PLAYER OF THE WEEK Tulsa guard Dante Swanson, a junior from Wagoner, Okla. (Wagoner HS), averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.0 blocks in a pair of victories last week. Last Monday against Grambling, Swanson scored a team-high 19 points, had seven assists and pulled down eight rebounds. On Saturday, he scored a team-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds versus Morris Brown. For the week, he shot 12-of-24 from the field, 9-of-17 (.529) from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:

Melvin Ely, Sr., C, Fresno State - had a pair of double-doubles last week in leading Fresno State to a third-place finish in the Preseason NIT. Against Wake Forest, he scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Versus Michigan State, he scored 14 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked six shots. He was named to the all-tournament team.

Carl English, So., G, Hawaii - led the team in scoring in two of three games last week and averaged 15.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists as Hawaii took third place at the Big Island Invitational. English was 15-of-32 from the field and also had a total of six steals in the three games. He earned all-tournament team honors.

Marco Cole, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech - scored a team-high 20 points against Harding and had a career-high three blocks in the game. He was 8-of-12 (.667) from the field and pulled down seven rebounds in the contest.

Shawn Tyndell, Sr., F/G, Rice - averaged 17.0 points and made 7-of-14 three-point field goals in two games last week. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Brian Stewart, Sr., C, UTEP - earned all-tournament honors at the Las Vegas Invitational and averaged 16.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in three games last week. He shot .520 (13-25) from the field and .958 (23-24) from the free throw line. Stewart tied his career-high with 23 points against Providence.

FRESNO STATE AVENGES NCAA TOURNAMENT LOSS Fresno State advanced to the semifinals of the Preseason NIT in New York City last week. The Bulldogs lost to Wake Forest, 62-61, and then played Michigan State in the consolation game on Friday night. Fresno State beat the Spartans, 63-58. The two teams met last March in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Memphis. Michigan State won that meeting, 81-65. Fresno States third place finish is tied for the highest finish by a WAC team in the tournament 17-year history. Tulsa also finished third in 1996.

WARRIORS FINISH THIRD Hawaii traveled to Hilo on the island of Hawaii for the Big Island Tournament last week. The Warriors beat Mercer, 89-72, in the first round, but lost to Colorado State in the semifinals, 61-59. In the third place game, Hawaii defeated Wisconsin 60-57. Guard Carl English was named to the all-tournament team.

THREE TEAMS IN TOURNAMENTS This weekend, three WAC teams will compete in tournaments. All three are being played on Friday and Saturday nights and are four-team fields. Fresno State is hosting the McCaffrey Classic, San Jose State travels to Ames, Iowa for the Cyclone Challenge and SMU will also compete in Iowa at the Hawkeye Classic in Iowa City. The tournament schedules:

NATIONAL RANKINGS Fresno State is ranked in both the AP (No. 24) and USA Today-ESPN (No. 20) polls. No other teams received votes in either poll. In the Sagarin ratings Fresno State is 18th followed by Louisiana Tech (45th), Tulsa (91st) and Hawaii (99th).

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 23-16 (.590) in non-conference games this season, including a 18-16 (.529) 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 762-188 (.802), the best winning percentage of any active coach and fourth best of all time. The 762 wins are the fourth most among active coaches and seventh 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 - head coach Rod Jensen needs three more wins to reach 100 for his career ... Boise State defeated Idaho, 68-59, on Saturday night and after playing Eastern Washington on Thursday, will play the Vandals again on Saturday in Moscow, Idaho ... Boise State has not played Eastern Washington since it was a member of the Big Sky in 1996 ... BSU leads the series against Idaho 34-32 after beating them on Saturday ... senior forward Abe Jackson has 1,155 career points and is tied with current Nevada head coach Trent Johnson for eighth on the schools all-time list.

Fresno State - three of its four opponents have been ranked this season: Southern California, Wake Forest and Michigan State ... all 14 of Melvin Elys points against Michigan State were scored in the second half.

Hawaii - UHs game against Northwestern State last night was its first non-tournament game in nine contests ... UH finished last season with three WAC tournament games and one NCAA tournament game and began this season with five tournament contests ... UH has played its 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 - the 102 points scored against Harding were the most under head coach Keith Richard ... the Bulldogs shot 61.8 percent from the field, also the best under Richard.

Nevada - the Wolf Pack have won two road games this year, one more than all of last season ... senior forward Corey Jackson leads the WAC in rebounds with 10.0 per game ... the WACs tallest player this year, 7-1 sophomore Jason Eversteyn, saw his first action of the year against Arkansas State when he played 10 minutes, scored four points, had two rebounds and a block.

Rice - leads the WAC in three-point percentage (.433) ... 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 - Santa Clara never led against San Jose State until it hit a three-pointer with 3.2 seconds to beat the Spartans, 65-63, last night ... James Jenkins started at center last week against Sacramento State, marking the first time in six years a freshman has started in the post for the Spartans.

SMU - head coach Mike Dement needs just two more wins to reach 100 at SMU ... senior guard Damon Hancock leads the WAC in scoring with 23.5 points per game ... Hancock is ranked 15th nationally ... his teammate, Quinton Ross, is second in the WAC with 18.8 points per game ... after trailing by 16 in the second half against Baylor last night, SMU tied it 90-90 before the Bears hit the winning shot as the horn sounded.

UTEP - finished fourth in eight-team field at the Las Vegas Tournament last week ... the Miner bench is averaging 26.6 points per game this season compared to 15.6 last year and 19.2 in 1999-2000.

Tulsa - has outscored its two opponents by an average of 45 points ... Tulsa plays Arkansas tonight, and the Razorbacks leads the series 31-24 after winning the last six meetings ... Arkansas Nolan Richardson coached at Tulsa from 1980-85 (119-37) ... guard Greg Harrington is the teams lone senior and needs just 70 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.

CAREER LEADERS A couple of WAC players are moving their way up the WACs career records lists:

Field Goal Percentage
1. .622 George Scott, New Mexico (280-450), 1982-85
10. .579 Melvin Ely, Fresno State (572-988), 1999-02

3-Point Field Goal Percentage
1. .480 Trent Shippen, Colorado State (94-196), 1988-89
13. .424 Greg Harrington, Tulsa (131-309), 1999-02

Blocked Shots
1. 425 Theo Ratliff, Wyoming, 1992-95
2. 336 David Van Dyke, UTEP, 1989-92
336 Luc Longley, UNM, 1988-91
4. 290 Melvin Ely, FS, 1999-02

FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST SCHEDULE This year, Fox Sports Southwest will telecast five mens games and four womens games including the womens WAC tournament finals on March 9. On the mens side, all five teams from the east region of the WAC will be featured. The schedule begins Feb. 2, 2002, when WAC newcomer Louisiana Tech travels to SMU for a 3:00 p.m. (CST) contest. A week later, UTEP hosts Tulsa at 8:00 p.m. On Feb. 14, SMU is at Tulsa for a 7:00 p.m. game and two nights later, Rice will host SMU at 3:00. Rice will again be featured at home when it takes on Tulsa on Feb. 28 at 7:00 p.m. in the final mens game of the schedule. Fox Sports Net Southwest reaches over 6.8 million cable and satellite subscribers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of New Mexico.