United Athletic Conference

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevada guard Terrance Green, a junior from Portland, Ore. (Benson HS), scored 25 points, dished out six assists and grabbed four rebounds in an 88-85 win over Fresno State. He was 9-of-17 (.529) from the field, 3-of-9 from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Green played 35 minutes and scored nearly 10 points more than his season average (16.1).

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:
Bryan Defares, So., G, Boise State - averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in a split of two games last week. He scored a career-high 18 points in a victory at Rice.
Mike McIntyre, Sr., G, Hawaii - scored a career-high 22 points against Louisiana Tech and added 17 versus SMU. He was 12-of-23 from the floor including 7-of-12 (.583) from three-point range for the week.
Michael Wilder, Jr., G, Louisiana Tech - hit 11-of-18 (.611) shots from the floor and averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 assists in a split of two games.
Brock Gillespie, Fr., G, Rice - came off the bench to lead the Owls in scoring with 17 versus Boise State and a career-high 23 versus UTEP. He was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line for the week.
Brandon Hawkins, Jr., G, San Jose State - averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 assists in two games. Against Louisiana Tech, he made 10-of-12 free throws.
Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU - scored 24 points in both games last week and also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He shot 14-of-17 (.824) from the line and 15-of-32 (.469) from the field.
Greg Harrington, Sr., G, Tulsa - in a pair of victories, he averaged 17.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds while shooting .688 (11-16) from the field including 5-of-6 from three-point range.

HAWAII IMPROVES TO 6-0 For the first time in its history, Hawaii is 6-0 in WAC play. The Rainbow Warriors beat Louisiana Tech last Thursday, 81-61, and then handed SMU its first conference loss on Saturday, 83-74. Hawaii is the last remaining unbeaten in conference play. The Rainbow Warriors have just one game this week when they play at San Jose State on Saturday night. The last WAC team to go undefeated in conference play was Utah in 1999 (14-0).

SNYDER THE SNIPER Nevada freshman Kirk Snyder scored five points in the final four seconds to lead Nevada to an 88-85 win against Fresno State. He hit an off-balance three-pointer from long range with four seconds left and then sank two free throws with two seconds left. Snyder finished with a career-high 21 points in the game.

FRESNO STATES HOME STREAK RANKED FOURTH Fresno State has won 24 straight home games, the fourth longest streak in the nation. Detroit leads the country with 37 in a row followed by Brigham Young (29) and Illinois (26).

TULSA TOPS IN SHOOTING Tulsa continues to lead the WAC in all three shooting categories. The Golden Hurricane is shooting 47.0 percent from the field, 79.9 percent from the free throw line and 41.4 percent from three-point range. Tulsas 79.9 percent success rate from the charity stripe is currently the best in the nation and would be the highest by a WAC team in 13 years. Four starters are shooting better than 79 percent from the free throw line: Greg Harrington (.902), Kevin Johnson (.875), Antonio Reed (.833) and Dante Swanson (.791).

NATIONAL RANKINGS No teams in the WAC are ranked in the top 25 of the AP and USA Today-ESPN polls, but Hawaii is receiving votes in both and Tulsa earned consideration in the coaches poll. In the Sagarin ratings, Tulsa is 29th followed by Fresno State (47th), Hawaii (64th), Nevada (95th), Louisiana Tech (98th) and SMU (99th). In CollegeRPI.com, Fresno State is 38th, Hawaii is 40th, Tulsa is 57th, SMU is 90th and Louisiana Tech is 100th. Collegiate Basketball News has Fresno State 37th, Hawaii 40th, Tulsa 59th and SMU 90th. As a conference, the WAC is ranked 10th by Sagarin, CollegeRPI.com and Collegiate Basketball News.

