United Athletic Conference

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:
Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise State - scored 25 points against UTEP and added three assists and seven rebounds. It was his third straight game with 25 or more points.
Antonio Meeking, Jr., F, Louisiana Tech - averaged 16.5 points and nine rebounds in a pair of road victories. Against Nevada, he had 19 points and 13 rebounds, both season-highs. Meeking played 77 of a possible 80 minutes last week.
Michael Harris, Fr., F, Rice - led the Owls in scoring and rebounding last week with 21.5 points and 9.5 rebounds as Rice went 1-1. Harris was 18-of-25 (.720) from the field in the two games. Against Hawaii, he recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Quinton Ross, Jr., G, SMU - averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals as SMU split its two games. In a win at Nevada, he scored 21 points and had a season-high 12 rebounds. Earlier in the week, he scored 20 points versus Fersno State.
Brian Stewart, Sr., C, UTEP - had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over Boise State. He was 5-of-8 from the field, 7-of-7 from the free throw line and blocked two shots in the game.

FRESNO STATES HOME STREAK SNAPPED BY LOUISIANA TECH WAC newcomer Louisiana Tech went into Selland Arena last Saturday night and defeated Fresno State, 71-64. It broke Fresno States 25-game home winning streak, the fourth longest in the nation. Gerrod Henderson led Louisiana Tech with 20 points while three other players scored in double figures: Antonio Meeking (14), Marco Cole (13) and Michael Wilder (11). Henderson and Cole each had double-doubles with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.

TOP SCORERS The WAC has three players that have scored 20 or more points in at least 11 games this year. Fresno States Melvin Ely and Boise States Abe Jackson have reached that mark in 12 games. SMUs Damon Hancock has scored 20 or more in 11 contests this season. Counting just the 20-point games, Ely is averaging 27.5 ppg, Jackson is averaging 25.4 points and Hancock is averaging 24.5 points. Fresno State is 9-3 when Ely scores 20 or more, while Boise State is 7-5 when Jackson hits the mark and SMU is 6-5 when Hancock reaches 20.

SWANSON IS NATIONS TOP LONG-RANGE SHOOTER Tulsas Dante Swanson leads the nation in three-point shooting. The junior guard has made 53.9 percent (48-89) of his three-pointers. The percentage is currently the second highest in WAC history. The record is 56.3 percent set by Colorado States Joel Tribelhorn during the 1988-89 season.

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has eight 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 1667 3rd 23
Gerrod Henderson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech 1545 10th 18
Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise State 1469 5th 16
Greg Harrington, Sr., G, Tulsa 1348 11th 20
Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU 1270 14th 73
*Predrag Savovic, Sr., G, Hawaii 1203 6th 137
#Chris Jefferies, Jr., F, Fresno State 1139 N/A
Terrance Green, Jr., G, Nevada 1014 14th 20

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

HOME RECORDS As a league, all 10 WAC teams have a combined home record of 72-28 (.720). In conference games only, home teams are 26-19 (.578).

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, 77.9 percent from the free throw line and 41.9 percent from three-point range. Tulsas 77.9 percent success rate from the charity stripe is currently the fifth best in the nation. Four starters are shooting better than 78 percent from the free throw line: Greg Harrington (.896), Kevin Johnson (.875), Dante Swanson (.816) and Antonio Reed (.788).

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. Below are three other rankings and the WAC teams ranked in the top 100 as well as the WACs overall ranking among the other 32 conferences.

