United Athletic Conference

TWO IN NCAA TOURNAMENT, TWO IN NIT WAC regular season co-champions Hawaii and Tulsa will both represent the league in the 2002 NCAA Division I Tournament. This marks the 19th straight year the WAC has had a least two teams in the NCAA Tournament. Fresno State and Louisiana Tech will both host first round games in the NIT.

HAWAII WINS SECOND STRAIGHT For the second consecutive season, Hawaii won the Williams WAC Tournament played last week in Tulsa. The top-seeded Rainbow Warriors beat No. 9 San Jose State on Thursday, 71-56, No. 5 Nevada on Friday, 90-68, and No. 2 Tulsa in the championship on Saturday night, 73-59. It was Hawaiis third tournament title as the Rainbow Warriors also won in 1994 and 2001. For Tulsa, it was their third straight loss in the championship game as the Golden Hurricane were defeated by Fresno State in 2000 and Hawaii last year. The home team has now won the WAC Tournament just three times in the last 12 years.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Hawaii placed two players on the Williams WAC All-Tournament team as selected by the media in attendance. Rainbow Warriors Predrag Savovic and Phil Martin each received all-tournament honors, while Tulsas Greg Harrington and Kevin Johnson and Fresno States Melvin Ely rounded out the five-player team. Savovic, a senior guard, earned Most Valuable Player accolades after averaging 24.7 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 15-of-18 (.833) from the line and 11-of-26 (.423) from three-point range in the three games. In the semifinals against Nevada, he scored a tournament-high 31 points and then had 28 in the championship versus Tulsa.

ATTENDANCE The mens tournament was attended by 32,119 fans during the five sessions (6,424/session). The title game drew a sellout of 8,355 to the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa. All of those numbers were increases from a year ago when the tournament was also held at the Reynolds Center. In 2001, 27,889 attended the five sessions and the title game drew 8,160.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC has a 63-80 record (.438) in its teams 73 previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, two teams made the tournament. Fresno State defeated California before losing to eventual Final Four participant Michigan State, 81-65. Hawaii was ousted in the first round by Syracuse, 79-69. In 1998, 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).

HAWAII IN THE NCAAS This is Hawaiis fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament (1972-94-01-02) and third as a member of the WAC. The Rainbow Warriors are 0-3 in their previous three trips. Last year, Hawaii earned a bid after winning the WAC Tournament. The Warriors lost in the first round to Syracuse, 79-69.

TULSA IN THE NCAAS This is Tulsas 13th trip to the NCAA Tournament (1955-82-84-85-86-87-94-95-96-97-99-00-02) and fourth as a member of the WAC. Two years ago, the Golden Hurricane advanced to the regional finals before losing to North Carolina, 59-55. Tulsa is 10-12 (.455) in previous competition.

NCAA OPPONENTS A quick look at the WACs NCAA first-round foes: Marquette is 26-6 and a No. 5 seed. The Golden Eagles advanced to the finals of the Conference USA Tournament before losing to Cincinnati, 77-63. Xavier is 25-5 and earned the Atlantic 10s automatic bid after defeating Richmond, 73-60, to win its conference tournament. The Musketeers have won six in a row.

THE WAC IN THE NIT The WAC has a 67-56 record (.545) in its teams 55 previous appearances in the NIT. Last year, Tulsa won the NIT after beating UC-Irvine, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Memphis and Alabama. UTEP also played in last years NIT. The Miners beat McNeese State, but lost to Memphis in the second round, 90-65. Prior to last year, 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.

FRESNO STATE IN THE NIT This is Fresno State s eighth trip to the NIT (1983-85-94-96-97-98-99-02). The Bulldogs are 14-7 in previous tournaments. In its last appearance in 1999, Fresno State lost to California in the first round, 79-71. If Fresno State beats Temple, the Bulldogs would play the winner of the Princeton-Louisville game on March 18 or 19.

LOUISIANA TECH IN THE NIT This is Louisiana Techs fifth trip to the NIT (1986-88-89-92-02). The Bulldogs are 5-4 in the NIT. In its last appearance, Louisiana Tech lost in the first round at New Mexico, 90-84. If the Bulldogs beat Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech would play the winner of the Houston-Vanderbilt game later this week.

TULSA SECOND BEST OVER LAST THREE YEARS Over the last three seasons, Tulsa has won 84 games, tied with Cincinnati for second in the nation only behind Dukes 92 victories. Gonzaga is next with 81 wins during the past three years.

NIT OPPONENTS A quick look at the WACs NIT first-round foes: Temple is 15-14 after a 12-4 Atlantic 10 record. The Owls lost to LaSalle in the first round of their conference tournament, but had won nine of its last 10 coming into that game. Louisiana-Lafayette is 20-10 and lost to Western Kentucky in the finals of the Sun Belt Tournament. The Ragin Cajuns won eight of their previous nine games prior to the championship game.

NATIONAL RANKINGS Hawaii is ranked 25th in the final AP poll and 24th in the USA Today-ESPN poll while Tulsa is receiving votes in both.

TOP SCORERS The WAC has four players that have scored 20 or more points in at least 14 games this year. Fresno States Melvin Ely has reached that mark 21 times while SMUs Damon Hancock has hit it in 19 games. Boise States Abe Jackson has scored 20 or more in 16 contests this season and Hawaiis Predrag Savovic has 14 games with 20 or more points. Hawaii is 13-1 when Savovic scores 20, Fresno State is 12-9 when Ely scores 20 or more, Boise State is 9-7 when Jackson hits the mark and SMU is 10-9 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 50.4 percent (71-141) of his three-pointers. The percentage is currently the fifth highest in WAC history. The record is 56.3 percent set by Colorado States Joel Tribelhorn during the 1988-89 season.