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 65-41 (.613) in non-conference games this season, including a 55-39 (.585) mark against Division I teams. There are four more non-conference games scheduled during the regular season (Alcorn State at UTEP-1/28, Louisiana Tech at Centenary-1/30, Oklahoma State at Fresno State-2/10 and New Mexico State at UTEP-2/20). 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 770-193 (.800), the third best winning percentage of any active coach and sixth best of all time. The 770 wins are fourth most among active coaches and sixth 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 - senior forward Abe Jackson (Boise, Idaho) has 1,387 career points and is fifth on the schools all-time list ... Jackson is first in the WAC in three-point field goals made with 2.94 per game and is third in the conference in scoring with 17.8 points per game ... BSU is 7-2 when Jackson scores 20 or more points in a game ... BSU is second in the WAC in scoring defense (61.5 points per game) and has held four opponents to under 50 points this season ... the Broncos face the second (Fresno State-76.7 ppg) and third (Nevada-75.1 ppg) highest scoring WAC teams this week ... Nevada coach Trent Johnson is a Boise State graduate.

Fresno State - Melvin Ely would rank fourth in the nation in scoring (24.4 ppg) and fifth nationally in blocked shots (4.1 bpg) if he had enough games to qualify ... Ely has played in 11 of the Bulldogs 17 games and needs to have competed in 75 percent of the teams games to qualify for the NCAAs statistics ... the Bulldogs were 3-3 without Melvin Ely in the lineup ... Ely has scored 30 or more points in three straight games ... he has averaged 32.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.8 blocks in four games since returning from an NCAA suspension ... the duo of Ely and forward Chris Jefferies average 42.2 points per game, the most in the WAC ... Fresno State has the WACs longest home winning streak at 24 games ... the Bulldogs are 46-5 (.902) in WAC home games under head coach Jerry Tarkanian ... Fresno State is the only team in the WAC to not lose a game at home (8-0) ... in conference games only, Melvin Ely leads the WAC in scoring (32.2 ppg), rebounding (10.2 rpg), field goal percentage (.617) and blocks (4.75 bpg).

Hawaii - UHs nine-game winning streak is its longest since it won 10 in a row in 1989 ... Hawaiis 15-2 start is its best since the 1971-72 season (17-1) ... UHs two losses are by a combined five points ... UH hit a school-record 14 three-point field goals against SMU ... Hawaii is about to embark on a 10-day road trip where it will play at San Jose State, Rice and Tulsa ... UH is 2-0 on the road this season ... UH is 6-0 in WAC play for the first time ever ... the Rainbow Warriors have held seven of their first 17 opponents to under 60 points, the most times UH has held its opponents to under 60 points in a season under head coach Riley Wallace ... Hawaii leads the WAC and is ninth nationally in scoring defense (59.9 points per game) ... Hawaii has won seven straight home games and 18 of its last 19 in Honolulu.

Louisiana Tech - Keith Richard coached his 100th game on Saturday night and is now 66-34 ... Techs 40.1 field goal percentage defense is currently the best by a Bulldog team since the 1957-58 season ... Louisiana Tech shot 56.6 percent from the field against San Jose State, the second best shooting performance of the season for the Bulldogs ... Louisiana Tech leads the WAC and is fifth nationally in rebounding margin (+10.3) ... it would be the highest mark by a WAC team since Wyoming in 1980-81 (+11.1).

Nevada - the Wolf Pack have won three road games this year, as many as they did over the last two seasons ... Nevada has already tied its win total from a year ago both overall (10) and in conference games (3) ... one more win will give Nevada its most victories since the 1997-98 season (16-12) ... the Wolf Pack is 7-1 at home and 22-13 (.629) since Trent Johnson took over as head coach three years ago ... the Wolf Pack are outscoring its home opponents by an average margin of 15.8 points ... Nevada is one of two schools in the WAC to make more free throws (329) than its opponents have attempted (324) ... senior F Corey Jackson is the only WAC player to average double figures in rebounds (10.5) ... Jackson has six double-doubles on the season, tied with Melvin Ely for the most in the WAC ... Nevada is 7-0 against schools from California ... the Pack is 6-0 when it scores 80 or more points ... junior Terrance Green is 27 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Rice - on Saturday, Rice won its first WAC game after an 0-3 start ... the Owls played both league games without their leading scorer Jason McKrieth who was sidelined with a sprained foot ... freshman guard Brock Gillespie has made 20 free throws in a row ... Rice held its last two opponents to just 60.5 points after allowing 89.0 points from its prior two opponents ... true freshman Michael Harris has 20 blocked shots and needs just one more to move into the schools top 10 single-season list ... the Owls have an 11-game regular season road losing streak ... two of Rices top three scorers are true freshmen (Jason McKrieth-14.8 ppg and Michael Harris-12.1 ppg) ... Harris is second in the WAC in rebounding (8.0) ... he leads all WAC freshmen in scoring and rebounding.