Sagarin CollegeRPI.com Collegiate Basketball News
WAC 10 10 10
Tulsa 35 48 49
Fresno State 52 46 44
Hawaii 60 47 47
Louisiana Tech 77 83 83
SMU 86 90 88

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 66-41 (.617) in non-conference games this season, including a 56-39 (.589) mark against Division I teams. There are three more non-conference games scheduled during the regular season (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 773-194 (.799), the third best winning percentage of any active coach and sixth best of all time. The 773 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 - the Broncos have lost four in a row and havent lost five in a row since the 1980-81 season when they lost seven in a row ... BSU has lost seven of its last nine games ... Boise State is 5-0 all-time against San Jose State, the Broncos second opponent this week ... senior forward Abe Jackson (Boise, Idaho) is first in the WAC in three-point field goals made with 3.16 per game and is second in the conference in scoring with 19.3 points per game ... Jackson has scored 25 or more points in three straight games and has reached the 20-point mark in five of his last six contests ... sophomore G Bryan Defares has scored in double figures in his last seven games and is averaging 12.6 points in those contests ... BSU is second in the WAC in scoring defense (63.2 points per game) and has held four opponents to under 50 points this season.

Fresno State - the loss at home against Louisiana Tech was the first since losing to St. Bonaventure on Nov. 19, 2000 and the first against a WAC opponent since Feb. 17, 2000 versus SMU ... Hiram Fuller missed the last two games due to a sprained right ankle, but is expected to return this week ... Melvin Ely would rank fourth in the nation in scoring (24.6 ppg) and sixth nationally in blocked shots (3.7 bpg) if he had enough games to qualify ... Ely has played in 15 of the Bulldogs 21 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 11 straight games and has not scored below 17 points in a contest this season ... in conference games only, Melvin Ely leads the WAC in scoring (28.8 ppg), field goal percentage (.609) and blocks (3.75 bpg) and is second in rebounding (10.6 rpg) ... Fresno State plays at Tulsa this week and in the last matchup between the two schools on Jan. 5, Ely had 35 points, 16 rebounds and a school-record nine blocks and was named ESPN.coms National Player of the Week ... the duo of Ely and forward Chris Jefferies average 41.9 points per game, the most in the WAC ... the Bulldogs are 45-5 (.900) in WAC home games under head coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Hawaii - UH scored a season-high 90 points in the victory at Tulsa ... Hawaii is now 4-1 in WAC road games and needs one more to tie for the most in school history ... UHs 8-1 start in WAC play is its best ever ... Hawaiis 17-3 start is its best since the 1971-72 season when its was 18-2 and finished the season 24-3 ... UHs three losses are by a combined nine points ... the Rainbow Warriors have held eight 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 21st nationally in scoring defense (61.8 points per game) ... Hawaii has won seven straight home games and 18 of its last 19 in Honolulu.

Louisiana Tech - snapped Fresno States 25-game home winning streak last Saturday night ... the Bulldogs are 10-0 when holding opponents to under 70 points ... Louisiana Techs three-game winning streak is currently the longest in the WAC ... Tech is now 3-1 all-time versus Fresno State ... senior guard Gerrod Henderson has 180 steals and needs five more to tie the all-time career steal record at Louisiana Tech ... Henderson recorded his first double-double of the season against Fresno State with 20 points and 11 rebounds ... Louisiana Tech leads the WAC and is third nationally in rebounding margin (+9.7).

Nevada - freshman Kirk Snyder scored 10 points in the first half against SMU but sat out the second half due to a wrist injury and will be out this week ... 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 7-3 at home and 22-15 (.595) since Trent Johnson took over as head coach three years ago ... senior F Corey Jackson is the only WAC player to average double figures in rebounds (10.8) ... Jackson has seven double-doubles on the season, the third most in the WAC ... Nevada is 7-0 against schools from California ... the Pack is 6-0 when it scores 80 or more points.

Rice - Rice defeated San Jose State on Saturday night to snap a four-game losing streak against the Spartans ... the Owls have played its last six 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-13.2 ppg) ... Harris has four double-doubles in his last eight games, including last nights contest at Tulsa when he scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds ... Harris is second in the WAC in rebounding (8.5) ... he leads all WAC freshmen in scoring and rebounding ... Harris has 23 blocked shots and is tied for eighth on the schools single-season list ... the Owls have a 15-game regular season road losing streak.

