Nevada basketball notes: Officials find themselves in spotlight at Lawlor - Reno Gazette-Journal

Usually one team will have a beef with the officials after every college basketball game.

But during Nevada's 74-61 win over Fresno State on Saturday night, it seemed like both squads weren't all that thrilled with the referees. Neither was the crowd.

Fresno State appeared to get the short end of the stick after being whistled for 24 fouls (the second most by a Pack opponent this season). Nevada was called for 14 fouls.

Coaches and players on both teams shot stares at the officials throughout the game. The Lawlor Events Center crowd howled at them after nearly every whistle. And Fresno State coach Rodney Terry was called for a technical after Jonathan Wills drew his fifth foul.

"They did a fantastic job," Wolf Pack forward Dario Hunt said with an ear-to-ear grin when asked about the officials (perhaps hiding his true feelings). "Everybody makes their calls. Whatever they see. You just have to live with it whether you think it's good or not. But they did a pretty good job overall."

The game was filled with questionable calls on both teams. The Wolf Pack finished with 30 free-throw attempts (its fourth most of the season). Fresno State had 18 attempts.

The game had a ragged feel for the first 30 minutes with so many fouls called.

"You have to go with the flow of the game and how it's called," Wolf Pack coach David Carter said. "Both coaches want a call every time. Those officials are in a tough spot. They run down to my end and hear me (complaining), and then they run down to his end and hear him (complaining). It's, like, 'Give me a break.' They do a great job, and we just have to fight through that and just play."

Fresno State had a pair of players foul out -- Wills and Tyler Johnson -- with Wills also being whistled for a flagrant foul early in the second half when he inadvertently elbowed the face of Olek Czyz. Wills only played 18 minutes before fouling out.

The Wolf Pack had an interesting night at the free-throw line. Nevada made all nine of its shots from the stripe in the first half, but was only 9-of-21 from the line in the second half. It was 18-of-30 for the night.

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STOPPING 'K.O.'

Fresno State's Kevin Olekaibe is going to get his shots up. That's for sure.

Thanks to the Wolf Pack's strong defensive effort, he didn't make too many of those attempts against Nevada. The sophomore guard made only 4-of-17 shots, including 3-of-10 from 3-point range.

Olekaibe, who entered the game second in the WAC with an 18.4-points-per-game average, finished with 13 points and zero assists. He missed seven of his first eight shots.

"We thought if we could slow him down, we didn't think the other guys would score enough points to beat us," Carter said. "We forced him into some tough shots tonight. You just have to do that to a good player. I always got nervous when he made one because he can get going, but we did a good job of not letting him get into a good streak."

AROUND THE RIM

The Wolf Pack improved to 48-37 all-time against Fresno State. ... Nevada is 11-1 at home this season. ... The Wolf Pack shot 51 percent from the floor. That's the sixth time this season the team has made at least half its shots. It's 6-0 in such games. ... The Wolf Pack had a 37-33 edge on the boards, although Fresno State grabbed more offensive rebounds (13 to 11). ... All 12 of the Wolf Pack's bench points came in the second half. The Fresno State bench scored only four points. ... Nevada's next game is Thursday at New Mexico State.