WAC honors Fazekas

RENO - Nick Fazekas enjoyed two huge games and helped Nevada stay undefeated last week, and his efforts earned him Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors.

"He played real well," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "I'm glad he got recognized. He was more assertive, but that's because he was sick the previous week."

Fazekas scored 58 points and pulled down 19 rebounds to lead the Wolf Pack to victories over Kansas and Pacific. Fazekas beat out Boise State's Kenny Wilson, Quinton Hosley of Fresno State, Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State's Elijah Ingram.

Against Kansas, Fazekas scored a career-high 35 points (13-for-21 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the foul line) and pulled down eight rebounds in a 72-70 win. Fazekas also came up with a key block of a last-second shot that would have sent the game into overtime.

Fazekas was the go-to guy, as he stopped a six-point Kansas run in the second half. He later tied the game at 52 with two free throws and scored on a putback to make it 54-52. He also tied the game at 57 with a three-point play.

Pacific's 1-2-2 zone stymied the Pack's 6-foot-11 forward for the first 20 minutes. Fazekas scored six points and had very few touches. The second half was a different story. Fazekas scored six straight points to propel Nevada to a 47-45 lead. Fazekas scored 17 of his team-high 23 after intermission and Nevada went on to a 77-70 victory.

Fazekas shot 62 percent from the floor and 93 percent from the line. He's currently averaging 22.4 and 8.8 rebounds a game.

NEVADA MOVES UP

The Wolf Pack (5-0) moved up three spots in the Associated Press poll to No. 17 after the wins at Kansas and UOP.

Nevada moved back into the Top 25 in the ESPN/Coaches Poll. Nevada is currently 22nd.

As usual, Fox was very calm about the bump in the rankings.

"It means nothing," he said. "I'm not sure they (the kids) are caught up in that."

NEXT UP

Nevada returns home for a game against UC Davis (1-4) on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.

Davis upset Trent Johnson's Stanford Cardinal 64-58 on Sunday afternoon. It was the second straight loss to an underdog. Earlier, Stanford lost a road game at Montana.

After the Davis game, Nevada plays UCLA on Saturday in the Wooden Classic. Following that game, Nevada will play Seattle Pacific (Dec. 13), Georgia (Dec. 21), Norfolk State, (Dec. 27) and Louisiana Lafayette (Dec. 29) at home before visiting St. Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., on New Year's Eve.

n Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1281