United Athletic Conference

TULSA IN NIT FINAL FOUR – Tulsa advanced to the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden in New York City after defeating Mississippi State, 77-75, on Wednesday, March 21, in Starkville, Miss. The Golden Hurricane opened the tournament with a home win over UC-Irvine, 75-71, and then traveled to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers in the second round. Tulsa won the game, 76-73, in overtime. In its last two games, Tulsa ran out to 18-point leads before its opponent tied the game late in the second half.

NIT OPPONENTS – Tulsa will play Memphis (20-14) in the semifinals on Tuesday, March 27. On Thursday, Tulsa will meet either Detroit (25-10), Purdue (17-14) or Alabama (23-10). Detroit has already earned a spot in the semifinals while Purdue and Alabama play on Friday, March 23 for the fourth and final spot in New York. The winner of that game plays Detroit in the other semifinal game on Tuesday. Two days later, the losers of the semifinal games will play in the consolation game followed by the championship game. None of the four prospective opponents have faced any WAC teams this year. Tulsa and the rest of the WAC teams have faced teams from three of the four conferences:

                               Tulsa  WAC
Conference USA (Memphis)        0-0   7-3 (.700)
SEC (Alabama)                   1-0   2-2 (.500)
Big Ten (Purdue)                1-1   1-3 (.250)
Midwestern Collegiate (Detroit) 0-0   0-0

STARTING STATS – Below are the points-rebounds-assists for Tulsa’s five starters in all three NIT games this season:

Tulsa Starters   UC Irvine  Minnesota  Mississippi State  Averages
Kevin Johnson    17-8-1     22-10-0    16-6-2             18.3-8.0-1.0
Greg Harrington  20-2-2       9-3-3    14-2-6             14.3-2.3-3.7
David Shelton     6-4-2      11-7-1    12-7-0              9.7-6.0-1.0
Dante Swanson    10-3-2      10-4-2     9-4-2              9.7-3.7-2.0
Marcus Hill       7-5-0      16-9-5     5-2-2              9.3-5.3-2.3

TULSA IN THE NIT – This is Tulsa’s eighth trip to the NIT (1953-67-69-81-83-90-91-01). Tulsa is 8-6 in the NIT and won the 1981 title.

THE WAC IN THE NIT – The WAC has a 65-56 record (.537) in its teams’ 55 appearances in the NIT. Last year, SMU was the conference’s only team. The Mustangs lost at Southwest Missouri State, 77-64. Brigham Young was the only WAC team to win the NIT (1966), while Fresno State (1983) and Tulsa (1981) each wore the NIT crown prior to WAC membership.

UTEP LOSES SECOND ROUND GAME – UTEP earned a trip to the NIT and won its first round home game against McNeese State, 84-74. The Miners then traveled to Memphis, but lost to the Tigers, 90-65. It was UTEP’s eighth trip to the NIT (1965-72-80-81-83-93-95-01). The Miners are now 6-9 all-time.

FRESNO STATE ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND OF NCAAS – For the seventh straight year a WAC team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. No. 9 Fresno State beat No. 8 California 82-70 at the South Regional in Memphis, Tenn. Demetrius Porter scored a career-high 27 points in the contest. The Bulldogs then played No. 1 seed Michigan State and lost 81-65. This was Fresno State’s fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament (1981-82-84-00-01) and second straight. Last year, the Bulldogs lost to eventual Final Four participant Wisconsin, 66-56, in the first round. Fresno State is now 2-5 all-time in the tournament. Head coach Jerry Tarkanian has 38 NCAA Tournament wins, the sixth-most of all-time. His record is 38-18 (.679).

HAWAI‘I LOSES FIRST ROUND GAME – For the first time since 1994, Hawai‘i earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament. But just like in 1994, the Rainbow Warriors lost to Syracuse in the opening round. The teams played in the Midwest Regional in Dayton, Ohio and No. 5 Syracuse defeated No. 12 Hawai‘i, 79-69. This was Hawai‘i’s third trip to the NCAA Tournament (1972-94-01) and second as a member of the WAC. The Rainbow Warriors are 0-3 all-time.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT – The WAC now has a 61-79 record (.436) in its teams’ 73 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, two teams made the tournament. Tulsa won three games and advanced to the regional finals before losing to North Carolina, 59-55. Fresno State was ousted in the first round by another Final Four participant, Wisconsin, 66-56. In 1988, Utah advanced to the NCAA title game before losing to Kentucky, 78-69. It was the furthest a WAC team had ever advanced. UTEP is the only current WAC team to have won a National Championship, but did so prior to joining the WAC (1966).

