EL PASO - The sellout UTEP crowd was wearing plenty of orange and making lots of noise, and it filed out of the Don Haskins Center feeling a little blue - Nevada blue.
Nevada got five late points from Nick Fazekas and a layup from Kevinn Pinkney with 2:09 left, and then held on for a 62-60 victory over the Miners Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference showdown.
This was Nevada's sixth straight road win, and the Pack improved to 18-5 overall and 11-2 in conference. UTEP dropped to 9-4 in WAC play, 19-6 overall. With three road games left, Nevada has won more games on the road than any WAC team did all of last season, and more importantly has a two-game lead over the Miners.
"I'm extremely proud of our team," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "They showed true heart and character. The kids deserve all the credit."
This one went down to the wire just like the first meeting between the two teams back on Jan. 12 when Fili Rivera sent the game into overtime with a clutch three-pointer. This time, UTEP missed two three-point shots in the closing seconds.
Nevada held a 60-54 lead on Pinkney's layup with 3:05 left, but two straight baskets by Omar Thomas trimmed the lead to 60-58 with 2:18 left. Fazekas, who finished with 15 hard-earned points and eight rebounds, hit a jump shot to make it 62-58 with 1:56 left.
Nevada looked to be in good shape when Pinkney blocked a Rivera layup attempt, but freshman Ramon Sessions was unable to convert at the other end. Sessions fouled Rivera, and the senior drained two foul shots to make it 62-60 with 44.9 left. Mo Charlo (14 points) missed at the other end, and UTEP called time with 12.5 left.
Rivera drove the lane against Sessions and then kicked the ball back out to Jason Williams, who found Miguel Ayala for an open three-pointer. The ball bounced off the iron and Nevada knocked it out of bounds with 1.2 left. The inbounds pass went to Thomas, who hurriedly fired up a three-pointer that didn't get to the rim.
"We wanted to come off a ball screen, attack the basket and draw a foul," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "Fili did a great job getting down the lane. He was supposed to get the ball to the middle, but he felt they were overplaying it. Miguel got a great look. There is nobody I'd rather have shoot that shot. I thought we got a better look than if we had got the ball to the middle."
Sessions said that he expected the ball to get into Rivera's hands, and that he didn't want to get victimized.
"I didn't want him to get a clear look," he said. "I knew they wanted to get the ball in his hands. I wanted to make it as tough as I could. Fortunately they missed those last two shots."
UTEP led 44-37 after a Jason Williams field goal, but the Miners' John Tofi picked up his third and fourth fouls in a 14-second span, forcing him to the bench.
"John is a key player on our team," Williams said. "He's our biggest guy. He's got good pivot moves and we can pound the ball inside."
Sessions trimmed the lead to 44-38 with a single free throw, but Rivera knocked down two foul shots to make it 46-38. UTEP lost two good chances to expand that lead, but missed shots each time.
Nevada went on a 13-2 run over the next 6:09 to take a 51-48 lead. Sessions started the run with a layup, and after missing two shots on one possession and turning the ball over on another, Charlo knocked down a three-pointer to make it 46-43. Sessions cut the lead to 46-45, and Charlo and Sessions hit back-to-back three pointers to give the Pack a 51-48 lead with 7:55 left.
Williams scored two straight times as UTEP re-took the lead 52-51 only to see Pinkney and Fazekas score two points each for a 55-52 lead. Williams made it 55-54 with two free throws, and that set the stage for a three by Fazekas and a layup by Pinkney, which gave Nevada a lead it never relinquished.
UTEP enjoyed eight-point leads of 30-22 and 32-24 in the first half, but two threes by Seth Taylor, who hit all three of his first-half shots for eight points, cut the lead to 32-31. Taylor played a little more than expected in the first half because Jermaine Washington was ejected for allegedly throwing a punch with 8:25 left in the first half.
"Seth shot the ball well," Fazekas said. "We needed him and he stepped up."
Once again, Fazekas said defense was the key to the win. UTEP only shot 37 percent from the field (20 for 54). And, for the 14th straight time, Nevada won a game when holding a team to 60 points or less.
"That's a pretty good stat," Fazekas said. "I didn't know that. We knew that we had to come and play the best possible defense we could. The one thing is that we didn't dig ourselves too big of a hole."
