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Weekly Basketball Release
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevada forward Nick Fazekas, a sophomore from Arvada, Colo. (Ralston Valley HS), averaged 20.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in a pair of road victories last week. He scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds in a 64-56 win at Louisiana Tech on Thursday. On Saturday, Fazekas scored 21 points against SMU to notch his eighth game of the season with 20 or more points. He was 12-of-22 (.545) from the field and 17-of-21 (.810) from the free throw line in the two contests. He also added five assists and two blocks for the week. It is Fazekas third career WAC Player of the Week award and second this year.
Others nominated:
Seth Robinson, So., F, Boise State - averaged 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in two games, more than double his season averages. He also had a career-high five steals against Rice on Saturday.
Dreike Bouldin Sr., G, Fresno State - averaged 6.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in a split of two road games last week. He pulled down a NCAA season-high 23 rebounds in the win against Louisiana Tech.
Wayne Powell, Sr., F, Louisiana Tech - averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in two games last week.
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice - averaged 17.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in a split of two games. He had 10 points and 15 rebounds at UTEP and just missed another double-double with 25 points and nine rebounds versus Boise State. He was 14-of-22 (.636) from the field and had two blocks in each game.
Eric Castro, Sr., C, SMU - averaged 17.5 points and was 15-of-24 (.625) from the field in two games. Against Fresno State, he scored 22 points and made 9-of-12 shots from the floor.
Omar Thomas, Sr., F, UTEP - averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in two wins for the Miners. Against Rice, he scored 26 points and made 11-of-14 shots from the field. He added a career-high seven assists in the win over Tulsa.
NEVADA HOSTS UTEP ON ESPN2 On Wednesday, UTEP travels to Nevada for a game between the only two unbeaten teams in the WAC standings. The game will be shown on ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m. (PT). Nevada is 4-0 in WAC play while UTEP is 3-0 after both teams won their two games last week. The two teams tied for the regular season title after splitting their two games last season and played in the WAC tournament final in Fresno where Nevada won, 66-60.
UTEP WINS NINE STRAIGHT Last week, the Miners beat Rice and Tulsa to extend its winning streak to nine in a row. The streak is the longest in the WAC and sixth longest in the nation. Nevada has a seven-game winning streak, tied for ninth best in the nation.
BOULDIN PULLS DOWN 23 Fresno State senior guard Dreike Bouldin grabbed 23 rebounds in a 60-58 win at Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Bouldin also scored 10 points in the game. The 23 boards are the most by a WAC player since Fresno States Larry Abney recorded a school- and WAC-record 35 on Feb. 17, 2000. It is also the most rebounds by any player in the nation since New Mexico States Chris Jackson had 23 against North Texas on Feb. 1, 2003. Bouldin, who missed the first seven games of the season, entered the game with 23 total rebounds on the season.
SENSLEY, GLENN LEAD TEAMS Hawaiis Julian Sensley and Tulsas Jarius Glenn lead their respective teams in scoring, rebounding and assists. The WAC has six other players that lead their teams in two of those three statistical categories:
Jermaine Blackburn, Sr., G/F, Boise State (15.6 ppg, 3.5 apg)
Julian Sensley, Jr., F, Hawaii (13.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.9 apg)
Paul Millsap, So., F, Louisiana Tech (19.1 ppg, 11.7 rpg)
Nick Fazekas, So., F, Nevada (19.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg)
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice (20.1 ppg, 11.2 rpg)
Marquin Chandler, Sr., F, San Jose State (19.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg)
Bryan Hopkins, Jr., G, SMU (17.5 ppg, 4.8 apg)
Jarius Glenn, Sr., F, Tulsa (16.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.6 apg)
MILLSAP THIRD IN NATION IN REBOUNDING Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap dropped to third nationally in this weeks rebounding statistics. The sophomore is averaging 11.7 rebounds per game. Dukes Shelden Williams is first with 12.0 boards per contest. Rice senior Michael Harris is sixth nationally with 11.2 rebounds per game. Last year, Millsap became the first WAC player to finish the season as the nations leading rebounder with 12.5 boards per game.
