United Athletic Conference

Other nominations Other player of the week nominations included:
Jason Ellis, Jr., F, Boise State - averaged a double-double with 13.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in a split of two games. At Nevada, he had 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Shantay Legans, Sr., G, Fresno State - averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in a pair of games.
Michael Kuebler, Sr., G, Hawaii - averaged 18.0 points in a split of two home games last week. He scored 21 points and converted 6-of-11 three-point field goals, including the game-winner with 48.7 seconds remaining, in the win over SMU.
Wayne Powell, Jr., F, Louisiana Tech - scored 15 points and added five rebounds in a one-point win at Hawaii and added 16 points in the loss at San Jose State. He was 3-for-3 from three-point range in the San Jose State contest, his first ever successful three-point field goals.
Jason McKrieth, Jr., G, Rice - scored a career-high 36 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists and had three steals in the double overtime win against Tulsa. He was 11-of-19 from the floor and 13-of-16 from the line. McKrieth scored 11 of his points in the overtime sessions.
Bryan Hopkins, So., G, SMU - averaged 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a split of two games on the road. Against Hawaii, he had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

FOUR TEAMS WITHIN A GAME The WAC has four teams at the top of the standings within one game of each other. Hawaii and Nevada were virtually tied for first, while UTEP was a half game back and Rice a full game behind. All four teams are on pace to reach 20 wins on the season.

NEVADA WINS TWO Nevada was the only team in the WAC that played two games last week and won both of them. The Wolf Pack defeated Boise State, 92-78, and UTEP, 93-63. The Miners had just moved into first place in the WAC after beating Fresno State on Thursday.

RICE HOSTS NEVADA IN TOP MATCHUP This week, only one game between the top four teams will be played. Nevada travels to Rice on Wednesday night for a 7:05 p.m. (CT) contest. The Owls are 6-0 at home against WAC opponents this season and have won 12 conference games in a row at Autry Court dating back to last season.

BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY THIS WEEKEND The second annual Bracket Buster Saturday is on Feb. 21. The WAC will have five televised contests including the featured matchup with Hawaii playing at Southern Illinois at 11:00 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. Bracket Buster Saturday was created in partnership with ESPN, the WAC and several other top college basketball conferences to match potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. There are 46 teams in this years field, including five from the WAC, and 10 televised games.

Bracket Buster Saturday Televised Matchups-Feb. 21 (all times eastern)
Game 1-Creighton (18-4) at Kent State (18-3), 12:00 p.m., ESPN2
Game 2-Louisiana-Lafayette (14-6) at Rice (16-7), 1:00 p.m., ERT
Game 3-Manhattan (19-4) at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (17-7), 2:00 p.m., ESPN2
Game 4-East Tennessee State (22-4) at Fresno State (11-11), 3:00 p.m., ERT
Game 5-College of Charleston (18-5) at Western Michigan (18-3), 4:00 p.m., ESPN2
Game 6-Southwest Missouri State (15-10) at Miami-Ohio (13-8), 5:00 p.m., ERT
Game 7-Gonzaga (21-2) at Tulsa (7-15), 6:00 p.m., ESPN2
Game 8-Austin Peay State (16-7) at Wichita State (17-7), 7:00 p.m., ERT
Game 9-Toledo (16-6) at Nevada (16-7), 9:00 p.m., ERT
Game 10-Hawaii (17-5) at Southern Illinois (20-2), 12:00 a.m., ESPN

MILLSAP LEADS NATION IN REBOUNDING Freshman forward Paul Millsap is averaging 12.4 rebounds per game, the best of any player in the nation. No WAC player has ever led the nation in rebounding. Millsap has had at least eight rebounds in every game this year and 10 or more in 16 of his 21 contests.

TOP-SHOOTING MINERS UTEP leads the WAC in all three shooting categories this year. The Miners are shooting 48.1 percent from the field, 75.3 percent from the free throw line and 38.5 percent from three-point range. After having this feat happen once prior to the 2001-02 season, this would mark the third straight year a WAC team has led the conference in all three categories as Tulsa accomplished it in 2001-02 and Rice performed the trifecta last year.

