United Athletic Conference

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Boise State guard/forward Jermaine Blackburn, a junior from Florissant, Mo. (SW Missouri State-West Plains), scored 25 points in Boise States 98-94 win at UTEP on Saturday night. Blackburn was 10-of-16 from the field and added two assists, one block and one steal with no turnovers in 34 minutes of play. Boise State improved to 9-2 on the season and gave the Miners their first loss at home this season in nine games. It was Blackburns first ever WAC Player of the Week award and first for a Bronco player this year.

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:
Mustafa Al-Sayyad, Jr., F/C, Fresno State - helped snapped Fresno States three-game losing streak in Honolulu by scoring 13 points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds in a 69-58 win at Hawaii.
Michael Kuebler, Sr., G, Hawaii - averaged 19.3 points in three games for Hawaii last week. He scored 26 points including a career-high seven three-pointers against IUPUI and then added 22 points while playing all 45 minutes against Fairfield in the Rainbow Classic championship game. He was named the MVP of that tournament.
Paul Millsap, Fr., F/C, Louisiana Tech - averaged 17.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in a pair of home victories last week. He had a career-high 22 points against Montevallo on 10-of-11 shooting and then notched his seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds in a 70-62 win over Tulsa.
Michael Harris, Jr., F, Rice - averaged 24.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in a split of two games last week. Harris had a double-double against Dallas with 23 points and 10 rebounds and then scored a team-high 25 points while grabbing seven boards against Connecticut.

MILLSAP LEADS NATION IN REBOUNDING Freshman forward Paul Millsap is averaging 12.0 rebounds per game, the best of any player in the nation. Millsap has had at least eight rebounds in every game this year and 10 or more in nine of his 12 contests. He also is second in the nation in field goal percentage making 68.6 percent of his shots from the floor. Last week, he was 10-of-11 in a game against Montevallo, tied for the 12th best performance in the nation this season.

FOUR WITH NINE The WAC boasts four teams with nine wins on the season: Boise State, Hawaii, Rice and UTEP. Only four other conferences in the nation have more than four teams with at least nine wins (ACC, Big 12, Big East and SEC). The WAC is also one of eight conferences in the nation that have 80 percent of its team over .500 this year. Joining the WAC are the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Mountain West and SEC. There are 31 Division I conferences in the nation.

FRESNO STATE WINS FIRST TWO WAC GAMES After a 4-5 non-conference record, Fresno State hit the road where it won its first two league games over Hawaii and San Jose State. The Bulldogs are 2-0 in the WAC for the second year in a row. Fresno State returns to the Save Mart Center this week for games with SMU and Louisiana Tech.

BOISE STATE WINS BATTLE OF TOP TWO WAC TEAMS The first big matchup of the season came last Saturday night as Boise State won its fifth road game of the year, snapping UTEPs eight-game home winning streak, 98-94. Bronco guard Jermaine Blackburn scored a team-high 25 points while UTEPs Omar Thomas scored 29 points in a contest between the two highest scoring teams in the WAC.

TELECONFERENCE TO RESUME JAN. 12 The WACs weekly mens basketball coaches teleconference will resume on Monday, Jan. 12. The call begins at 10:00 a.m. (MT) and each coach will be on for seven minutes to make comments and answer questions.

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has five players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers: Roy Smallwood, Sr., F, UTEP (1,218); Garry Hill-Thomas, Sr., G, Nevada (1,098); Jason Parker, Sr., G, Tulsa (1,079); Phil Martin, Sr., F, Hawaii (1,074); and Michael Harris, Jr., F, Rice (1,017). Nevada junior guard Kirk Snyder has 951 points in his career.

TULSAS HOME STREAK ENDED Tulsas 12-game home winning streak came to an end last week when the Golden Hurricane lost to Arkansas, 81-74. The streak had been the longest in the WAC. UTEPs eight-game home winning streak was also snapped when Boise State defeated the Miners, 98-94, last Saturday. The longest current home winning streak in the WAC is now five by Nevada, the only team in the conference with an unblemished home record this season.

