PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Fresno State forward Chris Jefferies, a junior from Fresno, Calif. (Arkansas), averaged 21.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in a pair of victories in the opening rounds of the Preseason NIT. Against Montana State, he scored a career-high 25 points, dished out six assists and had two blocks and two steals. Against No. 23 Southern California, Jefferies scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. For the week, he was 14-of-28 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range and 10-of-15 from the free throw line. With the two wins, the Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals of the Preseason NIT and face Wake Forest on Wednesday night.Other nominations
Other player of the week nominations included:
Carl English, So., G/F, Hawaii - averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists in a pair of victories.
Gerrod Henderson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech - scored 21 points at Iowa and scored nine of Louisiana Techs 11 points during an 11-0 run over a three minute span.
Garry Hill-Thomas, So., G, Nevada - scored a career-high 26 points at Cal State Northridge and tied a school-record with 20 free throw attempts.
Michael Harris, Fr., F, Rice - came off the bench and scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and pulled down four rebounds in 17 minutes against Navy.
Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU - averaged 22.5 points in wins over Savannah State and Navy. He shot 18-of-27 (.667) from the field in the two games.
Roy Smallwood, Jr., F, UTEP - recorded his fifth career double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds against Arkansas-Monticello. The 12 boards tied his career-high. He also added four assists, two blocks and two steals.
FRESNO STATE IN NYC FOR SEMIFINALS OF PRESEASON NIT
Fresno State defeated Montana State, 92-70, and No. 23 Southern California, 65-58, to advance to the semifinals of the Preseason NIT. The Bulldogs will face Wake Forest at 9:30 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday, Nov. 21, in Madison Square Garden. The game will be televised by ESPN2. If Fresno State wins, it would face the winner of the Syracuse-Michigan State game on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the finals. That game will be televised by ESPN. If it loses, Fresno State will play in the consolation game. Michigan State is ranked 13th, Syracuse is 18th and Fresno State is 22nd in this weeks AP poll. Wake Forest is not ranked in the top 25. The finals could be a rematch of last years NCAA second round game between Fresno State and Michigan State. The Spartans won the game in Memphis, 81-65. This is the 17th year of the 16-team Preseason NIT. The best finish for a WAC team was third when Tulsa defeated Evansville in the 1996 consolation game.HAWAII WINS NIKE TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT
Hawaii won its own Nike Tip-Off Tournament by beating Norfolk State, 76-52 and Drake, 74-63, last week. Sophomore guard Carl English was named the MVP after he scored 42 points and made 17-of-26 shots from the field in the two games. English was the WAC Tournaments MVP last March. Forward Mindaugas Burneika also made the all-tournament team after averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 assists in the two contests.RAINBOW WARRIORS CONTINUE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
This week, Hawaii travels to Hilo for the Big Island Tournament. The Rainbow Warriors will meet Mercer in the first round on Friday, Nov. 23, and will play either South Carolina State or Colorado State on Saturday. On Sunday, Hawaii will face either Louisiana State, Weber State, Wisconsin or UH-Hilo.UTEP 2-0 IN LAS VEGAS CLASSIC
UTEP began its season at home by beating Arkansas-Monticello, 88-55, in the first round of the Las Vegas Classic. The teams then traveled to Las Vegas where UTEP then beat Northwestern State, 66-60, last night. The Miners face TCU tonight and will play either Oklahoma State or Providence on Wednesday. If UTEP beats the Horned Frogs, they will play for the championship.BASKETBALL SIGNING DAY
The early signing period began last Wednesday, Nov. 14 and ends tomorrow, Nov. 21. Six WAC teams have already signed players. The most highly touted players are SMUs Bryan Hopkins and Tulsas Seneca Collins. Hopkins is a guard from Dallas (Lincoln HS) while Collins hails from Duncanville, Texas (Duncanville HS). Both are ranked in several publications top 100 lists.NATIONAL RANKINGS
Fresno State cracked the top 25 in both the AP (No. 23) and USA Today-ESPN (No. 21) polls. No other teams received votes in either poll. In the Sagarin ratings Fresno State is 27th followed by Louisiana Tech (74th) and UTEP (88th).NON-CONFERENCE MARK
The WAC is 12-4 (.750) in non-conference games this season, including a 10-4 (.714) mark against Division I teams. Last year, WAC teams were 88-32 (.733) in non-conference games with a 77-32 (.706) record against Division I teams. The WACs best record ever against non-conference opponents came during the 1974-75 season when it was 73-22 (.768).
