INDIANAPOLIS - A year ago, Nevada was one of the Cinderella stories of the NCAA Tournament after posting upset wins over Michigan State and Gonzaga, and barely losing to Final Four participant Georgia Tech.
That put Nevada (24-6) basketball on the map, and first-year coach Mark Fox and his Wolf Pack squad hope to continue to build on that postseason success when it meets Texas (20-10) in a first-round game today at 4:10 p.m. at the RCA Dome.
The Pack's first-round game isn't drawing a huge amount of national attention. Much of the attention here is being focused on Illinois and Kentucky, and that doesn't concern Fox in the slightest. In fact, he probably would love to sneak in under the radar.
"We are just little ol' Nevada, but we have a star on our flag just like everyone else," he said. "It's not the hype that goes along with it; it's the plays you make. Our kids aren't caught up in who follows us and being overlooked. We just want to play basketball and hopefully we'll be able to make enough plays to win."
The Pack's experience last year will certainly help today against the Longhorns, who are making their seventh straight NCAA appearance under coach Rick Barnes.
"Last year's experience helped," Nevada sophomore Nick Fazekas said. "We played a solid three games and we played those three games well. It always helps to have experience, and that experience helps us guide the new guys."
No doubt Fazekas (21.4 points, 9.4 rebounds) and Kevinn Pinkney (12.1, 7.7), the co-captains have talked a lot to the new players, letting them know about all the distractions that come with being in an NCAA Tournament.
Fazekas and Pinkney are uppermost on the mind of Barnes.
"They are the longest team we've played this year," said the Texas coach. "They do a great job of taking advantage of their post players. Their perimeter players love to attack (the basket)."
The job of containing Fazekas and Pinkney falls to 6-9 245-pound Jason Klotz and 6-8 235-pound Brad Buckman.
"We watched him (Fazekas) on film, and he's really a crafty player," Klotz said. "He shoots the ball well and has some good post moves. He's not as big as me (weight-wise), so I need to try and push him off the block. He's a guy you have to be on at all times because he runs off screens. We're going to be after him trying to guard him and hopefully we do a good job of it. We're going to need to do a good job on him."
If Fazekas and Pinkney are contained, then it will be up to freshman Ramon Sessions, Jermaine Washington, Mo Charlo, Kyle Shiloh and Chad Bell to have big games. When Boise held Fazekas without a first-half field goal in the WAC Tournament, Washington, Charlo and Bell were there to pick up the slack.
The Longhorns are a different team from the one that started the season. Texas lost 6-5 forward P.J. Tucker (academics) and 6-10 freshman LaMarcus Aldridge (injured hip). Without those two double-figure scorers, the Longhorns finished 6-7 in their last 13 games.
Aldridge suffered a hip injury in mid-January against Nebraska in a non-contact situation. He had surgery approximately two weeks ago in Colorado.
"It was difficult losing some of our leaders," Klotz said. "We had a good high-low thing working. LaMarcus was a go-to guy. P.J. was a tough guard. Once you lose two guys like that it's hard. Coach (Barnes) did a great job of getting us motivated and together."
"You spend all year putting your team together," Barnes said. "That hurt, definitely. One of the toughest things is when you have to manipulate roles of players midway through the season."
It got worse. Kenton Paulino dislocated his big toe and Sydmill Harris has suffered back and groin poroblems much of the year. At one point, Texas was down to seven scholarship players.
Texas has hung tough, and as Barnes pointed out, the team has not used the absence of Tucker and Aldridge as an excuse even though it would be justifiable if it did.
Klotz and Buckman both average double figures, and both will be a handful for the Wolf Pack.
"They are big and physical," Fazekas said. "Shorter than what I expected, but there is no doubt they are physical. I am used to it though. We faced big guys all year."
And the Wolf Pack held their ground.
