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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevada forward Nick Fazekas, a sophomore from Arvada, Colo. (Ralston Valley HS), was named the MVP of the Jim Thorpe Classic after averaging 27.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in two wins for the Wolf Pack. Fazekas scored 27 points in back-to-back games against CU-Colorado Springs and Georgia State. He was 23-of-29 from the field (.793), including 3-of-4 from three-point range. It is Fazekas second WAC Player of the Week award in his career.
Others nominated:
Jermaine Blackburn, Sr., G/F, Boise State - was named to the all-tournament team of the Boise State Invitational after averaging 16.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in three games.
JaVance Coleman, So., G, Fresno State - had 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a win over Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Paul Millsap, So., F, Louisiana Tech - averaged 25.0 points and 14.0 rebounds as Tech split two games last week. He also added four blocked shots in the win over Tulane.
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice - scored 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a win over Mobile.
Devon Pearson, So., F, SMU - had 17 points, five blocks, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in a win over UT-Tyler.
Omar Thomas, Sr., F, UTEP - scored 15 points and had five steals in a win over Delaware State on Sunday.
NEVADA WINS JIM THORPE CLASSIC Nevada opened its season with a pair of wins in the Jim Thorpe Classic. The Wolf Pack beat Colorado-Colorado Springs, 88-33, and then defeated Georgia State, 76-55, in the title game. Sophomore Nick Fazekas was named the MVP of the tournament while seniors Jermaine Washington and Kevinn Pinkney were also selected to the all-tournament team. Pinkney averaged 11.0 points while Washington averaged 7.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in the two games.
VIVA LAS VEGAS UTEP defeated Delaware State in the first round of the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational on Sunday, 83-50. That game and tonights contest against Jackson State are being played in El Paso. The Miners will then head to Las Vegas for two more games and will play Arizona State on Friday night and an opponent from a pool of Cal State Northridge, Southern Illinois, Tennessee State and Vanderbilt on Saturday.
HAWAII OPENS SEASON All of the WAC teams except for Hawaii began play last week. The Rainbow Warriors tip off their season tonight when they host Mississippi Valley State.
WAC TO CHANGE IN 2005-06 Over the last year, the WAC issued invitations to Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State effective July 1, 2005, the same date that Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. In mens basketball last year, Idaho was 14-16, New Mexico State was 13-14 and Utah State was 25-4.
1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has two players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers returning for their senior seasons and both are from Rice: F Michael Harris (1,396); and G Jason McKrieth (1,087). SMU senior forward Patrick Simpson has 952 points and his teammate, junior guard Bryan Hopkins, has scored 921 in his career.
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 15 basketball games between the two networks are scheduled this season.
BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY For the third year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for Bracket Buster Saturday, a one-day mens basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All 10 WAC teams will be involved in this years event to be held on Feb. 19, 2005. ESPN and ESPN2 will present six games while five more games will be 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, Jan. 30, 2005.
2005 WAC TOURNAMENT The 2005 WAC Tournament will be held March 8-12 at the Lawlor Events Center in Nevada, Reno. Both the men and women compete during the same week. On the mens side, the seven, eight, nine and 10 seeded teams will play on Tuesday, March 8. The remaining eight teams will all play in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10 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.
NEVADA OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK Nevada has won 17 home games in a row, the eighth longest streak in the nation. In conference games only, the Packs nine-game home winning streak is also the longest in the WAC.
NATIONAL RANKINGS No WAC teams are ranked in the top 25, but both UTEP and Rice are receiving votes in the AP poll and UTEP is also garnering points in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
MILLSAP LED NATION IN REBOUNDING Freshman forward Paul Millsap finished last season averaging 12.5 rebounds per game, the best of any player in the nation. It marked the first time in WAC history that a player from the league led the nation in rebounding. Millsap had at least eight rebounds in every game last year and 10 or more in 23 of his 30 contests. Millsap is averaging 14.0 rebounds in his first two games this season.
HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 9-3 (.750) at home this season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 2-1 (.667).
NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 11-4 (.733) in non-conference games this season, including a 7-4 (.636) mark against Division I teams. In 2003-04, WAC teams were 72-42 (.632) in non-conference games with a 61-41 (.598) 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).
