Posted at 7:36 a.m., Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Nevada's Fazekas questionable vs. UNLV
Advertiser Staff
RENO, Nev. — It's uncertain whether Nevada's all-time scoring leader Nick Fazekas will play in Saturday's basektball matchup against in-state rival UNLV, coach Mark Fox said.Fazekas suffered bruised ribs in the Wolf Pack's 77 to 71 victory Sunday over California and hasn't been medically cleared to practice.
UNLV beat Hawaii, 61-58, on Tuesday night. UH will play Nevada twice during the WAC season.
Fox said he'll know better by Thursday or Friday whether the star forward will be in the lineup.
"They will re-evaluate him daily starting Wednesday," Fox said. "They're very cautious because it's so painful.
"He was a lot more sore yesterday than he was the day of the game," the coach told the Reno Gazette-Journal on Tuesday.
Fazekas has never missed a game at Nevada, playing in all 106 since the 2003-04 season.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Fazekas is a two-time player of the year in the Western Athletic Conference, and has 1,970 career points. He needs 30 more to become the 12th player in WAC history to reach 2,000.
In the third game of the season, Fazekas broke Nevada's scoring record of 1,877 points set by Edgar Jones from 1975-1979.
Fazekas is averaging 22.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season. He has hit nearly 61 percent of his shots from the field, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range.
Fazekas has 996 career rebounds and needs only four to join Pete Padgett, Nevada's all-time leader with 1,464, and Jones as the Pack's only players to grab 1,000 rebounds or more. Fazekas needs 20 rebounds to tie Jones for the second spot at 1,016.
If Fazekas doesn't play, Fox said David Ellis would be the likely choice to start in Saturday's home game at Lawlor Events Center.
The 7-1, 222-pound Ellis is a junior from Capital Christian High in Sacramento, Calif.
"David Ellis has really taken a step forward," Fox said.
Ellis is averaging three points and three rebounds in 17 minutes this season. He equalled a career high with six points in 17 minutes in the California game.
Since starting three games as a freshman, Ellis didn't start another game until this season's opener against Alaska Anchorage when he and Lyndale Burleson started in place of regulars Marcelus Kemp and Ramon Sessions. Fox said Ellis has shown significant improvement since his sophomore season.
"I think he realizes he belongs," Fox said. "He's stronger than he used to be. He doesn't get as many shots as he'd like. But we have a lot of guys who can score and none of them get as many shots as they'd like."