SPORTSWEST TELEVISING WAC GAMES The WAC has 16 games that will be produced by SportsWest and shown in the competing teams local markets while some will also be on ESPNs Full Court package. The next scheduled game is March 4 when Rice hosts Louisiana Tech.

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has six players that have scored at least 1,000 points in their collegiate careers: Jason Parker, Sr., G, Tulsa (1,321); Roy Smallwood, Sr., F, UTEP (1,301); Garry Hill-Thomas, Sr., G, Nevada (1,230); Michael Harris, Jr., F, Rice (1,212); Kirk Snyder, Jr., G, Nevada (1,207) and Phil Martin, Sr., F, Hawaii (1,160). Boise States Booker Nabors (961) and Bryan Defares (950) are next on the list followed by Rices Jason McKrieth (929).

DOUBLE LEADERS Six of the WAC schools feature players that lead their teams in two of three categories (points, rebounds and assists):

Shantay Legans, Sr., G, Fresno State (14.3 ppg, 5.5 apg)
Paul Millsap, Fr., F/C, Louisiana Tech (15.1 ppg, 12.4 rpg)
Michael Harris, Jr., F, Rice (18.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
Eric Walton, Sr., C, San Jose State (12.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg)
Bryan Hopkins, So., G, SMU (16.3 ppg, 4.1 apg)
Jason Parker, Sr., G, Tulsa (18.6 ppg, 2.9 apg)

HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 81-36 (.692) at home so far this season. On the road, the WAC is 39-60 (.394). In conference only games, the home teams are 41-23 (.641). Last week, home teams were just 5-4.

ROAD WARRIORS In all games, the WAC has two teams with winning road records this season. Hawaii is 4-1 and Boise State is 7-4. In conference games only, Hawaii is 4-1 and Fresno State is 4-3.

PACK, OWLS OWN LONGEST HOME WINNING STREAKS The longest current home winning streak in the WAC is 12 by Nevada, the only team in the conference with an unblemished home record this season. The streak is tied for the 16th longest in the nation. The Pack won both of its home games last week and hosts Toledo this Saturday. Rices six-game home winning streak is the second longest in the WAC. In conference home games only, Rice has the WACs longest winning streak at 12 straight.

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).

HAWAII TOP TEAM OVER FOUR YEARS Over the last four seasons, Hawaii is 80-37 (.684), the best record of any WAC team since 2000-01. In conference games, Fresno State has won 42 games, the most in that same time period. The top five teams in winning percentage over the last four seasons:

Overall Record (Pct.) WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Hawaii 80-37 (.684) 1. Fresno State 42-23 (.646)
2. Tulsa 83-43 (.659) 2. Hawaii 41-23 (.641)
3. Fresno State 76-41 (.650) 3. Tulsa 40-25 (.615)
4. Louisiana Tech 63-48 (.568) 4. *Louisiana Tech 29-20 (.592)
5. Nevada 61-52 (.540) 5. SMU 33-32 (.508)

*Louisiana Tech is in its third season in the WAC

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.

CREDENTIAL/HOTEL INFORMATION Attached to this release is a 2004 McCaffrey WAC Basketball Tournament hotel and credential request. The deadline to return the request to the WAC office is Monday, Feb. 23. The media headquarters in Fresno is the Piccadilly Inn University. All media rooms and credentials requested must be made through and approved by the WAC office.

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 are scheduled this season.

WAC ADDS NEW MEXICO STATE, UTAH STATE On Oct. 23, 2003, the WAC issued invitations to New Mexico State and Utah State effective July 1, 2005, the same date that Rice, SMU and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. In mens basketball, Utah State is 20-2 and ranked 25th in this weeks coaches poll. New Mexico State is 11-11 on the season.

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

Boise State - has won four of its last five games and plays its next two at home ... is 5-0 all-time in home afternoon WAC games and plays San Jose State this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (MT) ... held Fresno State to 44 points on Saturday, tied for the 11th fewest points scored by a Bronco opponent ... has won seven WAC games, tied for the most since joining the league ... junior Jermaine Blackburn will be sidelined up to four weeks after dislocating his shoulder late in the game against Rice on Feb. 7 ... is 5-3 in games decided by five points or less ... has won seven road games this season, the fourth most in school history and two shy of tying the record nine set in 1987-88 and matched in 1998-99.

