'Dogs enter Wolves ' den

The Bulldogs travel to conference-favorite Nevada to take on Kirk Synder and the Wolf pack in a game that could have title implications

By Nathan Hathaway

The Fresno State men’s basketball team will be stepping into a den of wolves Saturday. The den of a very successful pack of wolves when they’re at home.

Lawlor Events Center, home of the Nevada Wolf Pack, is proving to be dangerous ground for opposing teams these days.

“ It’s probably one of the toughest places to play in our conference,” Fresno State coach Ray Lopes said.

The Nevada men’s basketball team is 9-0 at home this season and boasts perhaps the best player in the Western Athletic Conference with preseason WAC player of the year Kirk Snyder.

But Nevada coach Trent Johnson knows Snyder can’t do it by himself.

“ Kirk Snyder’s a good basketball player, just like (Fresno State guard) Terry Pettis is,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a pretty solid team. One guy can’t beat any team in this league.”

But Snyder’s not alone on this team that was the preseason favorite to win the WAC. Nevada returns two other starters from last season’s WAC tournament runner-up.

Hot-shooting point guard Todd Okeson led the WAC in 3-point percentage last year (43.5) and Gary Hill-Thomas comes back after averaging 10.6 points per game last season.

Nevada has also gotten quality stats from 6-foot-11 freshman center Nick Fazekas.

Nevada, which was picked by the coaches and the media to be the runaway winner in the WAC, is sitting in fourth place, one game behind Rice, Fresno State and Hawaii, which are locked in a three-way tie for first place atop the WAC. Fresno State was picked by the WAC coaches’ preseason poll to finish in fourth.

The game will have major implications for both sides, both in the standings and in terms of respect. Nevada beat Fresno State 92-79 last year in Reno. One month later, the Bulldogs won a 107-99 double overtime thriller to close out Selland Arena and claim the regular-season WAC title.

“ They’re gonna be playing with a lot of adrenaline,” Fresno State forward Renaldo Major said.

It looks like the Bulldogs will need to score more proficiently than they have been if they hope to beat Nevada.

Fresno State has been averaging 62.7 points per game this season, last in the WAC. And Nevada has limited opponents to a league-best 62.8 at Lawlor this season. The Wolf Pack, meanwhile, has averaged 75.6 points per game this season.

Both teams are coming into the game with a week of rest. Fresno State is coming off a 68-61 win over Tulsa last Saturday at the Save Mart Center. Nevada beat Rice 101-76 last Saturday in Reno.

“ I’m not worried about us being too tired going into the game; that’s for sure,” Lopes said. “It should help us to rest some legs and spend a lot of time on player development.”

But Johnson said the extra rest from no Thursday game would neither help nor hurt the teams.

“ It’s just part of the course. Everybody goes through it,” Johnson said. “It’s not a big deal. There’s no advantage or disadvantage.”

Trying to contain Snyder will be one of Lopes’ primary tasks in Saturday’s game.

“ It’s not holding him,” said Major, who will most likely get significant time defending Snyder. “It’s containing him.” Lopes said the best a team can usually do with a player like Snyder is try to keep him under his scoring average.