United Athletic Conference

PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose State forward David Granucci, a senior from San Anselmo, Calif. (City College of San Francisco), scored a game-high 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds in a 57-53 win over Hawai'i. Granucci came into the game averaging just 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds. The 17 points are a career-high and mark only the second time in his San Jose State career he has scored in double figures. Granucci shot 7-of-9 from the field and also added one block, one steal and an assist. The victory was the first in league play for the Spartans (1-6) and gave Hawai'i its first loss in conference action (6-1).

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:
Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise State - averaged 28.5 points in two games. Against Fresno State he was 8-of-14 from three-point range, one shy of tying the WAC record for most threes in a conference game.
Melvin Ely, Sr., C, Fresno State - averaged 25.0 points and 12.5 rebounds in a sweep of Boise State and UTEP. Against UTEP, he scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, one short of his career-high.
Gerrod Henderson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech - scored a team-high 23 points against Tulsa and added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists versus Rice. He averaged 17.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games.
Kirk Snyder, Fr., F, Nevada - in his first collegiate start against Boise State, he tied for the team-high with 17 points. He averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in two games for the week.
Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU - averaged 25.0 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in a split of two games last week.
Eugene Costello, Sr., G, UTEP - averaged 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals as UTEP split its two games. He scored a career-high 28 points versus Nevada and was 4-of-4 from three-point range. Against Fresno State, he had a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Charlie Davis, Jr., F, Tulsa - averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two road wins. Against SMU, he scored a career-high 29 points and tied his career-best with 11 rebounds.

TULSA TO HOST 2003 TOURNAMENT Last week, the WAC announced that the 2003 Williams WAC Mens and Womens Basketball Tournament will be returning to Tulsa for a third consecutive year. It will be held in the Donald W. Reynolds Center on The University of Tulsa campus, March 12-15.

SAN JOSE STATE PICKS UP FIRST CONFERENCE WIN San Jose State snapped a seven-game conference losing streak dating back to last year with a 57-53 win over previously undefeated Hawaii on Saturday night. It was the first time a last place team defeated a first place team in the WAC this late in the season since 1989.

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has seven players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Below are the players, their total points scored in college, where they rank on their schools career lists and how many points needed to tie the next player on those lists:

Player Points School Rank Points Needed
Melvin Ely, Sr., C, Fresno State 1616 3rd 74
Gerrod Henderson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech 1517 T-10th 46
Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise State 1444 5th 40
Greg Harrington, Sr., G, Tulsa 1323 11th 45
Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU 1250 14th 93
*Predrag Savovic, Sr., G, Hawaii 1162 6th 178
#Chris Jefferies, Jr., F, Fresno State 1112 N/A

*Savovic scored 50 points while at Alabama-Birmingham (1997-98)
#Jefferies scored 262 points while at Arkansas (1998-99)

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 38 in a row followed by Brigham Young (30) and Illinois (27). In regular season WAC games, Fresno State has won 13 in a row, the longest streak in the league. The next two longest are Hawaii with 11 in a row and Tulsa with nine.

HOME RECORDS As a league, all 10 WAC teams have a combined home record of 66-23 (.742). In conference games only, home teams are 21-14 (.600).

TULSA TOPS IN SHOOTING Tulsa continues to lead the WAC in all three shooting categories. The Golden Hurricane is shooting 47.9 percent from the field, 78.4 percent from the free throw line and 41.5 percent from three-point range. Tulsas 78.4 percent success rate from the charity stripe is currently the third 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 (.899), Kevin Johnson (.875), Antonio Reed (.806) 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 Tulsa is receiving votes in both and Hawaii earned consideration in the coaches poll. In the Sagarin ratings, Tulsa is 23rd followed by Fresno State (44th), Hawaii (73rd), SMU (94th), Nevada (96th) and Louisiana Tech (97th). In CollegeRPI.com, Fresno State is 37th, Tulsa is 41st, Hawaii is 56th and SMU is 90th. Collegiate Basketball News has Fresno State 39th, Tulsa 43rd, Hawaii 56th and SMU 86th. As a conference, the WAC is ranked 10th out of 32 conferences 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 772-193 (.800), the third best winning percentage of any active coach and sixth best of all time. The 772 wins are third most among active coaches and fifth 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) is first in the WAC in three-point field goals made with 3.22 per game and is second in the conference in scoring with 18.9 points per game ... Jackson is averging 24.5 points per game at home, but only 12.0 ppg on the road ... Jackson made eight three-point baskets against Fresno State, tying him for the seventh most three-pointers made in a game in the country this season ... BSU is second in the WAC in scoring defense (62.7 points per game) and has held four opponents to under 50 points this season.

Fresno State - the Bulldogs picked up just their second ever win at UTEP (2-8) ... Melvin Ely would rank fifth in the nation in both scoring (24.5 ppg) and in blocked shots (4.0 bpg) if he had enough games to qualify ... Ely has played in 13 of the Bulldogs 19 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 20 or more points in nine straight games ... in conference games only, Melvin Ely leads the WAC in scoring (29.8 ppg), rebounding (10.8 rpg), field goal percentage (.589) and blocks (4.33 bpg) ... 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).