FIVE OVER 19 In this weeks WAC stats, five players are averaging more than 19 points per game. At this time last year, there were only two players with more than 19 points a contest. Rices Michael Harris is first with 20.1 points per game followed by Nevadaa Nick Fazekas (19.9), UTEPs Omar Thomas (19.9), San Jose States Marquin Chandler (19.6) and Louisiana Techs Paul Millsap (19.1).
WAC TO CHANGE IN 2005-06 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 five players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers: Rice senior forward Michael Harris (1,616); Rice senior guard Jason McKrieth (1,229); SMU junior guard Bryan Hopkins (1,104); SMU senior forward Patrick Simpson (1,077); and Tulsa senior forward Jarius Glenn (1,028). SMU senior Eric Castro is next on the list with 869 points.
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.
HAWAII OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK Hawaii owns the WACs longest home winning streak at 12 in a row. It is tied for the 12th longest in the nation. In conference games only, Nevadas 11-game home winning streak is the longest in the WAC.
NATIONAL RANKINGS No WAC teams are ranked in the top 25, but both UTEP and Nevada are receiving votes in the AP poll. The top three WAC teams in the CollegeRPI.com ratings are Rice (32), Nevada (37) and Hawaii (44).
HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 55-22 (.714) at home this season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 21-31 (.404). In conference games, home teams are 11-7 (.611).
NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 58-35 (.624) in non-conference games this season, including a 51-35 (.593) 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 76-32 (.704), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 37 games, the most in that same time period.
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING A total of five players from both the all-WAC first and second-teams returned 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 also returned 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 returned 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 included: Michael Harris, Rice (17.5); Jason McKrieth, Rice (15.8); Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech (15.6); and Omar Thomas, UTEP (15.5). Millsap was the leading returning rebounder with a 12.5 rpg average last season (1st in the nation), and UTEPs Filiberto Rivera returned 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).
Boise State Broncos (7-7, 1-2 WAC)Completed its seven-game homestand (the longest of any WAC team this season) with a 3-4 record ... travels to Fresno this Thursday where it has beaten the Bulldogs in two straight games, including last years WAC tournament ... Boise State leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (7.8) ... senior Franco Harris leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (.397) ... senior forward Jason Ellis has missed four games after undergoing a hernia operation last week ... Ellis has 772 rebounds and needs 34 to become the schools all-time leader ... he has 16 career double-doubles, the third most of any active WAC player ... the Broncos finished last season with 23 wins, one shy of the school record.
Fresno State Bulldogs (9-4, 3-1 WAC)Has won three of its last four games after a three-game losing streak ... has won 11 WAC road games since 2002-03, the most of any conference team during that span ... sophomore JaVance Coleman has scored in double figures in all 13 games, the first Fresno State newcomer to do this since Courtney Alexander in 1998-99 ... Coleman has not been the teams scoring leader in two straight games after scoring team-highs in eight of the previous nine games ... has scored at least 80 points four times this year, one shy of matching its total in the past two years combined ... leads the WAC in rebounds with 41.5 per game ... features a roster with nine freshmen and 10 newcomers ... senior Mustafa Al-Sayyad leads the WAC in blocks with 1.8 per game.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (9-2, 1-2 WAC)The 26-point win over San Jose State was twice the largest margin of victory UH had prior to the game ... has won six of its last seven games against SMU, its next opponent ... has not lost a game by more than three points ... UH has had at least 20 wins in two of the last three seasons ... has won 34 straight games when scoring 80 or more points ... Hawaii has won 60 of its last 65 games in Honolulu (92.3 percent) and remains at home this week with games against SMU and Louisiana Tech ... UH has a 12-game home winning streak ... head coach Riley Wallace is in his 18th year with UH, the second longest stint in WAC history behind UTEPs Don Haskins (30 years) ... his 152 conference wins trails only Haskins 262 victories.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-7, 1-3 WAC)Has lost three games in a row and is 1-3 in the WAC for the second consecutive year ... has not lost four in a row since losing five straight during the 2002-03 season ... Tech was 22-of-74 (.297) against Fresno State on Saturday ... Paul Millsap has scored in double figures in 17 straight games ... Millsap has a WAC-high nine double-doubles this year ... he leads the WAC in rebounding with 11.7 per game ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 322 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... the Bulldogs are 21-2 in non-conference home games under head coach Keith Richard ... Tech is 209-56 (.789) at the Thomas Assembly Center, the best winning percentage at home of any WAC team in its current arena.