TULSA TOPS IN SHOOTING Tulsa continues to lead the WAC in all three shooting categories. The Golden Hurricane is shooting 47.6 percent from the field, 75.1 percent from the free throw line and 40.5 percent from three-point range. Only once before has a team led the WAC in all three shooting categories. Brigham Young performed the trifecta during the 1987-88 season.

HOME RECORDS As a league, all 10 WAC teams have a combined home record of 102-48 (.680). In conference games only, home teams were 52-38 (.578).

ALL 10 WITH AT LEAST 10 For the second straight year, every team in the WAC has at least 10 victories. Only three other conferences in the nation also had every one of its teams record double digit victories this season: SEC, Colonial Athletic Association and Southern Conference.

ALL-WAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED The 2002 all-WAC teams as voted upon by the coaches were announced earlier this month. For the second year in a row, Fresno States Melvin Ely was named the Player of the Year. Rice forward Michael Harris earned Freshman of the Year honors and Hawaiis Riley Wallace was chosen the Don Haskins Coach of the Year. The rest of the teams can be found later in this release.

SAVOVIC NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN, MANCE EARNS ALL-DISTRICT HONORS Hawaii senior guard Predrag Savovic was named a third team Verizon Academic All-American last week after being named to the all-district team last month. Rices Omar-Seli Mance was named to the Academic All-District VI team last month. The teams were voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors Association of America (CoSIDA).

FOUR EARN USBWA ALL-DISTRICT HONORS Last week, four WAC players were named to the United State Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District teams: Louisiana Techs Gerrod Henderson (District VII), SMUs Damon Hancock (District VII), Boise States Abe Jackson (District VIII) and Hawaiis Predrag Savovic (District IX).

SIX NAMED TO NABC ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS Last month, six WAC players were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) all-district teams. Louisiana Techs Gerrod Henderson (District 8), SMUs Damon Hancock (District 9), Fresno States Melvin Ely (District 13) and Hawaiis Predrag Savovic (District 13) were first team members. Boise States Abe Jackson and Fresno States Chris Jefferies were named to the second team in District 13. The players are now eligible for the NABC/Pontiac Division I All-American Team to be announced at the end of the season. Also, Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace was named the District 13 Coach of the Year.

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 68-42 (.618) in non-conference games this season, including a 58-40 (.592) mark against Division I teams. 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 778-201 (.795), the third best winning percentage of any active coach and sixth best of all time. The 778 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.

BOISE STATE REMOVES JENSEN Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier announced last week that Rod Jensen was removed as head mens basketball coach. Jensen, who has one year remaining on his contract, was removed after posting a 13-17 record and a seventh-place finish in the WAC this season. The Broncos season came to an end Thursday night at the hands of Tulsa in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament. During his seven-year career as head coach at Boise State, Jensen compiled a 109-93 record but saw his team finish with losing records during two of the last three seasons. Jensens best year came during the 1998-99 season when he led the Broncos to a 21-8 record, a Big West Eastern Division Championship, and a runner-up finish in the Big West Conference Tournament. Jensen was the fifth basketball coach in Boise States 34 years as a four-year institution and the 16th head coach since the schools founding in 1932. Jensen spent 12 years as an assistant coach at Boise State before being named to replace Bobby Dye on August 17, 1995, as head coach. Jensens 109 victories rank second in Boise State history.

TEAM NOTES Information on the four WAC mens basketball teams in this years postseason:

Fresno State - Fresno State is hosting a first round NIT game and leads the WAC in attendance with an average of 10,013 in 16 home dates ... the Bulldogs competed in the Preseason NIT last November and advanced to the semifinals before losing to Wake Forest ... Fresno State is 3-0 versus ranked teams this year (Southern California, Michigan State and Oklahoma State) ... the Bulldogs lost seven of their last 10 WAC games ... the Bulldogs were 3-3 without Melvin Ely in the lineup earlier in the season and are 5-7 without forward Chris Jefferies ... Jefferies is out due to a cartilage tear in his right knee ... the 14 losses are the most for head coach Jerry Tarkanian in a season ... when Fresno State lost at Louisiana Tech on Feb. 21, Fresno State was 7-8 in the conference, marking the first time in Tarkanians career he has been under .500 in conference play ... starting point guard Chris Sandy was ruled ineligible by the school on Feb. 14 and has missed the six games ... Sandy returned in time for the WAC Tournament ... Ely has scored 20 or more points in 20 of the last 23 games ... in conference games only, Melvin Ely led the WAC in scoring (25.6 ppg), field goal percentage (.591) and blocks (3.12 bpg) ... after a 25-game home winning streak, the Bulldogs have lost four of their last six home games.

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.

WILLIAMS IS TOURNAMENT SPONSOR For the second year in a row, Williams was the WACs tournament sponsor. Williams, through its subsidiaries, connects businesses to energy, delivering innovative, reliable products and services. Williams information is available at www.williams.com.

ESPN/FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST SCHEDULE The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of football and basketball. Five games were scheduled for ESPN2 (including the mens tournament championship game) and ABC while Fox Sports Southwest telecast five mens games and four womens games including the womens WAC tournament final played 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.