Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada
Dogs Beat Pack, Move to 2-0 in WAC Play
1/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State's Tim Steed scored a career-high 20 points and sophomore center Greg Smith pounded the low post for 15 points and nine rebounds to power the Bulldogs to a solid 80-74 victory against conference rival Nevada 80-74 on Monday night.
The win moved the Dogs into a three-way tie for first-place in Western Athletic Conference play and join Boise State and Utah State at 2-0 in WAC action.
"It feels good to get a win like tonight," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "Nevada is a very good basketball team. We are going to go to Louisiana Tech focused on getting a win."
The Bulldogs (6-6, 2-0 WAC) made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2:52 to help secure their third straight victory over the Pack in the Save Mart Center.
"Any conference win is a good win," freshman Bracken Funk said. "We need to keep pushing to get better."
Funk's effort, especially down the stretch, was commended by his head coach.
"Bracken is a very confident young man," Cleveland said. "He made big plays when we needed them."
Fresno State had jumped out to an early 15-7 lead and hardly looked back while leading for 37 of the game's 40 minutes of competition.
The Dogs led 37-32 at halftime and maintained their composure during a Nevada comeback bid that wrestled away the lead when the Pack's Olek Czyz slammed down two of his game-high 26 points with 7:57 to push the Wolf Pack ahead 58-56.
Senior team captain and two-time Academic All-District honoree Nedeljko Golubovic responded for the Bullogs by converting a pair of free throws to tie the game and sophomore Garrett Johnson scored on a lay-up with 7:18 remaining to grab back the lead at 60-58. Fresno State never trailed the rest of the way.
The athletic and talented Pack continued to chip away, but freshman Kevin Olekaibe's 3-pointer from the corner with 4:05 left provided the distance that proved too much for Nevada to overcome.
"I credit Garrett for making a great play to get the ball around to me," Olekaibe noted. "Steed sets the tone for us with his intensity."
Czyz, a transfer from Duke, went 10-of-12 shooting for the Wolf Pack (4-11, 1-1) while Deonte Burton added 16 and Dario Hunt had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Nevada.
"Czyz is pretty special," Cleveland added. "He has a real composure about him. He is truly one of the elite players in our league.
Olekaibe scored 14 points for Fresno State, including two free throws with 22.7 seconds left that sealed the six-point win.
Fresno State will compete in its first two WAC road games this week when the Dogs travel to play Louisiana Tech on Thursday and New Mexico State on Saturday.
POST GAME NOTES
• Fresno State improved to 2-0 in WAC play (6-6 on the season)
• Nevada dropped to 1-1 in WAC play (4-11 on the season)
• With the win, Fresno State won their first two home WAC games for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
• This is the second year in a row the Bulldogs have started 2-0 in conference play. The Bulldogs started conference play 3-0 last season, the first time in the Steve Cleveland Era.
• The win tonight marks the third time Fresno State has started 2-0 in conference play in the Steve Cleveland Era. The other seasons were 2006-07 and 2009-10.
• The Dogs have won the first two conference home games five of the last six seasons.
• Junior guard Tim Steed scored a career-high 20 points.
• Sophomore center Greg Smith scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Garrett Johnson swiped a career-high four steals.
• As a team, Fresno State recorded 11 steals for the Dogs' sixth outing with 10 ore more steals.
• Fresno State's bench scored 28 points to improve its reserve scoring average to 24.5 points per game this season.
• The Bulldogs dished out 18 assists, led by four each from Steven Shepp and Garrett Johnson.
• The last six games between Fresno State and Nevada have all been decided by ten or fewer points.
"We Are Your Team!" --- Fresno State will travel east to face Louisiana Tech (Jan. 6) and New Mexico State (Jan. 8). The contest in Ruston can be heard live on KMJ 580 AM and the date in Las Cruces can be seen live on the WAC Sports Network, which can be viewed locally in the San Joaquin Valley on KAIL. The Dogs return home on Jan. 15 to face first-place Utah State.