HAWAII TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS Over the last four seasons, Hawaii is 67-30 (.691), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Hawaii has won 35 games, the most in that same time period. The top five teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last four seasons:
Overall Record (Pct.) WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Hawaii 67-30 (.691) 1. Hawaii 35-19 (.648)
2. Nevada 62-36 (.633) 2. Nevada 33-21 (.611)
3. Tulsa 60-38 (.612) 3. Fresno State 32-22 (.593)
4. Fresno State 54-38 (.587) Tulsa 32-22 (.593)
5. Rice 52-40 (.565) 5. La. Tech 31-23 (.574)
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING A total of five players from both the all-WAC first and second-teams will return this year: Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice; Filiberto Rivera, Sr., G, UTEP; Paul Millsap, So., F, Louisiana Tech; Jason McKrieth, Sr., G, Rice; and Omar Thomas, Sr., F, UTEP. Four of the five all-newcomer team honorees will also return from last year and include: Millsap, Rivera, Thomas and Nick Fazekas, So., F, Nevada. Millsap was last years WAC Freshman of the Year after averaging 15.6 points and a nation-best 12.5 rebounds per game.
STAT LEADERS BACK Statistically, five of the top 10 scorers return for the 2004-05 season. SMUs Bryan Hopkins was third in the WAC in scoring last year with a 17.7 point per game average. Others coming back include: Michael Harris, Rice (17.5); Jason McKrieth, Rice (15.8); Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech (15.6); and Omar Thomas, UTEP (15.5). Millsap is the leading returning rebounder with a 12.5 rpg average last season (1st in the nation), and UTEPs Filiberto Rivera returns after ranking third in the WAC in assists with 4.8 per game.
HARRIS NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR In a vote by the WACs head coaches and media, Rice senior forward Michael Harris was picked as the leagues preseason Player of the Year. Last season, Harris averaged 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in leading the Owls to a 22-11 record and a berth in the NIT.
FIVE IN POSTSEASON Last year, the WAC had five teams that made appearances in the 2004 postseason tournaments. It was the most since the 1999 season when the WAC placed eight teams as a 16-team conference. In its six previous seasons as a 10-team conference (1993-94-95-96-02-03), the most teams placed into the postseason had been four teams in 1994, 1996 and 2002.
FIVE WITH 20 For the first time in seven seasons as a 10-team conference, the WAC had five teams with 20 or more wins last year. Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada, Rice and UTEP all hit that mark. The last time the WAC had five 20-win teams came in 1998-99 when it was a 16-team conference. The WAC did have five with 20 twice as a nine-team league in 1987-88 and 1989-90.
UTEP HAD NATIONS BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT After a 6-24 record in 2002-03, UTEP finished last year with a 24-8 mark. The 17-game improvement ties the NCAA record (that began being kept track of in 1974) set by Mercer in 2002-03 (6-23 to 23-6).
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (2-1, 0-0 WAC)Jason Ellis had 22 rebounds last week to become the fourth player in school history to surpass 700 boards in a career ... he also moved into third place on the schools all-time list with 719 rebounds, passing current Stanford coach Trent Johnson ... the Broncos finished last season with 23 wins, one shy of the school record ... Boise State had its first 20-win season since it went 21-8 in 1998-99 ... played a school record 33 games ... won 12 WAC games, one shy of its combined total in its first two years in the league ... was 6-3 in games decided by five points or less ... won a WAC-high 10 road games last season, setting a new school record ... led the WAC in three-point field goals made per game with 6.7 per contest.
Fresno State Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 WAC)Its 41-point victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore was its largest under head coach Ray Lopes ... is now 14-2 in its last 16 season openers ... outrebounded the Hawks 57-34 ... Dwight ONeil came off the bench to score a game-high 15 points in the contest ... Mustafa Al-Sayyad grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds ... Fresno State held Maryland-Eastern Shore to just 24.2 percent from the field (16-66) ... Fresno State was 3-8 in games decided by five points or less last year ... lost nine games at home a year ago for the first time since the 1989-90 season when it lost 10 contests ... led the WAC in scoring defense allowing 61.8 points per game.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (0-0, 0-0 WAC)Senior forward Jeff Blackett had a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds in an exhibition win over Hawaii-Hilo two weeks ago ... newcomer Chris Botez added 12 points and nine boards while Bobby Nash scored 11 ... UH has had at least 20 wins in two of the last three seasons ... has won 33 straight games when scoring 80 or more points ... lost more home games (3) last year than it did in the previous two seasons combined (2) ... Hawaii has won 52 of its last 57 games in Honolulu (91.2 percent) ... head coach Riley Wallace is beginning his 18th year with UH, the second longest stint in WAC history behind UTEPs Don Haskins (30 years) ... his 151 conference wins trails only Haskins 262 victories.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-1, 0-0 WAC)Won its first ever game over Tulane last week and is now 2-1 versus the Green Wave ... Tech is now 454-318 (.588) all-time against teams from the state of Louisiana ... was just 13-of-30 from the free throw line and 3-of-19 from three-point range in its two games last week ... missed four free throws in the final 12 seconds of the 69-66 win against Tulane ... sophomore Paul Millsap led the WAC in double-doubles with 20 last season and and has two this year ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 311 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... the Bulldogs are 19-2 in non-conference home games under head coach Keith Richard.