Hawaii - UHs nine-game winning streak came to an end Saturday against San Jose State ... it was the longest streak by the Rainbow Warriors since they won 10 in a row in 1989 ... UH scored a season-low 53 points in the loss ... Hawaiis 15-3 start is its best since the 1981-82 season (also 15-3) ... UHs three losses are by a combined nine points ... Hawaii is in the midst of a 10-day road trip ... UH is 2-1 on the road this season ... the Rainbow Warriors have held eight of their first 18 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 10th nationally in scoring defense (59.7 points per game) ... Hawaii has won seven straight home games and 18 of its last 19 in Honolulu.

Louisiana Tech - senior guard Gerrod Henderson is tied for 10th in Louisiana Techs all-time scoring list and became the first Bulldog to move into the top 10 since Anthony Dade (1988-92) ... Louisiana Tech scored a season-low 57 points in its win over Rice, but held the Owls to their season-low of 43 points, the second lowest output by a Tech opponent this year ... Louisiana Tech leads the WAC and is fourth nationally in rebounding margin (+9.7).

Nevada - Nevada is now 3-0 against Boise State since Trent Johnson took over as head coach ... the Wolf Pack have won four road games this season, one more than they did over the last two years combined and the most since the 1997-98 season ... Nevada has won 11 games this season, the most since the 1997-98 season when it went 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 ... senior F Corey Jackson is the only WAC player to average double figures in rebounds (10.3) ... Jackson has six double-doubles on the season, the second 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 19 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Rice - Rice shot 77.3 percent from the free throw line in its first four conference games but only shot 48.5 percent in its last two contests (16-of-33) ... the Owls have played its last four games without their leading scorer Jason McKrieth who has been sidelined with a sprained foot ... the top two scorers at Rice are true freshmen (McKrieth-14.8 ppg and Michael Harris-11.9 ppg) ... Harris is second in the WAC in rebounding (8.2) ... he leads all WAC freshmen in scoring and rebounding and is the No. 2 ranked freshman in the country for rebounds ... Harris has 21 blocked shots and is 10th on the schools single-season list ... the Owls have a 14-game regular season road losing streak.

San Jose State - San Jose State held Hawaii to just 53 points, the lowest output by a Spartan opponent this season ... it was the second straight season SJSU started out 0-6 in conference play before picking up its first win ... the Spartans travel to Tulsa on Thursday and are 0-13 all-time against the Golden Hurricane ... on Saturday, San Jose State travels to Rice ... SJSU is 4-3 against the Owls, winning the last four meetings ... the Spartans never scored more than 58 points in their four victories over Rice ... Brandon Hawkins has scored in double figures in all 10 games he has played and is averaging 18.0 ppg ... Hawkins is averaging 9.9 free throw attempts per game, the most by any WAC player ... after scoring 70 or more points in four consecutive games, the Spartans have scored less than 70 points in the last six games.

SMU - senior guard Damon Hancock leads the WAC in scoring with 21.2 points per game ... Hancock has scored in double figures in the last 19 games he has played in, the longest such streak in the WAC ... SMU is the only WAC team to make more free throws (293) than its opponents have attempted (291).

UTEP - the Miners were 1-of-17 from three-point range in their 80-77 loss against Fresno State ... UTEP faces Boise State on Saturday for the first time ever ... 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 two games at home where it is 22-5 the last two seasons ... the Miners are averaging 68.8 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 1-10 when behind at the break this season.

Tulsa - Charlie Davis scored 18 straight points for Tulsa in the second half of the SMU game ... Davis was 11-of-12 from the field in the SMU game and his field goal percentage of 91.7 ties for the third best in the nation this season ... Tulsa won both games last week without Dante Swanson who suffered an ankle injury in the first minute against Louisiana Tech ... the Golden Hurricane lead the WAC in scoring (83.5), scoring margin (+13.1), assists (17.6) and steals (8.9) ... guard Greg Harrington is the teams lone senior and has 469 assists, the most in school history ... Harrington leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.899) 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 is second in 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. Tulsa will also host the 2003 WAC Tournament.

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
40. 1616 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

Rebounds
1. 1317 Michael Cage, San Diego State, 1980-84
34. 800 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

Field Goal Percentage
1. .622 George Scott, New Mexico (280-450), 1982-85
9. .581 Melvin Ely, Fresno State (666-1147), 1999-02
15. .563 Kevin Johnson, Tulsa (299-531), 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
16. .417 Greg Harrington, Tulsa (153-367), 1999-02

3-Point Field Goals Made
1. 285 Raymond Dudley, Air Force, 1986-90
285 Clayton Shields, New Mexico, 1995-98
22. 153 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02

3-Point Field Goals Attempted
1. 798 Dominick Young, Fresno State, 1995-97
25. 367 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02

Assists
1. 778 Jeff Jonas, Utah, 1973-77
16. 469 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. 327 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02
21. 132 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.