state mailed in at tulsa.....think they will put up a better fight against the odds of history also..
played Fresno St +10.5 -110 (OLY)
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'Dogs try to avoid falling under rule of Lawlor
Nevada's home has not been hospitable to Fresno State.
RENO, Nev. ? It's funny how Fresno State senior basketball players Dreike Bouldin and Jack Marlow answered the question about last year's Fresno State-Nevada game here.
"They whipped our [tails]," Bouldin said.
"They just flat out whipped our [tails]," Marlow echoed. "Flat out."
Hard to argue with their assessment.
Nevada's 84-65 victory was Fresno State's worst loss of last season. It also appeared to rattle the Bulldogs, who dropped three of the next four games. "After that Nevada game, coach was hot," Bouldin said. "He didn't feel like we came here ready to play. I think he felt we thought we were up here for some other type of trip.
"I mean, Nevada just smacked us bad."
Coach Ray Lopes doesn't see many similarities between last season's meeting and tonight's, except that Nevada (14-4) still is a good team ? even without Kirk Snyder, who left school early for the NBA.
"Snyder being gone? Yeah, it makes a difference," Lopes said. "But they have [Kevinn] Pinkney and [Nick] Fazekas. They've got some guys who have filled in quite nicely.
"They're playing with a lot of confidence. They're really executing offensively. And I think they're playing really solid defense."
Not to mention Nevada's playing at home.
Fresno State has shown the ability to compete with the top teams in the Western Athletic Conference ? such as beating Texas-El Paso at the Save Mart Center ? but the Bulldogs haven't displayed such prowess on the road.
Nevada's Lawlor Events Center is a place where Lopes has yet to win, a place where the Bulldogs are 1-4.
"It's one of the tougher places to play in our conference," Lopes said. "And here we go again."
Last year's loss came in front of more than 10,000 fans. Fresno State has yet to face a road crowd of more than 6,300 this season.
"Oh, yeah, this is a tough place to play, especially with these old boys right here," Marlow said, pointing at Nevada's student section. "[The fans] get after it."
Fresno State would be smart to do the same.
A slow start won't help the Bulldogs' cause. Fresno State is 3-3 when down at halftime. Fall behind against Nevada and it could take awhile to mount a comeback, with Nevada slowing to a snail's pace at times, catering to the inside game.
The Wolf Pack has lost only to UTEP and Pacific at Lawlor.
"But they're beatable," Marlow said. "You have to come at them with everything you've got. You have to play some hellacious defense. You have to come out intense."
Coleman to play
Fresno State's leading scorer, Ja'Vance Coleman, slowed this week by a hip injury, will play tonight but won't start. Coleman practiced for the first time this week Friday.
"He looked good," Lopes said. "Keeping him off his leg for those days really helped."
Dwight O'Neil will start in place of Coleman, who had started all 17games this season.