Nevada Wolf Pack (11-3, 4-0 WAC)Nevadas 11-3 start is its best since beginning the 1981-82 season 12-3 ... is 4-0 in the WAC for the first time ... has won seven games in a row overall and seven straight conference games, the longest streak in the WAC ... is 4-2 on the road after a 5-8 mark last year ... senior sophomore Nick Fazekas has scored in double figures in all 14 games this year and has scored 20 or more in eight contests ... Nevada leads the WAC in field goal percentage defense (.371), rebounding margin (+8.3) and blocked shots (5.6) ... has won 22 of its last 23 games at home ... has made more free throws (233) than its opponents have attempted (206) ... last year, its 25 wins tied the 1945-46 squad for the most in school history.
Rice Owls (8-4, 3-1 WAC)Is 4-13 all-time versus Saturdays opponent, Tulsa ... is one of two WAC teams that are undefeated at home this year (7-0) ... senior Michael Harris has scored at least 20 points in seven of his last nine games ... he leads the WAC in scoring with 20.1 points per game ... Harris has scored in double figures in 15 consecutive games ... he has 41 career double-doubles, the most of any active WAC player ... Harris has not had less than eight rebounds in a game this season ... Lorenzo Williams scored a career-high 14 points in the win over Boise State last week ... Patrick Britton had a career-high seven rebounds against UTEP ... Rice leads the WAC in field goal percentage (.489).
San Jose State Spartans (3-9, 0-3 WAC)Has lost seven games in a row, the longest streak in the WAC ... played its last four games on the road ... shot a season-low 25.0 percent from the floor in the loss to Hawaii ... has been outrebounded by 15 or more boards in three straight games ... has not scored more than 59 points in its last six games ... is averaging 57.2 points per game for the season ... is 2-0 when leading at the half, but just 1-9 when trailing or tied at the intermission ... Marquin Chandler had his streak of scoring 20 or more points in four straight games snapped at Hawaii on Saturday when he scored 15 ... he has reached double figures in scoring in 13 straight games ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (727 games).
SMU Mustangs (7-5, 2-2 WAC)Has won four of its last six games ... has 62 turnovers the last six games after committing 117 the first six games ... Derrick Roberts dished out eight assists in the game against Nevada last Saturday ... Eric Castro scored 22 points against Fresno State on Thursday while Patrick Simpson added 20 points for the Mustangs ... Castro leads the WAC in field goal percentage (.640) ... Bryan Hopkins leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (3.1) and steals (1.9) ... he leads the WAC in scoring in conference games only with 21.0 points per game ... the Mustangs are 5-0 when shooting better than 50 percent from the field ... SMU leads the WAC in steals (9.2) ... has won 36 of its last 37 games when holding an opponent to less than 60 points.
UTEP Miners (13-2, 3-0 WAC)Has a nine-game winning streak, its longest since the 1991-92 season when it won 12 in a row ... is the only WAC team to not lose on the road (2-0) ... is 0-4 against Nevada in Reno ... Doc Sadlers coaching record is the second best in the nation among first year coaches behind only Texas A&Ms Billy Gillespie ... Omar Thomas has scored at least 10 points in 19 straight games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... Filiberto Rivera leads theWAC in free throw percentage (.870) and assists (6.7 apg) ... UTEP leads the WAC in scoring (77.5), scoring defense (59.9), free throw percentage (.769), three-point field goal percentage (.376), assists (17.3) and scoring margin (+17.6) ... has made more free throws (276) than its opponents have attempted (245).
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3-10, 0-4 WAC)Snapped a seven-game losing streak on Monday in an 83-63 win at New Mexico State ... Anthony Price led the Hurricane with 17 points in the win ... is the only team in the WAC with two players in the top 10 in scoring as Jarius Glenn is eighth (16.2 ppg) and Price is ninth (15.6 ppg) ... the 35-point loss against UTEP was its worst WAC loss ever ... true freshman Deion James scored a season-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds last week against Boise State ... has scored more points in the second half than the first half in nine of 13 games this season ... 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.