Fazekas Scores 2,000 Points for Nevada

RENO, Nev. (AP) _ Nick Fazekas came close to forgoing his senior year at Nevada and entering the NBA draft in June. He's glad he decided to return to the Wolf Pack. <br/><br/>Fazekas scored 19 points

Wednesday, December 13th 2006, 6:22 am

By: News On 6

RENO, Nev. (AP) _ Nick Fazekas came close to forgoing his senior year at Nevada and entering the NBA draft in June. He's glad he decided to return to the Wolf Pack.

Fazekas scored 19 points in No. 25 Nevada's 76-58 victory over St. Mary's on Tuesday night, becoming the first player in school history to top 2,000 points, and only the fifth in the Western Athletic Conference to post 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

The 6-foot-11 senior who entered the game leading the NCAA in rebounding with 14.1 per game became the 12th player in WAC history to reach the 2,000-point milestone. He also had five rebounds to move into second on Nevada's career rebounding list with 1,018, passing Edgar Jones, who had 1,016 from 1975-79.

``It's an accomplishment for me to do that,'' Fazekas said. ``I didn't expect to do that when I first came to Nevada. For me to pass all these records and put my name in the record book, it feels good.''

Nevada coach Mark Fox said Fazekas means much more to the team than just big numbers. In his four years so far, Nevada is 85-23 with three consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.

``He's been the perfect example of what a student-athlete should be,'' Fox said. ``He goes to school. He's going to get a degree. He plays the game the right way, works at it in his free time and the offseason. He's being rewarded for his efforts and he's a talented kid.

``I know he's most concerned about winning games, and when his career is said and done, he'll look back and feel really proud that he came to Nevada.''

In the only other game involving a ranked team, No. 13 Texas A&M beat Fordham 84-61.

Marcelus Kemp went 4-for-4 from 3-point range to finish with 20 points for Nevada (8-1), which outscored St. Mary's 13-1 in the first 4 minutes of the second half to bounce back from a home loss to UNLV on Saturday.

Diamon Simpson had 18 points and Brett Collins 16 points and nine rebounds for the Gaels (6-5).

Nevada opened the second half with a 16-3 run, including two 3-pointers by Kemp, one by Denis Ikovlev and a three-point play by Fazekas for a 46-26 lead with 14:45 remaining.

St. Mary's pulled to 48-35 on Wayne Hunter's basket off a rebound but Fazekas answered with an 18-footer. He pushed the lead to 55-38, scoring inside off a lob pass from Kemp for his 2,001st point at 8:50.

``This team (Nevada) is good,'' St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. ``Marcelus Kemp played at a very high level. Our guards need to play better basketball and we need to take better shots. We have to be able to take care of the ball better than we did.''

Ikovlev finished with a career-high 10 points and Kyle Shiloh nine for Nevada, which shot 55 percent from the field. The Wolf Pack also hit 10-of-14 (71 percent) on 3-pointers after making only 34 percent of their shots, including 1-for-15 on 3s, in Saturday's 58-49 loss to the rival Runnin' Rebels.

``We were more mentally ready to go today,'' Ikovlev said. ``Our shots just dropped tonight.''

The Wolf Pack scored eight consecutive points on back-to-back 3-pointers by Shiloh and JaVale McGee and a 12-foot jumper by Fazekas to take a 15-7 lead early.

Fueled by Lyndale Burleson's steals on three consecutive possessions, they went on a 12-2 run capped by Fazekas' 18-footer from the baseline to go ahead 30-16 with 3:43 left in the first half. But St. Mary's closed the half with a 7-0 run, including Collins' 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut it to 30-23 at halftime.

Nevada's starting point guard Ramon Sessions left the game for good with 15:52 left after he took a knee to the thigh during a scramble for a loose ball. Fox said he did not know the extent of Sessions' injury.

No. 13 Texas A&M 84, Fordham 61

At College Station, Texas, Josh Carter scored 24 points, Antanas Kavaliauskas added 19 to lead the host Aggies.

Texas A&M (8-2) bounced back from losses last week to No. 12 LSU and top-ranked UCLA _ the Aggies' first nonconference losing streak since Billy Gillispie arrived as coach more than two years ago.

Texas A&M led 39-28 at halftime. Kavaliauskas shot 6-for-7 from the field in the first half and had 13 at the break.

Sebastian Green led Fordham (5-4) with 19 points and Marcus Stout finished with 14.