United Athletic Conference

TULSA ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND For the eighth straight year a WAC team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. No. 12 Tulsa defeated No. 5 Marquette, 71-69, in the first round of the East Regional in St. Louis. Greg Harrington hit a runner in the lane with 14.6 seconds left to give the Golden Hurricane the victory. Antonio Reed led Tulsa with 18 points, while Kevin Johnson added 14 points and Harrington chipped in 12. Tulsa played No. 4 Kentucky in the second round, but lost 87-82. Johnson and Reed tied for team-high honors with 18 points, but the Hurricane couldnt stop Kentuckys Tayshaun Prince who poured in 41 points. It was the sixth time Kentucky has beaten a WAC team in the tournament and fifth since 1993 when the Wildcats stopped Utahs run four times (1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998). This was 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 now 11-14 (.440) in NCAA Tournament games.

HAWAII DROPS FIRST ROUND GAME VERSUS XAVIER With 3:07 left in the first half, Carl English hit a three-pointer to put Hawaii up 40-28. The Rainbow Warriors then scored just five points over the next 17:31 and lost 70-58 to Xavier in the West Regionals first round in Dallas. Hawaii made 6-of-29 field goals (20.7 percent) in the second half and was 4-of-6 from the free throw line for the game. Predrag Savovic scored a game-high 26 points for the Rainbow Warriors. This was Hawaiis fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament (1972-94-01-02) and third as a member of the WAC. The Rainbow Warriors are now 0-4 in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Hawaii earned a bid after winning the WAC Tournament. The Warriors lost in the first round to Syracuse, 79-69.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC is 64-82 record (.438) in its teams 75 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).

TECH ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND OF NIT Louisiana Tech lost in the second round of the NIT, 67-64, at Villanova after an opening round victory over Louisiana-Lafayette, 83-63, and a first round win versus Vanderbilt, 83-68. This was Louisiana Techs fifth trip to the NIT (1986-88-89-92-02). The Bulldogs are 7-5 in the NIT.

FRESNO STATE LOSES TO TEMPLE Fresno States season came to an end after an 81-75 loss against Temple in the first round of the NIT. Damon Jackson notched a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds while Melvin Ely ended his career with 19 points and eight boards. Temple was led by Lynn Greers 37 points. This was Fresno States eighth trip to the NIT (1983-85-94-96-97-98-99-02). The Bulldogs are now 14-8 in NIT competition.

THE WAC IN THE NIT The WAC has a 69-58 record (.543) in its teams 57 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.

SAVOVIC AND ELY NAMED AP ALL-AMERICANS Hawaii senior guard Predrag Savovic and Fresno State senior center Melvin Ely were named AP honorable mention All-Americans. For Hawaii, its the Rainbow Warriors fourth ever All-American honoree. Ely is the eighth All-American at Fresno State and this year marked the second season in a row he had received honorable mention honors from AP.

TARKANIAN RETIRES Fresno States Jerry Tarkanian retired after 38 seasons as a college coach. In 31 seasons of Division I coaching, Tarkanian compiled a record of 778-202 (.794). The 778 wins are the sixth most of all-time and his .794 winning percentage is the sixth best of all-time. His teams won at least 20 games in 29 of his 31 years, one shy of the all-time record. As head coach of UNLV in 1990, Tarkanian led the Runnin Rebels to a national championship by defeating Duke, 103-73. He will continue to be associated with Fresno State and will serve as a senior development consultant to the Save Mart Center, slated to open in November 2003. Tarkanian is a 1955 graduate of Fresno State.

SCHOOLS NAME HEAD COACHES Boise State and Fresno State will begin the 2002-03 season with new head coaches.

Boise State-Greg Graham
Graham comes to Boise State after spending the past five years as the top assistant at Oregon. The 46-year old Graham helped lead Oregon to the Pac-10 regular-season championship this past year and a spot in the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. Oregon finished this season ranked third in the country in scoring, averaging 85.9 points per game, behind only Kansas and Duke. Graham replaces Rod Jensen who was removed following the end of the season.

Fresno State-Ray Lopes
Lopes spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma. He helped the Sooners to eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, plus a trip to the Sweet 16 in 1999 and the 2002 Final Four. The Sooners won at least 20 games in five straight seasons, won the 2001 and 2002 Big 12 Tournament titles and had a 187-74 record while Lopes was an assistant coach.

