RENO - Nevada's 6-foot-11 sophomore forward Nick Fazekas is uppermost in the thoughts of Western Athletic Conference coaches these days, and with good reason.
Fazekas leads the conference in scoring at 20.5 per game and is third in rebounding at 8.7 per contest.
Simply put, he is one tough matchup for any center or power forward around the WAC, because of his ability to score both from the inside and the perimeter.
After only 52 games, Fazekas has 14 career double-doubles (points and rebounds), including seven this year. He trails just Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap (12) and Rice's Michael Harris (10) this year and is fourth among active WAC players.
So, it's no surprise that Fresno State's Ray Lopes, who has his young team off to an 11-6 start, might have had some stressful moments as he prepared for tonight's game (7:30 p.m., Charter Cable 15) against the conference-leading Wolf Pack (7-1, 14-4) at Lawlor Events Center.
"You hope you have a matchup," Lopes said earlier this week when asked how to defend Fazekas. "I don't know that we do. We're going to start Dreike Bouldin (6-8). He's a senior. He's a long 6-8. He will do a pretty decent job in the paint. Hopefully we can slow him down and not let him have a big, big night."
That piece of strategy didn't surprise Fox. The Bulldogs don't have many options other than 6-8 Mustafa Al-Sayyad, and Fazekas' ability to shoot outside would pull Mustafa too far away from the basket. Besides Mustafa and Bouldin, the Bulldogs don't have a starter over 6-4.
"He is long, athletic and quick," Fox said of Bouldin, who missed the Bulldogs' first 10 games because of academic difficulties.
Teams have had the most success when they lay several bodies on Fazekas, forcing him out out of his comfort zone.
Fazekas is coming off probably his worst game of the season in a 62-59 win over Rice. He did have a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, yet he turned the ball over nine times.
Turnovers are something that plagued Fresno State last weekend when it was swept by Tulsa and Rice. Fresno State turned the ball over 19 times against Tulsa.
"We can't keep turning the ball over like that and expect to win on the road," Lopes said.
After a 6-0 start, the Bulldogs have won only five of their last 11. Defense has slipped a little bit, according to Lopes.
"We are not defending as well as we did earlier," Lopes said. "We still have to get much better."
Defense is a priority for Fox, and Nevada's first-year coach knows he has his hands full with a young, athletic Fresno State team led by 6-3 Ja'Vance Coleman, who is averaging 17.8 per game, and senior center Mustafa Al-Sayyad, who is averaging 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
"They are improved over a year ago," Fox said. "They are terrific. It will be a heck of a ballgame.
"We tried to recruit Coleman a couple of years ago. He's very explosive and can shoot the three. I don't know if we have anybody to match up with him. (Donovan) Morris is shooting well (10.8 per game)."
Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling 881-1281.
