honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 5:07 p.m., Sunday, March 11, 2007

Both Nevada teams in tourney for first time since '85

By Martin Griffith
Associated Press

RENO, Nev. -- For the first time since 1985, Nevada and UNLV have made the same field of the NCAA tournament.

Nevada (28-4) of the Western Athletic Conference and UNLV (28-6) of the Mountain West Conference both enter the first round of the tournament Friday as No. 7 seeds against No. 10 seeds.

UNLV opens in Chicago against the Atlantic Coast Conference's Georgia Tech (20-11), while Nevada begins in New Orleans against the Missouri Valley Conference's Creighton (22-10).

It will mark UNLV's first NCAA trip since 2000 and 15th overall, and Nevada's fourth straight tournament appearance and sixth overall.

Nevada and Creighton both played Hawaii. Nevada beat fellow WAC member Hawaii twice, once in overtime and another time on a controversial play in which a potential game-winning basketball was taken off the scoreboard. Hawaii beat Creighton in the Rainbow Classic championship.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger said he was surprised the Runnin' Rebels did not end up with a No. 3 or 4 seed after winning nine of their last 10 games. UNLV earned the MWC's automatic tournament bid after defeating regular-season champion BYU 78-70 in the tournament championship.

''All the factors seemed to be lining up pretty well (for a higher seed) but apparently there was something in there missing,'' said Kruger, who became the fifth coach to take four teams to the NCAAs. ''We'll control what we can control and that is preparing for Georgia Tech this week.''

Fox said he did not think the Wolf Pack's 79-77 loss to Utah State in the tournament semifinals cost the team in the seeding process. Nevada, the regular-season WAC champion, landed an at-large bid.

''I had no worry about the seed because you have no control over it,'' he said. ''It's about playing well anyway. I'm very proud of our young men, and we're fortunate to be in the position we're in.''

Georgia Tech earned an at-large bid after winning seven of its last 10 games, including one against North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets lost to Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament.

The Runnin' Rebels and Yellow Jackets have met just once -- when Jerry Tarkanian-coached UNLV downed Georgia Tech 90-81 in the 1990 tournament semifinals en route to its only national title.

''The two times I've caught clips of them they (Georgia Tech) seemed to be very athletic,'' Kruger said. ''It sounds like they're playing their best basketball here in the last couple of weeks. Coach (Paul) Hewitt does a great job so we expect it to be an extremely tough game.

''This group (of Running Rebels) has played like they have something to prove all year long. Their attitude has been great. I know they'll prepare over the next three or four days for Georgia Tech the same way,'' he said.

Creighton enters the tournament on a roll after earning the MVC's automatic bid a week ago with an upset over regular-season champion Southern Illinois.

Creighton is in the tournament for the seventh time since 1999. The Bluejays are 2-6 in their past six appearances, with first-round wins against Louisville in 1999 and Florida in 2002.

Nevada has a 3-3 record against Creighton, including a 61-58 win over the Bluejays in the 1995-96 season when they last played.

''Creighton is a very good team, and it's an interesting matchup,'' Fox said. ''(Creighton coach) Dana Altman is a good friend and he has a terrific program. I don't know enough about them yet to tell you what will be key factors in the game.''

After advancing to the Sweet 16 with wins over Michigan State and Gonzaga in 2004, Nevada bowed out of the 2005 tournament in the second round after a victory over Texas and lost 87-79 to Montana in the first round last year.

''We've been on both sides of the magic,'' Fox said. ''It leads you to believe it's a fragile experience. But each season is independent of each other.''

Nevada forward Nick Fazekas, the WAC's three-time player of the year, said the sting of the Montana loss lingers and he thinks it could motivate the Wolf Pack against Creighton.

''It's a fragile experience and you have to make the most of it because it's one-and-done,'' he said. ''There's definitely some good teams in that bracket and there will be no cake walks. I've seen Creighton on TV, and they're a tough-nosed team that knows how to win.''

Nevada guard Kyle Shiloh, the team's top defensive player, is expected to see action against Creighton after sitting out the Utah State game with a strained hamstring.

''I'm definitely excited to get back on the court,'' he said. ''I hope to be 100 percent by Friday. I think we're excited to play a team like that in the first round. It can only bring out the best.''

Nevada, which is 2-2 against tournament teams this season, has been assigned to the South region. UNLV, which is 5-2 against tournament teams, will play in the Midwest region.

The Nevada-Creighton winner will play the Memphis-North Texas winner, while the UNLV-Georgia Tech winner will face the Wisconsin-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi winner.