San Jose State - the Spartans have not scored more than 58 points against Rice in the last five games, but is 4-1 in those contests against the Owls ... in his first major college start, senior forward Andre Valentine had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds at Tulsa ... at halftime of the game against Boise State on Saturday night, the Spartans will retire #3, the jersey worn by Olivier Saint-Jean, currently a member of the Denver Nuggets (Tariq Abdul-Wahad) ... after scoring 70 or more points in four consecutive games, the Spartans have scored less than 70 points in the last eight games and less than 60 in the last three contests.

SMU - the 14-point win at Nevada was the Packs worst at home since joining the WAC ... senior guard Damon Hancock leads the WAC in scoring with 21.2 points per game ... Hancock has scored in double figures in the last 20 games he has played in, the longest such streak in the WAC ... Hancock missed the last game against Nevada due to an ankle sprain ... the Mustangs are 2-0 without Hancock in the lineup this year ... SMU is now 27-5 under head coach Mike Dement when shooting 50 percent or better from the field ... SMU has lost three of its last five games, but is still tied for third in the conference standings ... the Mustangs play Louisiana Tech in their only game this week and are tied for third with the Bulldogs in the standings.

UTEP - in the Boise State win, both Roy Smallwood and Brian Stewart had double-doubles with 17 points and 11 rebounds each ... the 51 points allowed against Boise State were the second lowest under head coach Jason Rabedeaux ... Smallwood notched his second straight double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds last night against Alcorn State ... UTEP has won three of its last four games, all at home ... it was the longest homestand for the Miners this year ... the Miners are 0-7 on the road this year and have lost 10 in a row dating back to last season ... UTEP is 24-5 the last two seasons at home ... the Miners are averaging 69.5 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 2-10 when behind at the break this season.

Tulsa - with 13 points last night against Rice, Kevin Johnson has scored in double figures in all nine conference games this year ... Tulsa hosts Fresno State this Thursday night ... Tulsa has lost six straight against the Bulldogs and is 2-7 all-time versus Fresno State ... junior forward Charlie Davis has had three double-doubles in his last five games ... the Golden Hurricane lead the WAC in scoring (82.9), scoring margin (+12.9), assists (17.6) and steals (8.8) ... guard Greg Harrington is the teams lone senior and has 481 assists, the most in school history ... Harrington leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.896) and assists (5.3) ... 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 (.539) ... 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 ... Harrington has been a part of 96 victories while at Tulsa, four shy of the record set by Marcus Hill (1997-01) ... Tulsa has sold out 23 of its 51 games at the Reynolds Center where it has gone 44-7 (.863).

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.

TULSA TO HOST 2003 TOURNAMENT On Jan. 17, 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.

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
36. 1667 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

Rebounds
1. 1317 Michael Cage, San Diego State, 1980-84
33. 820 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

Field Goal Percentage
1. .622 George Scott, New Mexico (280-450), 1982-85
8. .583 Melvin Ely, Fresno State (684-1173), 1999-02
19. .559 Kevin Johnson, Tulsa (316-565), 2000-02

Field Goals Made
1. 987 Danny Ainge, Brigham Young, 1978-81
15. 684 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

3-Point Field Goal Percentage
1. .480 Trent Shippen, Colorado State (94-196), 1988-89
6. .443 Dante Swanson, Tulsa (136-307), 2000-02
16. .416 Greg Harrington, Tulsa (157-377), 1999-02

3-Point Field Goals Made
1. 285 Raymond Dudley, Air Force, 1986-90
285 Clayton Shields, New Mexico, 1995-98
20. 157 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02

3-Point Field Goals Attempted
1. 798 Dominick Young, Fresno State, 1995-97
25. 377 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02
26. 375 Predrag Savovic, Hawaii, 2000-02

Assists
1. 778 Jeff Jonas, Utah, 1973-77
16. 481 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. 331 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02
19. 142 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.