NATIONAL RANKINGS Hawaii was ranked 25th in the final AP poll and received votes in the USA Today-ESPN poll while Tulsa received votes in both. Below are three other final rankings and the WAC teams that finished 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 30 33 34
Hawaii 43 27 32
Louisiana Tech 64 72 69
Fresno State 80 64 73
Nevada 97

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has 12 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 1951 1st
Gerrod Henderson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech 1829 5th 38
Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise State 1673 3rd 254
Greg Harrington, Sr., G, Tulsa 1520 5th 90
Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU 1482 8th 47
*Predrag Savovic, Sr., G, Hawaii 1464 4th 1
Terrance Green, Jr., G, Nevada 1220 8th 41
Quinton Ross, Jr., G, SMU 1153 24th 26
#Chris Jefferies, Jr., F, Fresno State 1139 N/A
Roy Smallwood, Jr., F, UTEP 1083 21st 7
Kevin Johnson, Jr., F, Tulsa 1077 23rd 6
Antonio Meeking, Jr., F, Louisiana Tech 1027 28th 53

*Savovic scored 50 points while at Alabama-Birmingham (1997-98) and 1414 at Hawaii
#Jefferies scored 262 points while at Arkansas (1998-99) and 877 at Fresno State

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

Boise State - BSU won five of its last eight games after losing seven in a row ... senior forward Abe Jackson (Boise, Idaho) was first in the WAC in three-point field goals made with 3.07 per game and was fourth in the conference in scoring with 18.6 points per game ... Jackson had 92 three-point field goals, breaking his own school record of 83 set last year ... Jackson is the second Bronco to have 1,500 points (1,673) and 500 rebounds (525) in his career ... BSU was second in the WAC in scoring defense (65.8 points per game) and held four opponents to under 50 points this season.

Fresno State - Fresno State led the WAC in attendance with an average of 9,721 in 17 home dates ... FS sold out (10,220) 14 of its 17 games ... Fresno State was 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 were 5-8 without forward Chris Jefferies ... Jefferies missed the last 13 games due to a cartilage tear in his right knee ... the 15 losses were 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 had been under .500 in conference play ... Ely scored 20 or more points in 20 of the last 24 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 lost five of their last seven home games.

Hawaii - Predrag Savovic was named the WAC Tournaments MVP and his brother, Boban, who plays at Ohio State, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament ... UH won 21 of its last 25 games ... the Rainbow Warriors were ranked in the top 25 for the first time since the 1997-98 season ... Hawaii was 6-3 in conference road games (7-3 overall), the most wins in school history ... Hawaii is 44-136 (.244) all-time in WAC road games ... UH has won 15 of its last 22 games away from home ... UHs 15-3 record in WAC play was its best ever ... Hawaiis 27 wins set a school record breaking the old mark of 25 set during the 1989-90 season ... Hawaii made 241 three-pointers this year, breaking the old record of 177 set last season .... the Rainbow Warriors held 14 of its opponents to 60 points or less this year ... Hawaii led the WAC in scoring defense (63.1 points per game) ... Hawaii has won 12 straight home games and 23 of its last 24 in Honolulu ... the 12-game home winning streak is the 15th longest in the nation ... in addition, UH has won 16 straight WAC home games dating back to 2000-01, the longest current streak in the conference.

Louisiana Tech - the Bulldogs competed in the postseason (NIT) for the first time since the 1991-92 NIT ... Lousiana Tech had 20 wins for the second time under head coach Keith Richard and the 17th time in school history ... Tech won 13 of its last 17 games and won 11 of its last 12 conference games ... the Bulldogs scored 80 or more points in five of the last seven games ... Tech was 8-0 when scoring 80 or more points this year ... Louisiana Tech is 192-48 (.800) all-time in the Thomas Assembly Center ... Tech has recorded four consecutive winning seasons ... the Bulldogs were 19-0 when holding opponents to under 70 points before losing to Villanova, 67-64, in the NIT ... Louisiana Tech was 7-2 on the road in WAC games, tying Tulsa for the best mark in the WAC ... Tech was 6-5 in games decided by five or fewer points this season ... the six wins were tied with Hawaii and San Jose State for the most by a WAC team ... Louisiana Tech led the WAC in rebounding margin (+8.8), more than double the second place team (Nevada, +4.0) ... Gerrod Henderson was named the Louisiana Player of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Nevada - Nevada broke the school record of 537 free throws with 644, 99 more than second place Tulsa ... the Wolf Pack won six road games this season, one more than they did over the last three years combined ... Nevada won 17 games this season, the most since the 1996-97 season when it went 21-10 ... the Pack had a winning season for the first time since 1997-98 ... the Wolf Pack was 10-3 at home and 25-16 (.610) since Trent Johnson took over as head coach three years ago ... senior F Corey Jackson led the WAC in rebounds with 11.1 ... he is the only player in the WAC to average a double-double in conference games with 10.4 ppg and 11.3 rpg ... Jackson had 11 double-doubles on the season, the third most in the WAC ... Nevada was 8-1 against schools from California.