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 64-34 (.653) in non-conference games this season, including a 53-33 (.616) mark against Division I teams. Last year, WAC teams were 56-45 (.554) in non-conference games with a 47-45 (.511) mark 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 TOP TEAM OVER FOUR YEARS Over the last four seasons, Tulsa is 80-34 (.702), the best record of any WAC team since 2000-01. In conference games, Tulsa and Fresno State are tied with 37 victories over the same time period. The top five teams in winning percentage over the last four seasons:

Overall Record (Pct.) WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Tulsa 80-34 (.702) 1. Fresno State 37-16 (.698)
2. Hawaii 72-35 (.673) 2. Tulsa 37-17 (.685)
3. Fresno State 71-35 (.670) 3. *Louisiana Tech 24-14 (.632)
4. Louisiana Tech 58-42 (.580) 4. Hawaii 33-21 (.611)
5. SMU 56-43 (.566) 5. SMU 29-23 (.558)

*Louisiana Tech is in its third season in the WAC

BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY The WAC and five of its teams (Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, Rice and Tulsa) have partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for the second annual Bracket Buster Saturday, a one-day, 23-game mens basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. Bracket Buster Saturday will be February 21, 2004. ESPN and ESPN2 will present five games highlighted by the only predetermined game for 2004 featuring two teams that have reached the Elite Eight in recent years: Tulsa (2000) at Gonzaga (1999). In addition to those five, there will be five more games produced and distributed in the markets of the competing teams. The match-ups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2004.

2004 McCAFFREY WAC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT The 2004 WAC McCaffrey WAC Basketball Tournament will be held March 9-13 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. 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 9. The remaining eight teams will all play in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 11 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. The 2005 WAC Tournament will be played at Nevadas Lawlor Events Center, March 8-12.

WAC ON ESPN/SPORTSWEST The WAC has a multi-year contract with both ESPN and SportsWest for coverage of WAC football and basketball. A minimum of 14 games between the two networks will be scheduled this season.

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

Boise State - scored a Don Haskins Center record 98 points in the win over UTEP on Saturday ... is the only team in the WAC that has played a road game to not lose away from home this season (5-0) ... the 5-0 road record is its best start since it won its first six road games during the 1987-88 season ... has won six straight regular season road games dating back to last year ... plays its next two games on the road (all WAC contests) ... is 4-1 in games where it trailed at the half this season.

Fresno State - is 4-0 and has the WACs longest winning streak since the return of Terry Pettis (12.5 points per game) ... forwards Jonathan Woods and Renaldo Major have missed all four games due to suspension, but are expected to return Thursday against SMU ... Mustafa Al-Sayyads 15 rebounds against Hawaii last week were just one shy of the Rainbow Warriors total in that game ... senior Shantay Legans leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.905) and assists with 6.2 per game after dishing out 11 last night against San Jose State ... Marcus West has made 49.1 percent (27-of-55) of his three-point attempts but does not qualify in the NCAA stats as he is one made three-pointer shy of the minimum required (2.5 made per game) ... Fresno State is allowing 48.5 points per game in its six victories and 71.2 points per game in its five losses ... is 6-0 when holding its opponents to under 60 points ... is 20-2 under Ray Lopes when leading at the half ... plays in the brand new Save Mart Center (home of this years 2004 McCaffrey WAC Basketball Tournament) after posting a 406-136 (.749) in 37 seasons at Selland Arena.

Hawaii - completed its eight-game homestand with a 7-1 record ... has already lost as many home games (2) as it did in the previous two seasons combined ... the 16 rebounds against Fresno State were its lowest since also grabbing 16 against Brigham Young on Feb. 11, 1989 ... is 9-0 when outrebounding its opponents and 0-3 when being outrebounded ... senior Michael Kuebler leads the WAC and is 30th in the nation in scoring with 20.2 points per game ... Kuebler was named the MVP of last weeks 40th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic while Phil Martin was named to the all-tournament team ... it was Hawaiis third straight Classic title ... senior Haim Shimonovich has 119 blocked shots in his career, the most in the WAC by any active player ... Shimonovich is the second player in school history to record 500 points (549), 500 rebounds (517) and 100 blocks (119) in his career ... Phil Martin has started 82 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the WAC ... Hawaii has won 45 of its last 49 games in Honolulu (91.8 percent).

