Nevada will go back to basics vs. Hawaii

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-- Mark Fox has tunnel vision when it comes to his team playing defense.

Fox demands good defense and is convinced he's not getting it right now from his Nevada basketball team, which plays the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors tonight. After the Wolf Pack's stunning 62-60 loss at San Jose State on Thursday, Fox focused on his team being outrebounded, 37-33, and its 7-of-16 foul shooting.

But the more he looked at the game tape, the more he knew defense was his team's biggest problem.

"The second half defense was very disappointing," Fox said Friday. "I think that this group doesn't understand how important that (defensive) end is for us. We have to understand that success on that end has a huge correlation to winning.

"We don't have the firepower just to outscore people. If they don't improve defensively they're going to get their butt beat."

Fox made it clear that he is re-emphasizing defense.

"We're going to do it the old school way," Fox said. "We're going to hold them to the fire and hopefully we'll get better defensively. We're not going to be drastically different, but we might practice longer until we get it right."

The Pack (8-6, 0-1) has used the same starting lineup in the last eight games. He didn't see changing the lineup tonight as an option.

"I'll be honest with you. I don't have five guys playing defense well enough to start," Fox said. "We have guys starting by default. We'll have to keep scratching."

The Pack face a Hawaii team that is 5-9 overall, but is 1-1 in the WAC after playing competitively in an 86-80 loss at Utah State and a win at San Jose State, 85-79.

"They're an undersized group that shoots the ball well," Fox said of the Warriors. "Obviously, they have had a week to prepare for us. We'll have to play much better than we did last night to have a chance."

Hawaii's tallest starter is 6-foot-8, 250-pound P.J. Owsley. Coach Bob Nash's son, 6-6, 200-pound Bobby Nash, plays power forward.

"Their size is a concern for us," Bob Nash said. "They have good skills with individual people. When they put it all together they're going to be scary.

"San Jose has a way of making you play ugly. They hang around and they hang around. We have to find a way to keep that going."

In recent years, the Pack has done a good job itself of tending to business in the series with Hawaii, winning six of the last seven games dating back to 2004-05. The Pack's only loss in that stretch was a 73-69 overtime defeat in Honolulu in 2005-06.

Last season, Nevada won 68-66 in overtime in Honolulu and 69-68 in a controversial ending in Reno.

The Pack dodged a bullet in the Reno game when a shot by then-senior Ahmet Gueye was waved off after review by officials, and then a putback by Owsley that would have won the game was ruled to have been after the buzzer.

 

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Hawai'i taking on riled-up Wolf Pack

Hawai'i taking on riled-up Wolf Pack

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is expecting to play a Wolf Pack in sheep's clothing today.

The Rainbow Warriors will host the Nevada Wolf Pack in a Western Athletic Conference game tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Nevada arrived in Honolulu yesterday, fresh off a 62-60 upset loss at San Jose State on Thursday.

"They're still Nevada," Hawai'i senior point guard Matt Gibson said. "That's still the team that won the WAC all these years, the team that goes to the NCAA (Tournament) every year. We're preparing for the best."

And the 'Bows have had time to prepare. Hawai'i has not played since an 85-79 road victory at San Jose State last Saturday.

"I'm not sure this is the best time of the year to visit the Islands," Nevada head coach Mark Fox said. "They had a week to prepare for us."

But Hawai'i is 5-9 overall and 1-1 in the WAC, and will have to be at its best against Nevada, which is 8-6 and 0-1.

"Any time a good team like that gets beat, they're going to be fired up for the next game," Hawai'i senior forward Bobby Nash said. "I'm sure their coach ripped into them and they'll be ready for us. We have to bring our A game."

Nevada is the four-time defending WAC regular-season champion. However, it lost two players from last season to the NBA draft ? forward Nick Fazekas and point guard Ramon Sessions. Fazekas was the three-time WAC Player of the Year.

"We're not nearly as good as we've been the last four or five years because we're so young," Fox said. "We're so inexperienced, we take it a week at a time."

Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said: "They might not have Fazekas and Sessions, but they still have some real good personnel. They have talent and they have size."

Nevada is led by 6-foot-5 senior guard Marcelus Kemp, who was a first-team All-WAC selection last season. He currently ranks third in the conference in scoring at 18.6 points per game.

Fox noted that Nevada's starting lineup features Kemp, three sophomores and a freshman.

"He's handled it really well," Fox said. "He's had to do way too much for us ... but he's been very patient with the inexperience around him."

Some of the inexperienced Nevada players are starting to blossom.

JaVale McGee, for example, is averaging 13.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots per game. The 7-foot sophomore center averaged 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game last season.

Also, sophomore guard Brandon Fields is averaging 11.4 points per game, and true freshman guard Armon Johnson is contributing 11.0 points per game.

"It's like they don't change," Bobby Nash said. "They keep coming back every year with firepower. We can't look at what happened the other night because that's still one of the best teams in the WAC, if not the best."

If anything, the Wolf Pack will bring a height advantage. McGee has more blocked shots (46) this season than the entire Hawai'i team (45).

"We don't have the size to play against big centers one-on-one," Bob Nash said. "So we have to do it by committee."

McGee and 6-8 sophomore Matt LaGrone are the starting post players for Nevada, and 7-1 David Ellis and 6-9 Demarshay Johnson play key reserve roles.

"They're a lot bigger than us," Bobby Nash said. "We just have to out-think them and play with our hearts."

Hawai'i has been going with a smaller lineup since starting center Stephen Verwers suffered a season-ending broken leg on Christmas Day.

"We just have to look at it the other way, and say 'How are their big guys going to guard our quicker guys?' " Bob Nash said.

The 'Bows rely primarily on four shooters ? Gibson, Nash, Riley Luettgerodt and Jared Dillinger. They are all averaging double-figure points.

But despite being in Honolulu since Sunday, the 'Bows have not been allowed to practice in the Stan Sheriff Center all week due to men's volleyball matches.

"I don't want to talk about that ? there's enough problems going on right now with the athletic department," Gibson said. "I'll just say I think we should be able to shoot in our home arena at least one day before a big game."

NOTES

Tonight is being marketed as "Green & White Night," with the goal being to have half the arena dressed in green, and the other half in white. Fans behind the team benches are encouraged to wear green; fans facing the team benches are encouraged to wear white. For a diagram of the color scheme, visit hawaiiathletics.com.