Football
Associated Press 18y

WAC bubble teams look to knock off home favorite, No. 21 Nevada

RENO, Nev. -- The good news for Utah State, Hawaii and
Louisiana Tech is the winner of the Western Athletic Conference
tournament clinches an automatic NCAA tournament berth.

The bad news is Nevada coach Mark Fox says his No. 21 Wolf Pack
squad still hasn't reached its potential. The three-time regular
season champs bring an 11-game winning streak to the WAC tourney,
which begins Thursday on Nevada's home court.

"I think we can get a lot better," Fox said.

The Wolf Pack (24-5, 13-3) opens play at 6 p.m. against Idaho
(4-24, 1-15) in a campaign for a third straight trip to the NCAAs
since 6-foot-11 forward Nick Fazekas came to town.

"We have not played our best basketball yet," said Fox, the
former Trent Johnson assistant who has compiled a 49-12 record
since Johnson left for Stanford two years ago.

Fazekas, who's considering an early departure for the NBA, ranks
16th in the NCAA in scoring, averaging nearly 22 points per game,
and is 15th in rebounding at 10.3 per game.

But the WAC's three leading contenders trying to play their way
into the NCAA tournament boast marquee players of their own:

-- Paul Millsap leads the NCAA in rebounding for the third year
in a row, averaging 13.5 per game to go with his 19.7 scoring
average for Louisiana Tech (19-11, 11-5). The Bulldogs open at noon
against Boise State (14-14, 6-10).

-- Nate Harris averages 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds while
shooting a WAC-best 62 percent from the field for league-newcomer
Utah State (21-7, 11-5), which opens at 2:30 p.m. against San Jose
State (6-24, 2-14).

-- Julian Sensley averages 17.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.2
assists for Hawaii (17-10, 10-6) which opens at 8:30 p.m. against
the other WAC-newcomer, New Mexico State (15-13, 10-6).

"I don't think the last two or three weeks have anything to do
with how you are going to play in the tournament," Utah State
coach Stew Morrill said. The Aggies have won at least 21 games for
the seventh year in a row and are responsible for the only blemish
on Nevada's 14-1 home mark.

"It's just a matter of who plays well on a given night and gets
on a roll," he said.

New Mexico State is arguably the biggest surprise in the league
under first-year coach Reggie Theus. His team is led by sophomore
forward Tyrone Nelson, who averages 18.3 points and 8.8 rebounds
per game.

"Nevada has to be the favorite going in. But I think everybody
is scared of everybody at this point because it could be one-game
and done," said Theus, the former UNLV standout who went on to
star in the NBA.

"Once you get past the first one, anything can happen," he
said.

It was Boise State that crashed the party last year, when Nevada
was riding a 10-game winning streak before Coby Karl's last-second
shot gave the Broncos a 73-72 win and abruptly ended what the
hometown faithful had expected to be a three-day coronation of the
Wolf Pack at the Lawlor Events Center.

"We don't talk about it," Fox said. "Last year's tournament
has nothing to do with this year.

"It's a new season for everyone. I think every team will be
refreshed and ready to go and trying to win their way into the
(NCAA) tournament."

Nevada relied last year almost exclusively on Fazekas and senior
forward Kevinn Pinkney. This year's team boasts a trio of perimeter
players, combining the shooting skills of Marcelus Kemp and Kyle
Shiloh with the steady point-guard play of Ramon Sessions, last
year's WAC freshman of the year.

"We're much more versatile offensively," Fox said. "Last year
we had basically two inside players who averaged in double figures
and no one else."

While Nevada is 42-5 at home dating to the 2003-04 season,
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace thinks the home court advantage is
overrated in postseason play. Over the past five years, only Tulsa
in 2003 has won a WAC tourney title on its home floor.

"In the past, the host team has struggled to pull it out,"
Wallace said. "I would say Nevada has its work cut out."

Fresno State coach Steve Cleveland might have the most impartial
view. His team beat Nevada in Fresno 87-77 but lost to the Wolf
Pack in Reno on Saturday 74-60 and is sitting out the WAC tourney
voluntarily due to recruiting violations two years ago.

"You start with Nevada but I think it will be a great
tournament because of the competitiveness of this conference,"
Cleveland said.

"I still firmly believe there are four or five (WAC) teams that
could compete in the NCAA tournament and win a game," he said.

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On the Net: Western Athletic Conference:
http://www.wacsports.com/

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