Fresno State - was swept in a WAC home weekend for the first time since the 1994-95 season (Utah-BYU) ... has lost six of its last eight games ... lost its first two games of the season when holding its opponent to less than 60 points last week ... is .500 this late in the season for the first time since the 1994-95 season ... scored a season-low 44 points in the loss against Boise State ... has lost six games at home for the first time since the 1989-90 season ... Renaldo Major and Jonathan Woods have been suspended indefinitely for violating team policies and have not played since Jan. 31 at Nevada ... senior Shantay Legans leads the WAC in assists with 5.5 per game ... Legans could become the first person in WAC history to lead the conference in assists while playing for the lowest scoring team in the league since assist records began being kept during the 1976-77 season ... Marcus West has made 45.3 percent (48-of-106) of his three-point attempts but does not qualify in the NCAA stats as he has not made the minimum required 2.5 made three-pointers per game ... Fresno State is allowing 52.7 points per game in its 11victories and 70.0 points per game in its 11 losses ... is 23-3 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 - the SMU game was Riley Wallaces 500th as head coach at Hawaii (279-221) ... Haim Shimonovich blocked two shots against SMU in the final 12 seconds that would have tied the game ... has won nine of its last 11 games ... is 6-2 in road and neutral site games this year after a 4-11 mark last year ... is one of two schools in the WAC (UTEP) to not lose back-to-back games this year ... has won 30 straight games when scoring 80 or more points ... has already lost more home games (3) this year than it did in the previous two seasons combined (2) ... lost its first game of the season when outrebounding its opponent in the Louisiana Tech game and is now 13-1 in those type of games ... senior Michael Kuebler has scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season ... he has scored in double figures in 16 straight games ... Kuebler has made at least two three-point field goals in 14 straight games ... he has made at least one three-pointer in 18 straight games, one shy of tying the school record ... senior Haim Shimonovich has 140 blocked shots in his career, the most in the WAC by any active player ... he leads the WAC in blocks this season with 1.6 per game ... Phil Martin has started 92 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the WAC ... Hawaii has won 49 of its last 54 games in Honolulu (90.7 percent) ... head coach Riley Wallace is in his 17th year with UH, the second longest stint in WAC history behind UTEPs Don Haskins (30 years) ... his 149 conference wins trails only Haskins 262 victories.

Louisiana Tech - Tech lost its first WAC game in overtime at San Jose State on Saturday and is now 3-1 since joining the league ... freshman Paul Millsap leads the WAC in double-doubles with 14 this season and also leads the WAC in rebounding (12.4 rpg) ... he is first in the nation in rebounding ... no WAC player has ever led the nation in rebounding and only one freshman has ever done it as Kenny Miller of Loyola (Ill.) performed the feat during the 1987-88 season ... his 21 rebounds against Nevada on Jan. 8 are tied for the most by any player in the country this season ... Millsap is on pace to become the first WAC player to average 12 rebounds per game since San Diego States Michael Cage pulled down 12.6 boards per contest during the 1983-84 season ... Tech leads the WAC and is sixth in the nation in rebounding margin at +8.1 per game ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 302 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... the Bulldogs are 19-2 in non-conference home games under head coach Keith Richard.

Nevada - has won seven of its last eight games with the one loss being a one-point overtime decision on the road at SMU ... its current three-game winning streak is the longest active streak in the WAC ... has lost its four conference games by a total of 15 points ... junior forward Kirk Snyder leads the WAC in scoring with 19.2 points per game ... he has scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season ... Snyder has scored in double figures in 22-of-23 games this season (including a current 16-game streak) and 67-of-73 in his career ... since becoming a starter 12 games ago, freshman Nick Fazekas is averaging 17.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest ... the 6-11 Fazekas leads the team in three-point field goal percentage (.413) ... is 16-0 when leading at the half and 0-7 when trailing ... has outscored its opponents by 17.1 points per game at home and is the only team in the WAC to win all of its home games this season (12) ... its the best start at home since becoming a Division I program prior to the 1969-70 season ... the school record for consecutive home wins is 13 straight set between the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons ... head coach Trent Johnson is two games under .500 (70-72) and 33-33 in WAC contests.

