United Athletic Conference

GONZAGA CAPSULE Nevadas next opponent, Gonzaga is 28-2 after beating Valparaiso in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 76-49. The No. 2 seed Bulldogs have won 21 straight games. Gonzaga won both the regular season and tournament titles in the West Coast Conference. The only teams they lost to this season were Stanford and Saint Josephs. Head coach Mark Few is in his fifth season with the Bulldogs and is 133-31. This will be the seventh meeting between the two teams. Gonzaga is 4-2 in the series and won the last game played during the 1994-95 season, 90-75. Tulsa is the only WAC team that played Gonzaga this year, losing to the Bulldogs in ESPNs Bracket Buster Saturday event on Feb. 21, 76-56. The WAC is 4-6 versus West Coast Conference teams this year.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC is 62-82 record (.431) in its teams 77 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Tulsa made the leagues only appearance. The 13th-seeded Golden Hurricane beat No. 4 Dayton, 84-71, in the first round before losing to No. 5 Wisconsin, 61-60. In 1998, Utah advanced to the NCAA title game before losing to Kentucky, 78-69, in San Antonio. 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).

BOISE STATE HOSTS PANTHERS Boise State defeated UNLV, 84-69, in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday night to advance to a first round matchup against Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Boise on Saturday night. Bryan Defares scored 12 points and dished out a school-record 13 assists against the Runnin Rebels while Jason Ellis also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The 13 assists are the most by a WAC player this season. Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Rice in its first game of the NIT, 91-63. This is Boise States fourth trip to the NIT (1987-89-91-04). The Broncos are 2-3 (.400) in the tournament. If Boise State beats Wisconsin-Milwaukee, it would play at Marquette on March 23.

HAWAII DISPATCHES UTAH STATE Hawaii earned its first ever road win over a ranked opponent beating No. 25 Utah State, 85-74, in Logan on Wednesday night in the NIT. Michael Kuebler scored a game-high 28 points for the Bows while Jeff Blackett came off the bench to add 18. Hawaii will host a second round game on Monday night and will take on the winner of Friday nights Niagara/Nebraska game. This is Hawaiis eighth trip to the NIT (1971-74-89-90-97-98-03-04). The Rainbow Warriors are 9-7 (.563) in the tournament. If Hawaii wins its next game, it would play the winner of Mondays game between Oklahoma and Michigan on March 24.

THE WAC IN THE NIT The WAC has a 72-59 record (.550) in its teams 61 appearances in the NIT. Last year, two teams were invited to the tournament. Hawaii beat UNLV, 85-68 before losing at Minnesota, 84-70. Nevada lost its first game, 66-54, to host Texas Tech. Two WAC teams have won the NIT title as Brigham Young did it in 1966 and Tulsa in 2001. Fresno State (1983) and Tulsa (1981) each wore the NIT crown prior to WAC membership.

FIVE IN POSTSEASON The five teams making appearances in this years postseason tournaments were 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 TEAMS IN TOP 75 The WAC had five teams ranked in the top 75 in CollegeRPI.coms rankings prior to the national tournaments. Nevada was 29th, followed by UTEP at 46th, Rice at 63rd, Boise State at 72nd and Hawaii at 73rd. Three conferences ranked above the WAC in overall RPI had less than five teams ranked in the top 75: Big Ten (4), Pac-10 (3) and Mountain West (3).

FIVE WITH 20 For the first time as a 10-team conference (seven seasons), the WAC has five teams with 20 or more wins. Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada, Rice and UTEP all hit that mark this year. 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.

NEVADA WINS MCCAFFREY WAC TOURNAMENT Nevada won its first WAC tournament title beating UTEP in the championship game, 66-60. The Wolf Pack are in their fourth year in the WAC and played in the title game in 2003 coming up short against host Tulsa, 75-64. Nevada opened the tournament by beating SMU in the quarterfinals, 75-60, and Rice in the semifinals, 67-59.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Nevada placed two players on the WACs all-tournament team as selected by the media in attendance. Wolf Pack teammates Kirk Snyder and Todd Okeson were joined by three UTEP players, Omar Thomas, Filiberto Rivera and Jason Williams. Snyder was named the tournament MVP after averaging 17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in the three contests. He had a double-double in the championship game against UTEP with 14 rebounds and 11 points.