HAWAI‘I WINS WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE – Hawai‘i won its second WAC tournament title earlier this month after winning three straight games in Tulsa. The fifth-seeded Rainbow Warriors beat TCU, 99-79, in the quarterfinals, upset No. 1 seed Fresno State, 76-67, and beat host Tulsa (#2), 78-72, in overtime for the championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. It was the second straight title game appearance for Tulsa who lost last year against Fresno State, 75-72.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM – Hawai‘i placed two players on the WAC All-Tournament team as selected by the media in attendance. Rainbow Warriors Carl English and Predrag Savovic each received all-tournament honors, while Tulsa’s David Shelton, Antonio Reed and Kevin Johnson rounded out the five-player team. English, a freshman guard, earned Most Valuable Player accolades after averaging 14.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 13-of-21 (.619) from the field and 7-of-11 (.636) from three-point range in the three games. In the championship game, he scored a game-high 25 points and had six rebounds.

TOURNAMENT RECORDS BROKEN – One tournament record was broken and another tied. Hawai‘i broke the team record for most assists in a game with 26 versus TCU. The old record of 25 was set by New Mexico in 1996. The Rainbow Warriors tied a record by winning the tournament as a fifth seed. UNLV won the 1998 tournament also as a fifth seed.

ATTENDANCE – The men’s tournament was attended by 27,889 fans during the five sessions (5,578/session). The title game drew 8,160 to the 8,355-seat Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa.

ALL-WAC TEAMS – The WAC postseason award winners as selected by the league’s nine head coaches were announced earlier this month. The first team was led by Fresno State junior Melvin Ely who was also voted the WAC’s Player of the Year. In conference games only, Ely averaged 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and led the WAC in field goal percentage (.627). UTEP senior forward Brandon Wolfram was a first-team selection for the second straight year. Rice’s Mike Wilks, Fresno State’s Chris Jefferies and Hawai‘i’s Predrag Savovic were also first team selections. Fresno State guard Tito Maddox was named the WAC’s Freshman of the Year. Maddox averaged 13.7 points 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals in conference only games. Fresno State head coach Jerry Tarkanian was named the Don Haskins Coach of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to Fresno State’s first ever WAC regular-season title (13-3).

WOLFRAM NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN, FOUR OTHERS ALL-DISTRICT – For the second straight year, UTEP senior forward Brandon Wolfram has been named a first team Verizon Academic All-America. Wolfram also was named to the all-district team last month. The WAC had four other players named Academic All-District last month. Hawai‘i’s Nerijus Puida and Predrag Savovic were named to the District VIII team while Rice’s Erik Cooper and Mike Wilks made the District VI team.

NATIONAL AWARDS – Several WAC players were named to the Chevrolet/National Association of Basketball coaches’ all-district teams. From District 9: First Team-Mike Wilks (Rice), Jeryl Sasser (SMU). From District 13: First Team-Tito Maddox (Fresno State), Melvin Ely (Fresno State), Brandon Wolfram (UTEP); Second Team-Chris Jefferies (Fresno State). Wilks was also named the WAC’s Player of the Year by College Insider. Ely was named to AP’s honorable mention All-America team.

THREE IN TOP 20 IN SCORING – The WAC has three teams ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring. TCU holds the top spot and is averaging 93.6 points per game. Fresno State is 12th with 82.0 points per game and UTEP is 18th with 80.7 ppg.

NATIONAL RANKINGS – No WAC teams were ranked in this week’s polls, though Fresno State, Hawai‘i and UTEP received votes. Below are four RPIs (as of March 22) and the WAC schools ranked in the top 100.

