USU to take on Nevada

After beating Louisiana Tech, the final unbeaten team in conference play, the Utah State men’s basketball team will go on the road to face Nevada – the team picked to finish first in the Western Athletic Conference.

The game will start at 10 p.m. and will air on ESPN.

“It will be a huge challenge for us going into Nevada,” Head Coach Stew Morrill said. “We know what we’re up against and know we’re going to have to have a very good performance to be in the game.”

The Wolf Pack are led by Nick Fazekas, who averages 20.9 points and 9 rebounds per game.

“You know he can get it going and you know he can make a bunch of shots from the perimeter,” Morrill said. “But as with most contingencies, he’s not the whole story. They’ve got a lot of good players surrounding him. They’re not only big, they’re athletic. I guess that’s why they’re as good as they are.”

At one point, Nevada was ranked No. 21 in the nation, but they are now only recieving 16 votes in the poll.

Morrill said it is the Wolf Pack’s offensive balance that makes them so dangerous.

“Any time any team has a balance of perimeter shooting and good inside post play it makes it harder to guard them,” he said. “That’s what we’ve tried to do. When you can make perimeter shots it really frees things up inside.”

As good as Nevada is, Morrill said he is not labeling this game as a “must win.”

“It’s more of an opportunity situation,” he said. “Obviously it’s a tough challenge and a great opportunity. But we’re not going in there thinking they have to have it; that’s not the frame of mind. Yeah, we’d love to get it. But I’m not going to put the kind of pressure on them that this is one they’ve got to have. That would be a little presumptuous on my part.”

Nevada lost its last game on the road to Fresno State 87-77 last Wednesday. The Aggies also lost at Fresno 99-96 in double overtime Jan. 7.

Morrill said the Wolf Pack will be motivated after their loss.

“With Nevada going to Fresno, I’m sure they’re upset of how they could’ve played there and they could’ve won,” he said.

After Nevada, the Aggies will return home to face South Dakota State on Thursday and Hawai’i next Monday. The Hawai’i game will be shown on ESPN2.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu