United Athletic Conference

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevada forward Corey Jackson, a senior from Cassatt, S.C. (Ranger JC/North Central HS), recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds in a 66-57 win at Fresno State last Thursday. Jackson scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half including six straight points late in the game to help secure the victory. He was 6-of-9 from the field and also had two steals in the contest. Jackson leads the WAC in rebounding with 10.9 per game.

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:
Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise State - averaged 19.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in a split of two games. He shot 15-of-35 from the field.
Predrag Savovic, Sr., G, Hawaii - averaged 25.5 points as Hawaii split its road trip last week. Savovic scored a game-high 29 points at SMU and had a career-high six three-pointers. Against Louisiana Tech, he scored 22 points. Savovic has scored 20 or more points in six straight games.
Gerrod Henderson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech - scored a team-high 17 points in a win against San Jose State and added another team-high 20 points in the victory over first-place Hawaii. He also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the two games.
Shawn Tyndell, Sr., F, Rice - averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in two games. He shot 56.3 percent from the field (9-16).
Quinton Ross, Jr., G, SMU - averaged 24.0 points and 8.0 rebounds as SMU split its two games last week. He had a team-high 26 points versus Hawaii and notched a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four steals and five assists versus San Jose State.
Kevin Johnson, Jr., F, Tulsa - averaged 20.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in a pair of road victories. He shot 52 percent from the field (14-27), 50 percent from three-point range (3-6) and 75 percent from the line (9-12).

HAWAII AND TULSA REACH 20 For the 19th straight season, the WAC has at least two teams that have won 20 or more games. Both Hawaii and Tulsa reached the 20-win mark last week and both have identical 20-4 records (11-2 in the WAC). It is the fourth straight season Tulsa has had 20 or more wins and is 101-30 during that time. Hawaii has 20 wins for the first time since it was 21-9 in 1997-98. Louisiana Tech and Fresno State are tied for third in the WAC with 15 wins. Last year, Fresno State, Tulsa, UTEP and TCU all had 20 or more victories.

ELY LOOKS TO BECOME BULLDOGS ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER Fresno State senior center Melvin Ely has scored 1,736 points in his career and is four points shy of becoming the schools all-time leading scorer. The record of 1,739 points is held by Wil Hooker who played from 1989-92. Ely is currently averaging 23.1 points a game and will look to break the record at home against UTEP on Thursday night. Ely also is now alone in second on the WACs all-time list for blocked shots with 342. The WAC record is 425 set by Wyomings Theo Ratliff (1991-95).

HARRINGTON 14TH TO 500 Tulsa senior guard Greg Harrington became the 14th player in WAC history to reach 500 assists for his career. Harrington was already the schools all-time leader. He currently has 504 assists and needs 36 more to move into the WACs top 10.

TOP SCORERS The WAC has four players that have scored 20 or more points in at least 10 games this year. Fresno States Melvin Ely and Boise States Abe Jackson have reached that mark in 14 games. SMUs Damon Hancock has scored 20 or more in 13 contests this season and Hawaiis Predrag Savovic has 11 games with 20 or more points. Hawaiis is 10-1 when Savovic scores 20, Fresno State is 9-5 when Ely scores 20 or more, Boise State is 8-6 when Jackson hits the mark and SMU is 7-6 when Hancock reaches 20. Savovic has scored 20 or more points in six straight games.

SWANSON IS NATIONS TOP LONG-RANGE SHOOTER Tulsas Dante Swanson leads the nation in three-point shooting. The junior guard has made 53.8 percent (57-106) 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 10 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 Rank Points Needed
Melvin Ely, Sr., C, Fresno State 1736 2nd 3
Gerrod Henderson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech 1615 7th 4
Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise State 1547 4th 55
Greg Harrington, Sr., G, Tulsa 1389 8th 2
Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU 1334 14th 9
1Predrag Savovic, Sr., G, Hawaii 1306 6th 34
2Chris Jefferies, Jr., F, Fresno State 1139 N/A
Terrance Green, Jr., G, Nevada 1061 11th 1
Roy Smallwood, Jr., F, UTEP 1040 25th 5
Quinton Ross, Jr., G, SMU 1019 29th 7

1Savovic scored 50 points while at Alabama-Birmingham (1997-98)
2Jefferies scored 262 points while at Arkansas (1998-99)

HOME RECORDS As a league, all 10 WAC teams have a combined home record of 84-35 (.706). In conference games only, home teams are 37-26 (.587). Last week, home teams were only 5-5. On Thursday, Tulsa, Nevada, Hawaii and Rice all won as the visitor. Only Louisiana Tech held court against San Jose State. On Saturday, the home team won three of four games with Tulsa the only team winning on the road at UTEP.

TULSA TOPS IN SHOOTING Tulsa continues to lead the WAC in all three shooting categories. The Golden Hurricane is shooting 48.0 percent from the field, 76.2 percent from the free throw line and 41.1 percent from three-point range. Tulsas 76.2 percent success rate from the charity stripe is currently the 10th best in the nation. Greg Harrington leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.872) while Kevin Johnson is second in the league (.854). Dante Swanson is also shooting above 80 percent from the line (.815).

NATIONAL RANKINGS No teams in the WAC are ranked in the top 25 of the AP and USA Today-ESPN polls, but Hawaii and Tulsa are receiving votes in both and Fresno State is earning consideration in the AP poll. 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 27 36 40
Hawaii 59 44 46
Fresno State 65 59 58
Louisiana Tech 70 72 76
SMU 94 97 96
Nevada 95

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 67-42 (.615) in non-conference games this season, including a 57-40 (.588) mark against Division I teams. There is one more non-conference games scheduled during the regular season (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 774-197 (.797), the third best winning percentage of any active coach and sixth best of all time. The 774 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. Tarkanian is a 1955 graduate of Fresno State.

TEAM NOTES Information on the mens basketball teams in the WAC:

Boise State - the Broncos win against Rice on Saturday snapped a seven game losing streak, the longest since losing seven in a row during the 1980-81 season ... Boise State scored 78 points against the Owls, the most by the Bronocs this season ... BSU has lost 10 of its last 13 games ... senior forward Abe Jackson (Boise, Idaho) is first in the WAC in three-point field goals made with 3.17 per game and is third in the conference in scoring with 19.3 points per game ... Jackson has 73 three-point field goals, 10 shy of tying his school record set last year ... Jackson has scored 20 or more points in seven of his last 10 contests ... Jackson is fourth all-time in scoring at Boise State with 1,547 points and needs 55 to tie current Toronto Raptor Chris Childs for third place ... with five more rebounds, Jackson will become the second Bronco with 1,500 points and 500 rebounds in his career (Tanoka Beard: 1989-93) ... sophomore Bryan Defares had his streak of double figure scoring in nine straight games come to an end on Thursday ... two nights later, Defares started a new streak and also recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Rice ... BSU is second in the WAC in scoring defense (63.6 points per game) and has held four opponents to under 50 points this season.

Fresno State - Travis DeManby broke the school record for steals with 11 versus Oklahoma State, one shy of tying the WAC record ... it was also the second most steals in any game in the country this season ... the Oklahoma State game was the 100th sellout at Selland Arena under head coach Jerry Tarkanian ... the Bulldogs have lost four WAC games in a row for the first time under Tarkanian ... Fresno State has averaged 61.0 points in its last five games after averaging 81.3 in its previous six contests ... Fresno State is 3-0 versus ranked opponents this year and have won six of their last seven against ranked opponents ... the Bulldogs were 3-3 without Melvin Ely in the lineup earlier in the season and are 1-3 without Chris Jefferies ... Ely scored 11 points against Oklahoma State after scoring 20 or more points in 13 of the previous 14 games he played ... Ely has recorded double-doubles in five of his last seven games ... in conference games only, Melvin Ely leads the WAC in scoring (26.2 ppg), field goal percentage (.582) and blocks (3.55 bpg) ... forward Chris Jefferies has missed the last four games due to a cartilage tear in his right knee and is out indefinitely ... the Bulldogs are 45-6 (.882) in WAC home games under head coach Jerry Tarkanian ... after a 25-game home winning streak, the Bulldogs lost two in a row before beating Oklahoma State at home on Sunday.

Hawaii - UH has won 14 of its last 16 games ... Hawaii is 5-2 in WAC road games, tying for the most wins in school history (1997) ... Hawaii is 43-135 all-time in WAC road games ... UH has won 11 of its last 16 games away from home ... UHs 11-2 start in WAC play is its best ever ... Hawaiis 20-4 start is its best since the 1971-72 season when it was 22-2 and finished the season 24-3 ... UHs four losses are by a combined 13 points and in all four losses Hawaii has failed to score 60 points ... Hawaii is second in the WAC in three-pointers made with 161 and is on pace to break last years school record of 177 treys ... the Rainbow Warriors have held 10 of its opponents to 60 points or less this year ... Hawaii leads the WAC and is 19th nationally in scoring defense (62.0 points per game) ... Hawaii has won nine straight home games and 20 of its last 21 in Honolulu ... in addition, UH has won 13 straight WAC home games dating back to last year, the longest current streak in the conference.

Louisiana Tech - junior forward Zach Johnson tied a career-high with 15 points against Hawaii ... Tech has won six of its last seven games and has won six conference games in row, the longest streak in the WAC ... Tech has assured itself of its fourth consecutive winning season ... the Bulldogs are 13-0 when holding opponents to under 70 points ... Louisiana Tech is 4-1 on the road in WAC games ... senior guard Gerrod Henderson has 183 steals and needs two more to tie the all-time career steal record at Louisiana Tech ... Louisiana Tech leads the WAC and is second nationally in rebounding margin (+9.4).

Nevada - on Saturday, Nevada hosts UTEP, the team that handed the Wolf Pack their worst WAC loss ever, 93-64, on Jan. 19 ... the Wolf Pack have won six road games this season, one more than they did over the last three years combined ... Nevada has won 13 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 leads the WAC in rebounds with 10.9 ... Jackson has nine double-doubles on the season, the third most in the WAC ... Nevada is 8-0 against schools from California including a sweepof Fresno State ... the Pack is 6-0 when it scores 80 or more points.

Rice - Rice snapped a 15-game regular season road losing streak with a 75-68 win at UTEP on Thursday ... after missing eight games, the Owls leading scorer Jason McKrieth returned last week and averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the two contests ... the top two scorers at Rice are true freshmen (McKrieth-14.0 ppg and Michael Harris-13.2 ppg) ... Harris has six double-doubles in his last 11 games and has 10 on the season, second in the WAC ... Harris is third in the WAC in rebounding (8.5) ... he leads all WAC freshmen in scoring and rebounding ... Harris has 28 blocked shots and is fifth on the schools single-season list ... his 196 rebounds are the most by any Rice freshman since 1989 ... junior guard Omar-Seli Mance is the only Owl to start all 23 games this season.

San Jose State - the Spartans have scored less than 70 points in the last 12 games ... SJSU plays Hawaii this week and is looking for its first ever sweep of the Rainbow Warriors since joining the WAC ... when the teams last played on Jan. 19, San Jose State defeated Hawaii, 57-53 ... it was the first time in 13 years in the WAC a last place team defeated a first place team that late in the season ... in its last two trips to Honolulu, San Jose State has lost in overtime.

SMU - before beating San Jose State on Saturday, SMU had a three game home losing streak, its longest since the 1995-96 season ... the 29-point win over SJSU was SMUs largest conference margin of victory since joining the WAC ... senior guard Damon Hancock is second in the WAC in scoring with 21.2 points per game ... Hancock has scored in double figures in the last 23 games he has played in, the longest such streak in the WAC ... Hancock is the only player in the WAC to have started at least 18 games without a blocked shot ... Hancock and Quinton Ross average 38.1 points per game, 51.7 percent of the Mustangs offense ... SMU is 28-5 under head coach Mike Dement when shooting 50 percent or better from the field ... after a 4-0 conference start, SMU has lost five of its last eight WAC games ... freshman Eric Castro is out for the season after suffering an oblique fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his right hand at practice on Feb. 11.

UTEP - one more loss would give UTEP its most since losing 17 during the 1951-52 season ... UTEP has lost three of its last five home games including two in a row ... UTEP has lost five games by five points or less, the most in the WAC ... over the last four games, the Miners have shot just 58 percent from the line ... UTEP had 11 blocked shots against Rice last week, the most since blocking 12 in 1993 versus Abilene Christian ... the Miners are 0-9 on the road this year and have lost 12 in a row dating back to last season ... UTEP is the only WAC team to not win a road game this year ... the Miners play at Fresno State on Thursday where they are 1-8 all-time ... last year, UTEP lost at Fresno State, 108-56, the worst loss in school history ... the Miners are averaging 69.0 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 2-14 when behind at the break this season.

Tulsa - has 20 wins for the fourth straight year and seventh out of the last eight seasons ... the 20-4 start is its third best in school history ... against UTEP, Tulsa had five players score in double figures, the 10th time this year that has happened ... Kevin Johnson has scored in double figures in all 13 conference games this year ... the Golden Hurricane lead the WAC in scoring (82.0), scoring margin (+12.7), assists (17.5) and steals (8.6) ... guard Greg Harrington is the teams lone senior and has 504 assists, the most in school history ... Harrington leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.872) and assists (5.4) ... guard Dante Swanson leads the WAC and the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.538) ... 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 became Tulsas all-time winningest player last week with a 101-30 record in his four seasons ... Tulsa has sold out 25 of its 53 games at the Reynolds Center where it has gone 46-7 (.868).

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 Williams WAC Tournament.

Williams, through its subsidiaries, connects businesses to energy, delivering innovative, reliable products and services. Williams information is available at www.williams.com.

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
31. 1736 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

Rebounds
1. 1317 Michael Cage, San Diego State, 1980-84
25. 863 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

Field Goal Percentage
1. .622 George Scott, New Mexico (280-450), 1982-85
10. .577 Melvin Ely, Fresno State (710-1231), 1999-02
19. .558 Kevin Johnson, Tulsa (341-611), 2000-02

Field Goals Made
1. 987 Danny Ainge, Brigham Young, 1978-81
11. 710 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02

3-Point Field Goal Percentage
1. .480 Trent Shippen, Colorado State (94-196), 1988-89
5. .448 Dante Swanson, Tulsa (145-324), 2000-02

3-Point Field Goals Made
1. 285 Raymond Dudley, Air Force, 1986-90
285 Clayton Shields, New Mexico, 1995-98
19. 161 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02
22. 154 Predrag Savovic, Hawaii, 2000-02
25. 145 Dante Swanson, Tulsa, 2000-02

3-Point Field Goals Attempted
1. 798 Dominick Young, Fresno State, 1995-97
21. 406 Predrag Savovic, Hawaii, 2000-02
24. 388 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02
27. 372 Mike McIntyre, Hawaii, 1999-02

Assists
1. 778 Jeff Jonas, Utah, 1973-77
14. 504 Greg Harrington, Tulsa, 1999-02

Blocked Shots
1. 425 Theo Ratliff, Wyoming, 1992-95
2. 342 Melvin Ely, Fresno State, 1999-02
19. 148 Kevin Johnson, Tulsa, 2000-02

ESPN/FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST SCHEDULE The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of football and basketball. Five games have been scheduled for ESPN2 (including the mens tournament championship game) and ABC while Fox Sports Southwest will telecast five mens games and four womens games including the womens WAC tournament finals on March 9. Fox Sports Net Southwest reaches over 6.8 million cable and satellite subscribers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of New Mexico.