Rice - the 111 points scored against Tulsa are tied for the 21st most by any team in the nation this season and set a new school record, surpassing the 110 scored against Texas A&M in 1955 ... the Owls attempted 49 free throws against Tulsa, the third most in school history ... Michael Harris had 21 points and 13 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season and 30th in his career ... Rice is in the midst of a four-game homestand (1-0) ... is assured of back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since recording five straight from 1990-91 to 1994-95 ... Jason McKrieth leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.855) ... he had a school-record 38 consecutive free throws made at one point during the month of January ... McKrieth has scored 61 points in his last two games ... Rashid Smith is 33-of-36 (.917) from the free throw line in WAC games only, the best percentage in the league ... Smith is tied with Tulsas Jason Parker as the WACs active career leader in assists with 303 ... Smith leads the WAC in steals with 2.0 per game ... junior Michael Harris has scored 20 or more points in 11 games this season ... he has scored in double figures in 17 straight games, currently the longest streak in the WAC.

San Jose State - won its first game of the season when trailing at the half when it beat Louisiana Tech on Saturday ... the Spartans are now 1-14 when trailing at the half ... has not scored more than 56 points in its last four games ... Maquin Chandler had his first double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds last week against SMU ... Demetrius Brown had a career-high 12 rebounds versus Louisiana Tech ... Eric Walton is averaging 12.5 points per game, the only Spartan to average double figures in scoring ... snapped a 13-game losing streak with the win over Louisiana Tech that was its longest such streak since it lost 18 straight during the 1997-98 season ... is the only team in the WAC to not win a road game this year (0-8) and has lost 10 straight on the road dating back to last year ... leads the WAC in field goal percentage defense in non-conference games (.375), but is ninth in the WAC in that stat in conference games (.478) ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (708 games).

SMU - the San Jose State game was Mike Dements 500th as a head coach ... has won two of its last four games after losing seven of its previous eight ... has played a WAC-high 11 games decided by five points or less and is 4-7 in those contests (1-5 in conference games) ... has won 32 of its last 33 games when holding an opponent to less than 60 points after beating San Jose State last Thursday, 62-55.

UTEP - had its second six-game winning streak of the season snapped when it lost at Nevada on Saturday ... has won eight of its last 10 games ... has won nine conference games, three more than each of the last two seasons combined ... is 16-0 when leading at the half ... is the only team in the WAC that has made more free throws (470) than its opponents have attempted (400) ... the Miners have attempted 224 more free throws than its opponents ... is one of two schools in the WAC (Hawaii) to not lose back-to-back games this year ... is averaging a WAC-best 80.5 points per game (16th in the nation) ... has scored at least 100 points in three games this season, tying a school record set in 2000-01 ... senior Chris Craig leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (.423) ... senior Roy Smallwood is the WACs active career leader in rebounds (710) ... of the 71 Division I teams which won 10 or less games a year ago, none have a better winning percentage this season than the Miners (.783) ... has won 12 more games than last year, tying a school record that was set when the 1964-65 Miners were 16-9 and the following year, UTEP was 28-1 and the national champions.

Tulsa - sophomore walk-on Kyle Blankenship started his first career game at Rice and had career-highs in points (11) and rebounds (3) ... he played 34 minutes, nearly the same number as he played the whole season coming into that game (37) ... has lost seven of its last eight games, including five in a row ... its the longest losing streak for Tulsa since losing six in a row during the 1987-88 season ... its 15 losses are already five more than all of last season ... has lost six games in which it led at the half, the most in the WAC this season ... is 1-11 on the road this year, Tulsas third losing road record over the last 11 seasons ... senior guard Jason Parker is the WACs active career leader in points (1,321), field goal attempts (1,075), three-point field goals made (155), three-point field goals attempted (411), steals (160), assists (303) and games played (126) ... Parker has scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season ... Tulsa is 70-15 (.824) at the Reynolds Center, the best winning percentage at home of any WAC team in its current arena ... Tulsa has won at least 20 games in each of the previous five seasons and nine times in the last 10 years ... every season that Tulsa has won 20 games, it has either played in the NCAA Tournament or won the NIT Championship ... 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.