                           Collegiate    Sagarin  College      Team
                        Basketball News  Ratings  RPI.com  Rankings.com
Fresno State                   22           25      20          27
Tulsa                          48           46      61          56
Hawai‘i                        53           96      55          71
UTEP                           64           68      62          59
TCU                            66           66      63          76
SMU                            97           81      98          92
WAC (out of 32 leagues)         7            7       7           7

NON-CONFERENCE MARK – WAC teams are 86-32 (.729) in non-conference games this year, including a 75-32 (.701) mark against Division I teams. The WAC’s best record ever against non-conference opponents came during the 1974-75 season when it was 73-22 (.768).

TARKANIAN MOVING UP LISTS – The WAC boasts one of the top head coaches in the country in Fresno State’s Jerry Tarkanian. Tarkanian is in his 30th year as a head coach and is 759-187. His winning percentage of .802 is the best among all active coaches and fourth all-time. His 759 wins rank third among active coaches and eighth all-time. Tarkanian’s teams have won 20 or more games 29 times, one shy of the all-time record of 30 set by Dean Smith.

WAC ON FOX – For the second straight year, FOX Sports Net and the WAC were teamed up. FSN telecast five games throughout the season, including three WAC Tournament games, two more than last year’s schedule. FOX Sports Net telecast 11 regional games. FSN is America's first truly national, regional and local supplier of sports programming, and reaches more than 70 million homes through its network of 21 regional sports networks. For the latest television schedules, log-on to the FOX Sports/FOX Sports Net web site at www.foxsports.com.

CAREER LEADERS – Several WAC players are moving their way up the WAC career records’ lists.

Scoring
1. 2542 Keith Van Horn, Utah, 1993-97
12. 1992 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01
21. 1831 Brandon Wolfram, UTEP, 1998-01

Field Goal Percentage
1. .622 George Scott, New Mexico (280-450), 1982-85
8. .584 Melvin Ely, Fresno State (543-930), 1999-01
10. .579 Brandon Wolfram, UTEP (668-1153), 1998-01

Field Goals Attempted
1. 1875 Danny Ainge, BYU, 1978-81
5. 1711 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01

Free Throws Made
1. 621 Devin Durrant, BYU, 1979-80, 83-84
12. 511 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01
16. 477 Brandon Wolfram, UTEP 1998-01

Free Throws Attempted
1. 820 Devin Durrant, BYU, 1979-80, 83-84
6. 720 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01

Rebounds
1. 1317 Michael Cage, SDSU, 1980-84
11. 976 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01

3-Point Field Goals Made
1. 285 Raymond Dudley, AFA and Clayton Shields, UNM
8. 233 Ryan Carroll, TCU, 1998-01
233 Marcus Hill, Tulsa, 1998-01
10. 225 Demetrius Porter, Fresno State, 1998-01

3-Point Field Goals Attempted
1. 798 Dominick Young, Fresno State, 1995-97
6. 639 Marcus Hill, Tulsa, 1998-01
10. 596 Ryan Carroll, TCU, 1998-01
11. 557 Demetrius Porter, Fresno State, 1998-01
14. 475 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01

Assists
1. 778 Jeff Jonas, Utah, 1973-77
16. 469 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01
18. 457 Demetrius Porter, FS, 1998-01

Steals
1. 299 Eric Coley, Tulsa, 1997-00
6. 233 Greedy Daniels, TCU/UNLV, 1998-99, 01
9. 200 Demetrius Porter, Fresno State, 1998-01
10. 197 Jeryl Sasser, SMU, 1998-01
15. 186 Mike Wilks, Rice, 1998-01
20. 160 Willie Davis, SMU, 1998-01

Blocked Shots
1. 425 Theo Ratliff, Wyoming, 1992-95
2. 336 David Van Dyke, UTEP, 1989-92
336 Luc Longley, UNM, 1988-91
4. 275 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-01
15. 170 Derrick Davenport, TCU, 2000-01

WAC EXPANDING IN 2001 – After just one year as a nine-team league, the WAC will expand to 10 members on July 1, 2001. Boise State and Louisiana Tech will join the conference while TCU leaves. In basketball, all 10 teams will play each other twice, giving everyone an 18-game conference schedule.