WAC LEGEND
Fresno States Jerry Tarkanian is in his 31st season as a head coach and has a record of 761-187 (.803), the best winning percentage of any active coach and fourth best of all time. His teams have won at least 20 games in 29 of his 30 years, one shy of the all-time record, and as head coach of UNLV in 1990, Tarkanian led the Runnin Rebels to a national championship by defeating Duke, 103-73.
TEAM NOTES
Information on the mens basketball teams in the WAC:
Boise State - lost is first game at home in a season opener since 1991-92 ... Boise State plays Utah tonight for just the third time ever (1-1) ... senior forward Abe Jackson has 1,127 career points and needs 28 to pass current Nevada head coach Trent Johnson for eighth on the schools all-time list.
Fresno State - the Bulldogs 92 points and 22-point margin of victory versus Montana State are the best in the 12 games of the Preseason NIT this year ... Fresno State has scored a tournament high 157 points.
Hawaii - when UH takes on Northwestern State on Nov. 27, it will be the Rainbow Warriors first non-tournament game in nine contests ... UH finished last season with three WAC tournament games and one NCAA tournament game and begins this season with five tournament contests ... UH played its first two games without senior guard Predrag Savovic, junior Luc-Arthur Vebobe and freshman Nkeruwem Akpan because they are waiting clearance from the NCAA regarding their eligibility.
Louisiana Tech - six players made their Bulldog debut against Iowa ... Louisiana Tech outrebounded the Hawkeyes, 48-30.
Nevada - the victory over Cal State Northridge gave the Wolf Pack its eighth straight season opening win ... in that game, they set a school record for free throws made (38) and attempted (61) ... the win also snapped a 13-game road losing streak for Nevada.
Rice - the win was their sixth in their last seven season openers ... the Owls shots 60.5 percent from the field (26-43) versus Navy ... senior T.J. McKenzie played 14 minutes and scored four points in his first action since a knee injury sidelined him the second half of last season ... head coach Willis Wilson was ranked fourth in Fox Sports Net.coms Fashion Top Ten for the best dressed coaches in college basketball.
San Jose State - Carlton "Oudie" Baker, a highly-touted newcomer, has taken a leave of absence from school and the team ... Baker returned to his hometown of East Chicago, Ind., to care for his 11-year-old sister, Jalisa Baker, who is without parental or guardian attention and/or guidance ... Baker was named the preseason Newcomer of the Year by the WAC media.
SMU - is 2-0 for the second straight year ... head coach Mike Dement needs just two more wins to reach 100 at SMU ... the Mustangs shot 54.0 percent from the field against Navy and are now 25-2 when shooting 50 percent or better under Dement.
UTEP - tied the school record with 28 assists versus Arkansas-Monticello ... UTEP had the 14th best turnaround in the nation a year ago with 10 more wins than the previous year.
Tulsa - guard Greg Harrington is the teams lone senior and needs just 79 assists to become the schools all-time leader.
2002 TOURNAMENT
The 2002 Williams WAC Tournament will be held March 5-9 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. Both the men and women compete during the same week. On the mens side, the seven, eight, nine and ten seeded teams will play on Tuesday, March 5. The remaining eight teams will all play in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 7 with the top seed competing versus the winner of the Tuesday eight-nine game, the No. 2 seed vs. the winner of the seven-10 game, the No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 and No 4 vs. No. 5. The winners will play in the semifinals on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday night. The site for the 2003 WAC Tournament has not been determined at this time.