Nevada adds Saint Mary's to schedule

RENO - Nevada has added another game to its schedule in men's basketball, but it's not the home game coach Mark Fox wanted.

Fox said that the Wolf Pack will play at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., probably on Dec. 31. The Gaels are members of the West Coast Conference.

Fox said that the contract will be signed in the next few days.

"We actually agreed to the game months ago," Fox said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. "We held off signing because we were trying to get a home game on that date."

Fox is desperately trying to schedule at least one more home game for the upcoming season.

"I could schedule two," Fox said. "We get an extra game because we have a regular-season game at Hawai'i. We have to get a home game for our budget. As long as they come here, I don't care who it is."

Well, almost. Fox wants the last home game(s) to be a Division 1 opponent. He had to play a Division II school, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs last year, and a game like that doesn't count as a win and it hurts your power rating.

"That (scheduling a Division II team) is going to be a last resort," said Fox, who told another Northern Nevada paper earlier in the week, that he could get a Divsion II opponent in 30 minutes. "I'd like to be done by Labor Day."

Ever since the Pack went 15-0 at home in Trent Johnson's last year (2002-2003 season), including a 20-point upset of Kansas, Nevada has been unable to attract a "big name" school to Lawlor Events Center.

The biggest out-of-conference opponent last year was Vermont in the Bracket Buster, and that's not a game that Nevada scheduled. That was done by ESPN, the promoters of the annual event.

Currently, the Pack's home schedule includes Sacramento State, UC Davis, Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia and a Bracket Buster game.

Fox admitted that he had talks with Washington State at one point, but couldn't match up dates.

Darrell Moody can be reached at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281