Nevada. With Shiloh guarding him most the night, he was held well below his scoring average of 21.1 points per game (13th in the NCAA).
Carroll ``runs around a lot to get open,'' Shiloh said. ``He has a lot of different ways to get open, so I just kind of chased him around and stayed on his back everywhere he went.''
Fox, who was upset when Shiloh was snubbed from the WAC's all-defensive team last year, said the senior guard did a great job.
``Kyle has gotten no credit from the WAC. Not a little - none,'' Fox said. ``But that kid is a huge part of our team and he's been good in a lot of different ways.''
Carroll said he was impressed with Nevada and that Fazekas ``seems like he has just gotten better.''
``They are at the top of the league defensively, especially on me,'' Carroll said. ``They are good at avoiding screens and they are very physical. The only team that was more physical with me was Boise State.''
Carroll hit a 3-pointer to give Utah State a 4-0 lead but Kemp made back-to-back 3-pointers and Fazekas scored nine points on a 17-6 run to put Nevada ahead 17-10 12:48 before the half.
Chris Session made a pair of baskets for the Aggies to cut the lead to 21-16 but Sessions, sophomore Lyndale Burleson and freshman Tyrone Hanson hit consecutive 3-point goals to cap an 11-2 run for a 32-18 lead at 6:04, and Nevada led 43-30 at the half.
