RENO - Mo Charlo and Franco Harris, teammates at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif., during the 2002-03 season, hooked up for the first time at the four-year level, and their former coach Steve Coccimiglio was on hand to watch.
Charlo finished with six points, a rebound and a steal in 20 minutes of the Wolf Pack's 84-66 win.
Boise's Harris finished with seven points, two rebounds, two turnovers and two steals. Harris, however, was just 1 for 7 from three-point range.
It's the second time that Coccimiglio has watched Charlo play. He also went to UC Davis back on Dec. 22.
Coccimiglio is well aware that Charlo has been up and down this season, and he said that didn't surprise him.
"Every JC player goes through that," Coccimiglio said. "I think he's breaking through a little. The UTEP game, he played with a lot of confidence."
Coccimiglio has another player, DeMarshay Johnson, who could possibly play at Nevada next year. Johnson was at Nevada two years ago, but was a partial qualifier. The 6-9 forward is being heavily recruited, but Coccimiglio said he isn't sure of Nevada's interest since they signed 6-7 Richie Phillips and 6-9 Jeremy Mayfield, who has yet to qualify academically.
"He (Johnson) is playing well," Coccimiglio said. "He leads the state in blocked shots (4 a game) and he's averaging 14 points a game. I think, no I know, he's very interested in coming back to Reno."
FAZEKAS UNCONCERNED
Nick Fazekas is without a doubt Nevada's best three-point shooter. He entered conference play with a 33 percent mark, but is just 3 for 20 in conference play.
Fazekas admits he's struggling somewhat, but doesn't seem overly concerned.
"To me, they are just rimming out," Fazekas said. "I had an air ball tonight, but I don't think I caught the ball (and shot) in good rhythm."
Don't expect Fazekas to stop shooting the three. He has supreme confidence in his abilities, and good shooters stay aggressive.
THE MASKED MAN
Curry Lynch, the Wolf Pack's redshirt freshman from Virginia City, played the game with a mask to protect his nose and eyes. Lynch took an elbow from teammate Jermaine Washington during Thursday's practice.
The blow by Washington broke Lynch's eye socket. Lynch didn't practice on Friday.
NEVADA NOTABLES
The Wolf Pack's 12-4 start ties the start of the 1981-82 team when Sonny Allen was head coach... Jermaine Washington leads the WAC in blocked shots with 2.0 per game. Nevada has the top three shot blockers in the conference - Washington, Nick Fazekas and Kevinn Pinkney... Fazekas and Pinkney have accounted for 12 of Nevada's 13 double-doubles this season. Charlo has the other double-double... Nevada has out-rebounded its opponents in the past nine games (eight wins).
TOURNAMENT BOUND?
With several weeks left in the regular season, ESPN.com has the Wolf Pack, 12-4, in the NCAA Tournament against Virginia in a first-round game at Oklahoma City.
The Wolf Pack are a 10th seed, which is what they were last year when they beat Michigan State and Gonzaga.
Certainly the Wolf Pack have a viable chance to get in, but it must win at least 20 games, which means nine wins in the last 13 conference games to reach the magic number in the regular season.
The fact that the conference tournament is in Reno certainly won't hurt the Wolf Pack chances. They could get a couple of more wins and improve their chances.
Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1281.