Louisiana Tech - had its five-game home winning streak snapped last night against Rice, 89-77 ... freshman Paul Millsap had 27 points and 17 rebounds in that game ... Millsap leads the WAC in double-doubles with eight this season and also leads the WAC in rebounding (12.0 rpg), field goal percentage (.686) and blocks (1.8 bpg) ... he is first in the nation in rebounding and second in field goal percentage ... junior forward Wayne Powell had a career-high 12 rebounds against Tulsa, notching his first ever double-double by adding 16 points in the contest ... Tech leads the WAC and is seventh in the nation in rebounding margin at +11.2 per game ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 291 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... the Bulldogs are 19-2 in non-conference home games under head coach Keith Richard.

Nevada - is 7-0 when leading at the half and 0-4 when trailing ... has outscored its opponents by 19.0 points per game at home and is the only team in the WAC to win all of its home games this season (5) ... senior Garry Hill-Thomas has attempted 527 free throws in his career, by far the most of any active player in the WAC ... the Packs 18 wins last year were the most under head coach Trent Johnson and the most since winning 21 during the 1996-97 season.

Rice - three players scored at least 20 points in the win over Louisiana Tech last night led by Michael Harris with 24 points, Jason McKrieth with 22 and Brock Gillespie with 20 ... the 24 points helped Harris reach 1,000 for his career ... Rashid Smith leads the WAC in steals with 2.7 per game ... Smith set a school record with 12 assists in the game against Connecticut last week ... the 12 assists are also the most in the WAC this season ... Rice set a team record with 29 assists in the game against Dallas last week ... the Owls hit 67.7 percent of its shots against Dallas, the sixth best performance in the country this season ... Jason McKrieth is the only Owl to have scored in double figures in all 12 games this year and leads Rice with 15.4 points per game ... the Owls were the only team in the WAC to not lose back-to-back games last season ... the Owls 19 wins last year were a nine-game improvement from the 2001-02 season.

San Jose State - has lost four games in a row after winning four straight ... lost its 10th straight game against Fresno State last night, 61-55 ... center Eric Walton scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in the loss ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (698 games).

SMU - is the only team in the WAC to not play a conference game but plays Tulsa tonight in Dallas ... the 35-point loss against Oklahoma State was its worst in 10 years ... has played a WAC-high five games decided by five points or less and is 3-2 in those contests ... has won its last 29 games when holding an opponent under 60 points ... has won at least 15 games in seven straight seasons, currently the third longest streak in the WAC.

UTEP - had its six-game winning streak snapped against Boise State on Saturday ... the Miners lost for the first time under head coach Billy Gillispie when scoring 80 or more points (12-1) ... has a WAC-high five players averaging in double figures with Omar Thomas scoring a team-best 14.7 points per game (10th in the WAC) ... Thomas hit 13-of-13 free throws in the loss against Boise State on Saturday ... is 9-0 when leading at the half and 0-2 when trailing ... is the only team in the WAC that has made more free throws (268) than its opponents have attempted (216) ... completed its six-game homestand with a 5-1 record after losing to Boise State on Saturday ... leads the WAC in three-point percentage (.421) ... is averaging a WAC-best 87.7 points per game (3rd in the nation) ... its 20.8 point margin of victory is the sixth best in the nation ... has scored at least 83 points in each of its last seven games (6-1) ... senior Roy Smallwood is the WACs active career leader in points (1,218) and rebounds (663).

Tulsa - Jarius Glenn scored a career-high 27 points and tied his career-high with 13 rebounds in the loss against Arkansas alst week ... senior guard Jason Parker is the WACs active career leader in three-point field goals made (130), three-point field goals attempted (348), steals (139), assists (267) and games played (114) ... has scored in double figures in 16 straight games, the longest current streak in the WAC ... has won at least 20 games in each of the last five seasons and nine times in the last 10 years ... Tulsa is 10-3 in the postseason the last four years: 3-1 in 2000 NCAA, 5-0 in 2001 NIT, 1-1 in 2002 NCAA and 1-1 in 2003 NCAA ... Tulsa is 67-12 (.848) at the Reynolds Center, the best winning percentage at home of any WAC team in its current arena ... every season that Tulsa has won 20 games, it has either played in the NCAA Tournament or won the NIT Championship.