Nevada Wolf Pack (2-0, 0-0 WAC)Beat Colorado-Colorado Springs by 55 points last week ... it was the largest margin of victory since Nevada beat McClellan Field of Sacramento by 68 points in 1942 ... held UCCS to 33 points, the fewest since Nevada beat Saint Marys, 19-17, in 1976 ... outrebounded its two opponents by an average of 16.0 rebounds per game ... last year, its 25 wins tied for the most in school history as it was 25-8 in 1945-46 ... has won more games than the previous season in five consecutive years ... had at least 20 wins for the first time since the 1996-97 season when it was 21-10 ... Nevada has outscored its opponents by 19.1 points per game at home during its current 17-game home winning streak ... the streak is a Division I school record for the Pack.
(RV/--) Rice Owls (1-0, 0-0 WAC)Had five players score in double figures in the season-opening 77-56 win over Mobile ... sophomore Lorenzo Williams made his first-ever start and tied a career-high with 10 points ... junior J.R. Harrison had a career-high 13 rebounds against Mobile ... Michael Harris needs 17 points to move into seventh place all-time at Rice and 10 rebounds to move into fourth place all-time ... Harris has 34 career double-doubles, the most at any active WAC player ... last year, recorded its first 20-win season under head coach Willis Wilson and first since the 1991-92 season (20-11) ... it was the sixth 20-win season in school history ... had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since recording five straight from 1990-91 to 1994-95.
San Jose State Spartans (0-1, 0-0 WAC)Marquin Chandler scored a game-high 18 points and a team-high six rebounds in the loss against Pacific ... Alex Elam added 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Spartans ... San Jose State jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Pacific went on its own 10-0 run ... SJSU has lost 21 of its last 22 games, including eight in a row ... was the only team in the WAC to not win a road game last year (0-12) and has lost 14 straight on the road ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (716 games).
SMU Mustangs (2-0, 0-0 WAC)SMU trailed by five points at Montana State with 12 seconds left in regulation before scoring on a three-pointer by Derrick Roberts and a layup by Eric Castro to force overtime ... the Mustangs then scored the first eight points of overtime in the 69-61 win ... Patrick Simpson scored a game-high 23 points and had 12 rebounds in the game before fouling out ... Bryan Hopkins was held to just six points and also fouled out of the game ... against UT-Tyler, Hopkins scored a game-high 21 points and dished out seven assists ... has won 33 of its last 34 games when holding an opponent to less than 60 points.
(RV/RV) UTEP Miners (1-0, 0-0 WAC)Omar Thomas had five steals in the win over Delaware State last Sunday ... it tied for the third-highest steal total in school history .... junior guard Giovanni St. Amant scored 10 of his 12 points during a 17-0 first half run in the game against Delaware State ... the Miners shot 62.5 percent from the field, their best effort since hitting 64 percent of their shots at Colorado State in 1992 ... won 13 conference games a year ago, seven more than the combined total of the previous two seasons ... was the only team in the WAC that made more free throws (614) than its opponents attempted (570) ... averaged a WAC-best 77.5 points per game ... won 18 more games than the previous year, setting a new school record and tying the NCAA record.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-1, 0-0 WAC)In the opener against Wright State, Jarius Glenn scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds ... Anthony Price added 17 points in the overtime loss ... in the win against Northwestern State on Sunday, Tulsas Seneca Collins scored 26 points while Glenn added nine and 14 rebounds to go along with four assists, two steals and a block ... Tulsa is 72-19 (.791) at the Reynolds Center, the best winning percentage at home of any WAC team in its current arena ... had its five-year streak of winning at least 20 games snapped last season ... every season that Tulsa has won 20 games, it has either played in the NCAA Tournament or won the NIT Championship.