Rice - WAC Freshman of the Year Michael Harris was Rices top scorer (12.8 ppg) ... Harris had eight double-doubles in his last 17 games and had 12 on the season, tied with Fresno States Melvin Ely for the most in the WAC ... Harris was third in the WAC in rebounding (8.6) ... he led all WAC freshmen in scoring and rebounding ... his 248 rebounds were the most by any Rice freshman ... head coach Willis Wilson was named the best dressed college basketball coach in the nation by Collegeinsider.com.

San Jose State - SJSU won its first WAC Tournament game defeating Rice, 58-57 ... the Spartans were 0-4 in the conference tournament since joining the WAC for the 1996-97 season ... SJSU was 5-15 in its last 20 games ... the Spartans won only one conference road game ... San Jose States only other road win of the year came at Iowa State where it snapped the Cyclones 39-game home winning streak.

SMU - senior guard Damon Hancock was second in the WAC in scoring with 22.0 points per game ... Hancock became the first Mustang to end the season with more than a 20-point average since the 1975-76 season (Ira Terrell-22.1) ... Hancock was the only player in the WAC to score in double figures in every game he played this season ... he had a streak of 29 straight games scoring in double figures dating back to last season ... Hancock also scored 20 or more points in 13 of the last 14 games ... junior Quinton Ross has scored in double figures in the last 22 games and will have the WACs longest such streak entering next season ... Hancock and Quinton Ross averaged 39.4 points per game, 54.4 percent of the Mustangs offense ... the last time an SMU duo scored more than Hancock and Ross was during the 1972-73 season when Sammy Hervey (21.5) and Ira Terrell (19.4) combined for 40.9 ppg.

UTEP - the Miners lost 22 games, the most in school history ... UTEP lost five of its last eight home games ... UTEP lost seven games by five points or less, the most in the WAC ... the Miners were 0-12 on the road this year and have lost 15 in a row dating back to last season ... UTEP was the only WAC team to not win a road game this year ... the Miners averaged 69.2 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 were 3-19 when behind at the break this season.

Tulsa - TUs 27 victories marked the third straight season that the Hurricane has had at least 25 wins ... Tulsa won 12 of its last 15 games ... Tulsa was 10-3 on the road which ties the school record for road victories set three other times (1919-20, 1993-94 and 1999-2000) ... including neutral site games, Tulsa was 14-4 away from home this season .... both of Tulsas two WAC road losses were by the same score, 86-85 ... had 20 wins for the fourth straight year and eighth out of the last nine seasons ... the 27 wins tied for the second most in school history ... every season that Tulsa has won 20 games, it has either played in the NCAA Tournament or won the NIT Championship ... Tulsa finished 7-2 in WAC road games, tied for the best mark in the conference with Louisiana Tech ... Kevin Johnson scored in double figures in all 18 conference games this year ... the Golden Hurricane led the WAC in scoring (80.2), scoring margin (+10.7), three-point field goals made (7.6), assists (17.2) and steals (7.9) ... guard Greg Harrington was the teams lone senior and finished his career with 551 assists, the most in school history ... Harrington led the WAC in free throw percentage (.857) and assists (5.2) ... Harrington is Tulsas all-time winningest player with a 108-33 (.766) record in his four seasons ... guard Dante Swanson led the WAC and the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.490) ... Tulsa has sold out 28 of its 58 games at the Reynolds Center where it has gone 50-8 (.862).

TULSA SECOND BEST OVER LAST THREE YEARS Over the last three seasons, Tulsa has won 85 games, tied with Cincinnati for second in the nation only behind Dukes 94 victories. Gonzaga is next with 81 wins during the past three years.

HAWAII WINS SECOND STRAIGHT For the second consecutive season, Hawaii won the Williams WAC Tournament played 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.

TOP SCORERS The WAC had four players that have scored 20 or more points in at least 15 games this year. Fresno States Melvin Ely reached that mark 21 times while SMUs Damon Hancock hit it in 19 games. Boise States Abe Jackson scored 20 or more in 16 contests this season and Hawaiis Predrag Savovic had 15 games with 20 or more points. Hawaii was 13-2 when Savovic scored 20, Fresno State was 12-9 when Ely scored 20 or more, Boise State was 9-7 when Jackson hit the mark and SMU was 10-9 when Hancock reached 20.

TULSA TOPS IN SHOOTING Tulsa led the WAC in all three shooting categories. The Golden Hurricane shot 47.7 percent from the field, 75.3 percent from the free throw line and 40.5 percent from three-point range. Only once before had 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 had a combined home record of 104-49 (.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 had 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 The 2002 all-WAC teams as voted upon by the coaches were announced last 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.

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

FOUR EARN USBWA ALL-DISTRICT HONORS 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 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. Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace was named the District 13 Coach of the Year.

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC was 71-46 (.607) in non-conference games this past season, including a 61-44 (.581) 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).

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.