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Fazekas powers Nevada past Fresno State

Feb 9, 2007 - 6:57 AM FRESNO, California (Ticker) -- Fresno State failed to capitalize on Nick Fazekas' first-half struggles and the Nevada forward made them pay.

Fazekas scored 21 of his season-high 33 points in the second half to power the 11th-ranked Wolf Pack to an 81-68 victory over the Bulldogs in a Western Athletic Conference matchup.

A two-time WAC Player of the Year, Fazekas had 12 points in the opening half but shot just 4-of-14 from the field as Nevada took a 40-38 lead into the break.

Fresno State didn't help itself by hitting just 7-of-17 free throws in the first half and 10-of-25 overall.

"Nevada is a good team and they showed why tonight," Bulldogs coach Steve Cleveland said. "I thought we played hard, but we didn't hit our free throws and that hurt us in the second half."

Indeed it did as Nevada looked like a different team after the break.

Fazekas hit 9-of-10 shots and Kyle Shiloh and Denis Ikovlev each hit a pair of 3-pointers to help the Wolf Pack (22-2, 10-1 WAC) pull away for their fifth straight win.

Celebrating the highest ranking in school history, Nevada completed a season sweep of Fresno State (16-8, 5-6) to improve to 8-1 on the road this season.

After a tightly played first half, the Wolf Pack surged from a 46-42 lead with a 17-3 run. Fazekas converted a three-point play and Ikovlev hit a 3-pointer to open the surge.

Shiloh, a native of Bakersfield who was making a homecoming of sorts, later buried back-to-back shots from the arc and Ikovlev capped the spurt with another 3-pointer to make it 63-45 with just over 13 1/2 minutes left.

The Bulldogs scored nine straight points to cut their deficit to 65-57, but Fazekas netted 12 points in the final 10 minutes to maintain the advantage.

Shiloh tied a season high with 18 points and grabbed a season-best 11 boards to help Nevada enjoy an overwhelming 56-27 advantage on the glass.

Dominic McGuire scored 15 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots for Fresno State, which had five players in double figures for the fourth time this season.

Hector Hernandez added 13 points and Quinton Hosley 12 for the Bulldogs, who had as many blocks as turnovers (9).

"We came out strong, but we didn't hit our free throws and that hurt us," Hosley said. "We could have had the lead going into halftime if we knocked down a couple more."