San Jose State - senior center Marion Thurmond recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Louisiana Tech ... he also had four steals, the most by a Spartan this season ... Brandon Hawkins is averaging 10.2 free throw attempts per game, the most by any WAC player and his 92 attempts is more than any Spartan had all of last season ... after scoring 70 or more points in four consecutive games, the Spartans have scored less than 70 points in the last five games ... after losing to SMU, 68-66, the Spartans are now 2-4 in games decided by two points or less.

SMU - SMU began the WAC season 4-0 for the first time in its history ... SMUs trio of freshmen, Eric Castro, Justin Isham and Patrick Simpson, combined to go 15-of-18 from the floor against Hawaii ... senior guard Damon Hancock leads the WAC in scoring with 20.7 points per game ... Hancock has scored in double figures in the last 17 games he has played in, the longest such streak in the WAC ... Hancock is the only player in the WAC to lead his school in points (20.7) and assists (3.7) ... SMU is one of two schools in the WAC to make more free throws (248) than its opponents have attempted (238).

UTEP - Roy Smallwood made all 10 of his free throw attempts against Rice, the first WAC player this season to make 100 percent of his free throws in a game (minimum 10 attempts) ... Smallwood leads the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg) ... the Miners are 0-7 on the road this year and have lost 10 in a row dating back to last season ... UTEP plays its next four games at home where it is 21-4 the last two seasons ... the Miners have now lost eight in a row against Tulsa ... UTEP has lost six of its last seven games ... the Miners are averaging 66.9 points per game this season after a school-record 80.3 last year ... after registering eight wins when trailing at the half last year, the Miners are 1-9 when behind at the break this season.

Tulsa - in the last five games, the starting guard trio of Dante Swanson, Antonio Reed and Greg Harrington have combiend to average 44.8 of Tulsas 78.4 points ... Tulsa plays SMU this week and is 9-1 versus the Mustangs since joining the WAC ... the Golden Hurricane lead the WAC in scoring (83.6), scoring margin (+14.1), assists (17.4) and steals (8.7) ... guard Greg Harrington is the teams lone senior and has 458 assists, the most in school history ... Harrington leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.902) and assists (5.5) ... the WAC record for best free throw percentage in a season is .935 (101-108) set by New Mexicos Rob Robbins during the 1989-90 season ... guard Dante Swanson leads the WAC and the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.544) ... the WAC record for three-point field goal percentage in a season is .563 (76-135) set by Colorado States Joel Tribelhorn during the 1988-89 season.

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 few WAC players are moving their way up some of the WACs career records lists:

Points
1. 2542 Keith Van Horn, Utah, 1993-97
45. 1566 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

Field Goal Percentage
1. .622 George Scott, New Mexico (280-450), 1982-85
9. .582 Melvin Ely, Fresno State (650-1116), 1999-02
19. .557 Kevin Johnson, Tulsa (284-510), 2000-02

3-Point Field Goal Percentage
1. .480 Trent Shippen, Colorado State (94-196), 1988-89
6. .441 Dante Swanson, Tulsa (131-297), 2000-02

3-Point Field Goals Made
1. 285 Raymond Dudley, Air Force, 1986-90
285 Clayton Shields, New Mexico, 1995-98
23. 149 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02

Assists
1. 778 Jeff Jonas, Utah, 1973-77
18. 458 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 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. 320 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02
22. 129 Kevin Johnson, Tulsa, 2000-02

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.