GAME NOTES: The Pacific Tigers play the first of back-to-back games against teams from the Mountain West Conference, as they contend with the Nevada Wolf Pack on Thursday night at the Spanos Center.

Pacific, which plays in the West Coast Conference, had a three-game win streak interrupted by Western Michigan last Sunday in an 80-72 final. The outcome was the first home loss of the season for the Tigers.

As for the Wolf Pack, they continue down a slippery slope after winning their first two games of the season against Cal Poly and Adams State. The road has led them to seven consecutive defeats, the latest of which was a 65-55 setback at home versus Cal State Fullerton.

In terms of the all-time series between these two foes, which now dates back a century, the Tigers are ahead by a count of 54-45. Pacific has won two straight and six of the last seven encounters, including a narrow 80-78 final a season ago in Reno.

Against a Titans team that entered the meeting with seven defeats, Nevada fell behind immediately and never recovered, shooting only 37.0 percent from the field and 5-of-16 behind the 3-point line. D.J. Fenner accounted for 12 points to pace the Pack offense, followed by Marqueze Coleman and Michael Perez with 11 points apiece in yet another loss for the once prominent program.

Fenner, a career 4.3 ppg scorer, is heading the list this season with his 10.8 ppg, even though he has shot only 37.8 percent from the field and 27.0 percent on the perimeter. Coleman and Perez pitch in with 10.4 and 10.1 ppg, respectively, but they too are having their shooting woes. AJ West (9.9 ppg) is on the cusp of being a double-digit performer, but more importantly he is perhaps the only player making a significant impact on the glass with 8.7 rpg for a program that is beating foes by almost three per game on the boards.

The defense for Pacific seemed to do its job against Western Michigan last weekend, forcing 15 turnovers, but at the same time the Broncos were allowed to connect on 56 percent from the field in what turned into an eight-point home loss for the Tigers. Dulani Robinson gave the hosts a fighting chance with his game-high 23 points off the bench, shooting 5-of-9 behind the 3-point line, followed by T.J. Wallace and David Taylor with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

On a squad putting up 67.9 ppg and shooting just 63.0 percent at the free- throw line, the Tigers follow the lead of Wallace and his 14.4 ppg, although his field goal shooting overall (.394) now mirrors his efforts behind the 3- point line. Robinson now checks in at 11.9 ppg and, oddly enough, has better aim out on the perimeter (.453) than he does the floor overall (.398).

Scoring less than 60 ppg on a regular basis is far from encouraging for a Nevada program that just can't seem to get on track, no matter how close it comes to recording its next victory. One would think that the Tigers might give a little in this meeting, but still the Pack will probably come up short.