ATTENDANCE The mens tournament was attended by 30,241 fans during the five sessions (6,048/session). The title game drew 6,158 to the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif.

UTEP HAS NATIONS BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT After a 6-24 record last year, UTEP finished the 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 last year (6-23 to 23-6).

MILLSAP LEADS NATION IN REBOUNDING Freshman forward Paul Millsap finished the season averaging 12.5 rebounds per game, the best of any player in the nation. It will mark the first time in WAC history that a player from the league will have led the nation in rebounding. Millsap had at least eight rebounds in every game this year and 10 or more in 23 of his 30 contests.

NEVADA AND UTEP TIE FOR REGULAR SEASON TITLE Both Nevada and UTEP finished the WAC season with identical 13-5 records to earn a share of the regular season title. Its the first regular season conference title for Nevada since 1985 (Big Sky) and the first for the Miners since 1992 when it tied Brigham Young with a 12-4 record. Nevada won the tiebreaker to earn the top seed in the 2004 McCaffrey WAC Basketball Tournament.

ALL-WAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED The 2004 all-WAC teams as voted upon by the coaches were announced on Sunday. Nevada junior guard/forward Kirk Snyder was named the Player of the Year. Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap garnered Freshman of the Year honors and UTEP head coach Billy Gillispie was named the Don Haskins Coach of the Year. The complete list of teams can be found later in this release.

KUEBLER, PARKER NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS Hawaii senior guard Michael Kuebler was named a first team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Tulsa senior guard Jason Parker earned second team honors. Kuebler is second in the WAC in scoring with 18.0 points per game and has a 3.67 GPA in Business Administration. Parker averaged 16.9 points per contest with a 3.52 GPA in Management Information Systems. It was the second straight year Parker had been named an Academic All-American as he was on the third team last year. Both players were named to the Academic All-District teams earlier in the season along with SMUs Eric Castro.

USBWA ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS Rice juniors Michael Harris and Jason McKrieth and UTEP junior Filiberto Rivera were named all-District 7 by the United State Basketball Writers of America (USBWA). UTEPs Billy Gillispie was named the Coach of the Year in that district as well. In District 8, Nevada junior Kirk Snyder was named the Player of the Year. Hawaii senior Michael Kuebler earned all-District 9 honors.

NABC ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its All-District teams and six WAC players received recognition, including four on first teams: Paul Millsap, Fr., F, Louisiana Tech; Michael Harris, Jr., F, Rice; Bryan Hopkins, So., G, SMU; and Kirk Snyder, Jr., F, Nevada. The WAC had two second team all-district selections in Jason McKrieth (Rice) and Michael Kuebler (Hawaii). Rice head coach Willis Wilson was named the District 9 Coach of the Year.

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has nine players that have scored at least 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. The following list contains those players, their totals and where they rank in school history: Jason Parker, Sr., G, Tulsa (1,401-10th); Roy Smallwood, Sr., F, UTEP (1,380-6th); Michael Harris, Jr., F, Rice (1,375-8th); Kirk Snyder, Jr., G, Nevada (1,365-7th); Garry Hill-Thomas, Sr., G, Nevada (1,321-8th); Phil Martin, Sr., F, Hawaii (1,218-8th); Jason McKrieth, Jr., G, Rice (1,075-23rd); Bryan Defares, Sr., G, Boise State (1,066-13th); and Booker Nabors, Sr., G/F, Boise State (1,021-15th). Hawaiis Michael Kuebler (946) and SMUs Patrick Simpson (918) are next on the list.

HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 99-50 (.664) at home so far this season. On the road, the WAC is 52-77 (.403). In conference only games, the home teams were 56-34 (.622).

ROAD WARRIORS In all games, the WAC has two teams with winning road records this season. Boise State is 10-4 and UTEP is 6-5. In conference games only, Fresno State, Boise State and UTEP all finished with 5-4 records.

PACK, OWLS OWN LONGEST HOME WINNING STREAKS The longest current home winning streak in the WAC is 15 by Nevada, the only team in the conference with an unblemished home record this season. The streak is tied for the ninth longest in the nation. UTEPs eight-game home winning streak is the second longest in the WAC. In conference home games only, Nevada has the WACs longest winning streak at nine straight.

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 (15.0 ppg, 5.6 apg)
Paul Millsap, Fr., F/C, Louisiana Tech (15.6 ppg, 12.5 rpg)
Michael Harris, Jr., F, Rice (17.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
Eric Walton, Sr., C, San Jose State (11.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg)
Bryan Hopkins, So., G, SMU (17.7 ppg, 3.8 apg)
Jason Parker, Sr., G, Tulsa (16.9 ppg, 2.9 apg)

HAWAII TOP TEAM OVER FOUR YEARS Over the last four seasons, Hawaii is 83-43 (.659), the best record of any WAC team since 2000-01. In conference games, Fresno State won 45 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 83-43 (.659) 1. Fresno State 45-25 (.643)
2. Tulsa 85-48 (.639) 2. Hawaii 43-27 (.614)
3. Fresno State 79-45 (.637) 3. Tulsa 42-28 (.600)
4. Nevada 69-53 (.566) 4. *Louisiana Tech 31-23 (.574)
5. Louisiana Tech 66-52 (.559) 5. Nevada 36-34 (.514)

*Louisiana Tech is in its third season in the WAC

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 69-39 (.639) in non-conference games this season, including a 58-38 (.604) 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).

2005 WAC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 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. SportsWest produced 16 WAC mens basketball games including the 2004 McCaffrey WAC Tournament quarterfinals and semifinals. These games were available in the markets of the competing teams and on ESPNs Full Court package. ESPN and ESPN2 televised nine WAC games including the title game of the 2004 McCaffrey WAC Tournament.

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 was 25-4 while New Mexico State was 13-14 on the season.

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

Boise State - has its first 20-win season since it went 21-8 in 1998-99 ... has won 11 of its last 13 games ... won 12 WAC games, one shy of its combined total in its first two years in the league ... after missing seven games, junior Jermaine Blackburn, the Broncos leading scorer, returned for the WAC Tournament and averaged 7.0 points in an average of 14.5 minutes of playing time ... is 5-3 in games decided by five points or less ... has won a WAC-high 10 road games this season, setting a new school record.

Fresno State - finished the regular season with an 8-8 home record and a 6-6 road mark before losing at home in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament ... was 3-8 in games decided by five points or less ... lost nine games at home for the first time since the 1989-90 season when it lost 10 contests ... leads the WAC in scoring defense allowing 61.8 points per game ... senior Shantay Legans leads the WAC in assists with 5.6 per game ... Legans came out with two minutes left in the Bulldogs final game, snapping a streak of 441 consecutive minutes played ... Fresno State allowed 53.9 points per game in its 14 victories and 68.9 points per game in its 15 losses.

Hawaii - has 20 wins for the second time in three years ... has won 32 straight games when scoring 80 or more points ... lost more home games (3) this year than it did in the previous two seasons combined (2) ... senior Michael Kuebler has scored 20 or more points in 15 games this season ... senior Haim Shimonovich has 141 blocked shots in his career, the most in the WAC by any active player ... he blocked a shot at Utah State, his first in eight games ... Phil Martin has started 101 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the WAC ... Martin has played 125 games, breaking the old school record of 120 set by Phil Lott (1988-92) ... Hawaii has won 51 of its last 56 games in Honolulu (91.1 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 151 conference wins trails only Haskins 262 victories.

Louisiana Tech - freshman Paul Millsap led the WAC in double-doubles with 20 this season and also leads the WAC in rebounding (12.5 rpg) and blocked shots (1.7 bpg) ... he had 18 rebounds in a first round game against San Jose State in the WAC Tournament, one shy of tying the tournament record ... 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 ... 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 ... Millsap was named a second team selection to Rivals.com All-Freshman team ... Louisiana Tech leads the WAC in rebounding margin at +7.0 per game ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 309 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 20 wins for the first time since the 1996-97 season when it was 21-10 ... has won 15 of its last 17 games ... its 24 wins are the most since a 25-8 season in 1945-46 ... junior forward Kirk Snyder leads the WAC in scoring with 18.7 points per game ... he has scored 20 or more points in 15 games this season ... Snyder has scored in double figures in 31-of-32 games this season (including a current 25-game streak, the longest active run in the WAC) and 76-of-82 in his career ... senior Todd Okeson leads the WAC in free throw shooting (.867) ... is 22-0 when leading at the half ... after losing eight games in a row when trailing at the half, Nevada has now won its last two games after trailing at the half ... outscored its opponents by 16.6 points per game at home and was the only team in the WAC to win all of its home games this season (15) ... its 15-game home winning streak is a Division I school record.

Rice - recorded its first 20-win season under head coach Willis Wilson and first since the 1991-92 season (20-11) ... its the sixth 20-win season in school history ... has back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since recording five straight from 1990-91 to 1994-95 ... Jason McKrieth had a school-record 38 consecutive free throws made at one point during the month of January ... in WAC games only, he led the league, making 90.2 percent of his tries (83-of-92) ... senior Rashid Smith leads the WAC in steals with 1.9 per game ... Smith is the WACs active career leader in assists with 341 ... junior Michael Harris scored 20 or more points in 13 games this season ... Harris leads the WAC in field goal percentage (.603).

San Jose State - lost 20 of its last 21 games, including seven in a row ... Marquin Chandler scored 21 points against Louisiana Tech in the first round loss of the WAC Tournament, his second 20-point game in his last three contests ... Chandler averaged 14.8 points per game over his last 15 contests ... Eric Walton averaged 11.8 points per game, the only Spartan to average double figures in scoring for the whole season ... was the only team in the WAC to not win a road game this year (0-12) and has lost 14 straight on the road dating back to last year ... leads the WAC in field goal percentage defense in non-conference games (.375), but was last in the WAC in that stat in conference games (.484) ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (715 games).

SMU - sophomore Bryan Hopkins scored 30 points in a first round game of the WAC Tournament, the most by any player in a WAC tournament game this season ... played a WAC-high 13 games decided by five points or less and was 4-9 in those contests (1-7 in conference games) ... has won 33 of its last 34 games when holding an opponent to less than 60 points ... has lost six games in which it led at the half, tied for the most in the WAC this season.

UTEP - the Miners lost two games in a row for the first time all year ... won 13 conference games, seven more than the combined total of the last two seasons ... had its 22-game winning streak when leading at the half snapped in the WAC Tournament championship game against Nevada ... had eight sellouts (12,000) this season ... is the only team in the WAC that made more free throws (614) than its opponents have attempted (570) ... the Miners have attempted 222 more free throws than its opponents ... averaged a WAC-best 77.5 points per game ... 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 (.424) ... Craig made a three-point field goal in his last 28 games, breaking the record of 20 set by Eddie Rivera during the 1992-93 season and tied by Carl Davis the following year ... senior Roy Smallwood is the WACs active career leader in rebounds (755) ... of the 71 Division I teams which won 10 or less games a year ago, none had a better winning percentage this season than the Miners (.750) ... won 18 more games than last year, setting a new school record ... the old record of 12 was set when the 1964-65 Miners were 16-9 and the following year, UTEP was 28-1 and the national champions.

Tulsa - lost six games in which it led at the half, tied for the most in the WAC this season ... senior guard Jason Parker finished his career as the WACs active career leader in points (1,401), field goal attempts (1,162), three-point field goals made (163), three-point field goals attempted (439), steals (166) and games played (133) ... Parker scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season ... Tulsa is 71-18 (.798) 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 this season ... every season that Tulsa has won 20 games, it has either played in the NCAA Tournament or won the NIT Championship.