Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada
Men's Basketball Shredded by Nevada 84-65
1/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2004
RENO, Nev. - Kirk Snyder scored 28 points and Nick Fazekas added 16 Saturday night to help keep Nevada undefeated at home this season with an 84-65 win over Fresno State in the Western Athletic Conference.
Todd Okeson added 12 points and 10 assists for his first career double-double and Kevinn Pinkney had 11 points for the Wolf Pack (12-6, 6-3), the first team this season to score more than 80 points against Fresno State.
Shantay Legans had 21 points for the Bulldogs (10-8, 6-3), who have lost three of their last four after winning seven in a row. They are now in a three-way tie for third place in the WAC with UTEP and Nevada. Rice and Hawaii are tied for first at 7-2.
Leading 40-33, Nevada opened the second half with a 10-3 run to go ahead 50-36 on a pair of Snyder free throws with 15:20 to play. Snyder, the WAC Preseason Player of the Year, ended up 12-of-13 from the line.
Fresno State answered with a 10-2 run capped by a Legans jumper from the top of the key on a fast break, pulling the Bulldogs to within 52-46 with 11:22 left.
But Marcelus Kemp followed with consecutive 3-pointers and Snyder scored 8 in a row for Nevada, including a 3-point shot for a 68-53 lead at 7:20. At one point in the second half, the Wolf Pack netted seven threes in a row. Nevada finished 12-of-22 from beyond the arc.
Okeson added two more 3-pointers to push the lead to 74-56 at 5:59 and the Bulldogs never threatened after that. The game drew the ninth largest crowd in Nevada history, 10,238.
Nevada trailed 7-4 in the opening minutes but Snyder capped a 10-0 run with consecutive 3-pointers to give the Wolf Pack a 14-7 lead that grew to 31-22 on Okeson's 3-point goal 4:50 before the half. Francis Koffi scored off a rebound to pull Fresno State to 37-33 at 1:09 but Shiloh Kemp answered with a 3-pointer 20 seconds before the half for a 40-33 lead.
Fazekas made 6-of-8 from the field and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Snyder made 12-of-13 free throw attempts and he and Pinkney each added seven rebounds for the Wolf Pack, who are 10-0 at home this season.
Jonathan Woods added 12 points and Mustafa Al-Sayaad had 9 points and 12 rebounds for Fresno State.
The Bulldogs entered with the league's best scoring defense at 58.8 per game.
