Wolf Pack dealing with struggles

He was hoping his team would be better than its 2-4 record, but UNR basketball coach Mark Fox knew that with such an inexperienced group and a tough early-season schedule that included four of its first six games on the road, a slow start was possible.

Not that he's happy with it, mind you. But the Wolf Pack has had the kind of issues that plague young teams -- turnovers, scoring droughts, miscommunication. And all have come into play during the team's current three-game losing streak.

"We're going to make mistakes," Fox said Monday in the wake of Saturday's 70-66 loss to Pacific in Stockton, Calif. "The thing is we're trying to correct those mistakes in practice, but because we've been traveling so much, we haven't practiced that much."

That will change this week.

The Wolf Pack doesn't play again until Saturday when it hosts Montana State at Lawlor Events Center, and five days in the gym should help Fox and his staff address the issues of taking care of the basketball, being patient on offense and not breaking down on defense.

"That's been real difficult, not having had the time to work on what we need to," Fox said. "So this is an important week for us."

Saturday's game kicks off a four-game homestand for UNR. The Wolf Pack also hosts San Diego on Dec. 12, Central Florida on Dec. 16 and Colorado State on Dec. 19 before hitting the road for games at Northern Iowa (Dec. 22) and North Carolina (Dec. 27).

"We need lots of practice," Fox said. "Looking at where we are, I don't think we've had a lot of surprises. We knew with a young team we'd make our share of mistakes."

Through its first six games, UNR is averaging 15.7 turnovers and is shooting 67 percent from the foul line. The Wolf Pack missed the front end of two one-and-ones against Pacific during a scoring drought that lasted seven minutes in the second half.

UNR also missed some open looks and other shots were rushed, which allowed Pacific to go on a 15-0 run.

Of greater significance for UNR was the right shoulder injury to leading scorer Marcelus Kemp late in the game. Kemp, a 6-foot-5-inch senior guard, is averaging 18.5 points per game and was going to be re-evaluated Monday.

In addition, Matt LaGrone, a 6-8 backup forward, may have broken his nose Saturday.

If Kemp is to miss a significant amount of time, that could be a big blow to UNR's attempt to turn its season around.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.