Mark Fox’s first season as a head college basketball coach could be classified as a resounding success.

His 2004-05 University of Nevada Wolf Pack …

¢ Went 25-7 overall.

¢ Dominated the Western Athletic Conference, winning 16 of 18 games and the regular-season championship.

¢ Tripped Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national runner-up Illinois in Round Two.

Fox, a 36-year-old Garden City native, experienced plenty of highs in his debut season, the low point undoubtedly an 85-52 loss to Kansas University on Nov. 29 at Allen Fieldhouse. The 33-point beating marked the Wolf Pack’s only double-digit loss of the regular season.

“That was a train wreck. They just demolished us,” Fox said Monday. “Kansas drilled us, absolutely killed us. They caused us to play very poorly.”

It didn’t make for a pleasant homecoming for the former Garden City Community College player, who spent the 1993-94 season working on his master’s degree at KU while watching coach Roy Williams’ practices every day.

“I was more worried about our team, (but) I didn’t enjoy last year, no doubt,” said Fox.

His parents, who still live in Western Kansas, attended that game and will be on hand again Thursday when the No. 20-ranked Wolf Pack (3-0) return for an 8 p.m. tip against unrated KU.

“It probably helped us in a way. We came back and won the next game (against UNLV), then lost two more in a row (against Toledo and Pacific) before starting to play pretty well,” Fox said.

The lopsided loss hasn’t changed Fox’s opinion of Allen Fieldhouse.

“I had an unbelievable experience the year I was at Kansas. It’s a special place,” said Fox, who went on to assist Tom Asbury at Kansas State from 1994 to 2000. “I have a hard time believing any place is more special.”

His Wolf Pack will be visiting the fieldhouse road-tested. Nevada is in the midst of a four-game, 11-day road trip that will encompass 6,400 frequent-flier miles. The Wolf Pack on Nov. 19 downed Sacramento State, 82-74, in Reno; won Nov. 23 at Vermont, 77-62; and Saturday at UNLV, 68-61. After Thursday, it’s off to California for Saturday’s game against Pacific.

“It’s started out well,” Fox said of the journey. “Nobody wants to travel 7,000 miles in 10, 11 days. To be honest, one game at a time is the only way we can approach it.

“We’ve had a terrible time scheduling,” he said, explaining the reasoning for the trip. “We’ve had a tough time getting home games. It’s been really difficult for us. A school our size, we don’t buy a lot of games. We do two-for-ones.”

Many big-time programs are reluctant to travel to Nevada and risk a loss against the up-and-coming WAC team. Georgia is the sole big-name school to venture this season to Reno to play what could be the top team in school history.

Junior Nick Fazekas, a 6-foot-11, 235-pounder out of Arvada, Colo., is the defending WAC player of the year after averaging 20.7 points a game.

“He is somebody you enjoy seeing every day. He tries to get better, never acts satisfied,” Fox said of the player who “didn’t get any interest from the Big 12 in recruiting.”

“He was nothing but skin and bones in high school. He played his freshman year at 205. He has put it on.”

Junior guard Kyle Shiloh, who is regarded as a top defender, also started a year ago and was second on the team at 2.8 assists per game.

Quite a spark has come from sophomore guard Marcelus Kemp, out all last season because of a torn ACL.

A 6-9, 210-pound guard, Kemp scored 24 points both at Vermont and UNLV after opening with 15 against Sacramento State.

He’s hit 58.3 percent of his shots, including four of nine threes.

“He missed his freshman year with a broken foot. He missed last year with an ACL. It was hard for him emotionally. I give him credit to pick up the pieces and put them back together,” Fox said. “He’s played better than people anticipated. He’s shot the ball well. That’s been a plus.”

Chad Bell, a 7-foot senior in the middle, averages 5.0 points and 4.7 boards a game, with Kemp and Lyndale Burleson (6-3 freshman) coming off the bench.

“We are a long way from being as good as some think we are,” Fox said. “I like our team. I’ve been pleased with our approach during the offseason and since the start of the season.”

KU coach Self is wary of a Fox-coached team.

“Mark has done a great job,” Self said. “He was here a year when coach Williams was here. I’m sure this will be a big game for him personally coming back to an area where he spent a lot of time.”

Fox makes no predictions regarding Thursday’s contest, which will be shown on ESPN2 (Sunflower Broadband Channel 34).

“I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘marquee game,”’ Fox said. “We’re just Nevada. We’re not anybody special. It’s a game against a Big 12 team.”