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PLAYER OF THE WEEK UTEP forward Omar Thomas, a senior from Philadelphia, Pa. (Panola College), averaged 27.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in a split of two road games last week. At Nevada on Wednesday, Thomas scored 28 points including nine of UTEPs 13 in overtime. He was 9-of-18 from the field and made all nine of his free throw attempts. He also had 10 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the season. On Saturday, Thomas scored 27 points and was 13-of-16 from the free throw line. He made two free throws with five seconds left to tie the game before Fresno States JaVance Coleman hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer for the win. It is Thomas third career WAC Player of the Week award and first for a Miner player this year.
Others nominated:
JaVance Coleman, So., G, Fresno State - averaged 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in two home victories. Against UTEP, Coleman hit a 30-footer as time expired to give the Bulldogs a win over the Miners.
Jake Sottos, Sr., G, Hawaii - set consecutive career-highs with 17 points against SMU and then 20 versus Louisiana Tech. He was 13-of-23 (.565) from the field in the two games combined.
Donell Allick, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech - averaged 17.0 points and 5.5 assists in a split of two road games. He scored a game-high 22 points in a two-point win at Hawaii, snapping the Rainbow Warriors 13-game home winning streak.
Kevinn Pinkney, Sr., F, Nevada - averaged 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds and split of two home games. Against UTEP, he notched his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He had a career-high four steals against Boise State.
Bryan Hopkins, Jr., G, SMU - did not play last Thursday due to a wrist injury, but returned against San Jose State and scored a game-high 27 points and was 8-of-14 from the field. He was 8-of-10 from the free throw line and also had five steals in the contest.
BIG GAMES ON DOCKET After several key matchups last week, the WAC will once again feature some big games this week. Rice hosts Fresno State and Nevada on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. All three schools have just one loss in the WAC standings while the other one-loss team, UTEP, hosts Hawaii on Thursday.
SADLER, FOX RANK NEAR TOP OF FIRST-YEAR COACHES There are 38 coaches in the Division I who are in their first year at their respective schools. UTEPs Doc Sadler and Nevadas Mark Fox are near the top of the list. Sadler has a 14-3 record and his winning percentage of .824 is tied for the third best of the group. Foxs record of 12-4 (.750) ranks sixth. Texas A&Ms Billy Gillespie is first with a record of 12-2 (.857). Gillespie coached at UTEP the past two seasons.
SENSLEY, GLENN LEAD TEAMS Hawaiis Julian Sensley and Tulsas Jarius Glenn lead their respective teams in scoring, rebounding and assists. The WAC has five other players that lead their teams in two of those three statistical categories:
Julian Sensley, Jr., F, Hawaii (12.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.8 apg)
Paul Millsap, So., F, Louisiana Tech (18.9 ppg, 11.9 rpg)
Nick Fazekas, So., F, Nevada (20.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice (20.0 ppg, 11.7 rpg)
Marquin Chandler, Sr., F, San Jose State (19.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg)
Bryan Hopkins, Jr., G, SMU (18.2 ppg, 4.5 apg)
Jarius Glenn, Sr., F, Tulsa (16.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.6 apg)
MILLSAP, HARRIS 3-4 IN NATION IN REBOUNDING Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap remained third nationally in this weeks rebounding statistics while Rice forward Michael Harris moved up to fourth. Millsap is averaging 11.87 rebounds per game. Weber States Lance Allred is first with 11.93 boards per contest. Rice senior Michael Harris is averaging 11.69 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.
MINERS THIRD IN NATION IN FREE THROW PERCENTAGE UTEP leads the WAC and is third in the nation in free throw percentage (.780). The Miners led the WAC in free throw percentage last year (.752). Last week, UTEP was 36-of-41 (.878) in its two games against Nevada and Fresno State, including a 22-of-25 performance by senior Omar Thomas.
THREE WITH 20 In this weeks WAC stats, three players are averaging at least 20 points per game. At this time last year, there were none. UTEPs Omar Thomas is first with 20.8 points per game followed by Nevadaa Nick Fazekas (20.3) and Rices Michael Harris (20.0).
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 (1,635); Rice senior guard Jason McKrieth (1,229); SMU junior guard Bryan Hopkins (1,131); SMU senior forward Patrick Simpson (1,106); and Tulsa senior forward Jarius Glenn (1,063). SMU senior Eric Castro is next on the list with 894 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 announced by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences on Monday, Jan. 31.
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.
RICE OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK With Hawaiis 13-game home winning streak coming to an end on Saturday, Rice now owns the WACs longest home winning streak at eight in a row. UTEPs streak is the second longest at seven straight. In conference games only, UTEPs 10-game home winning streak is the longest in the WAC.
NATIONAL RANKINGS No WAC teams are ranked in the top 25, but Fresno State, Nevada and UTEP are receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll while the latter two earned consideration in the AP poll. The top three WAC teams in the CollegeRPI.com ratings are Rice (27), Nevada (55), Hawaii (66) and UTEP (69).
HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 61-25 (.709) at home this season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 24-37 (.393). In conference games, home teams are 17-10 (.630).
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 77-33 (.700), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 38 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 77-33 (.700) 1. Nevada 38-22 (.633)
2. Nevada 72-40 (.643) 2. Hawaii 37-22 (.627)
3. Fresno State 64-42 (.604) 3. Fresno State 37-23 (.617)
4. Rice 60-44 (.577) 4. La. Tech 33-27 (.550)
5. Tulsa 62-48 (.564) 5. Rice 32-27 (.542)
Tulsa 32-27 (.542)
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).TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (7-9, 1-4 WAC)
Is 9-1 against Thursdays opponent, San Jose State ... its 1-4 WAC start is its worst since joining the conference ... Coby Karl scored a game-high 21 points against Nevada on Saturday ... he was 9-of-11 from the free throw line ... Boise State leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (7.7) ... senior Franco Harris is second in the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (.372) ... senior forward Jason Ellis has missed six games after undergoing a hernia operation in late December ... 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 (11-4, 5-1 WAC)
Has won five of its last six games and four straight at home ... held UTEP to just 63 points on Saturday, the fewest by the Miners in 11 games ... is 3-0 in conference games decided by five points or less and 4-1 overall ... 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 15 games ... has scored at least 80 points five times this year, matching its total in the past two years combined ... leads the WAC in rebounds with 40.6 per game ... features an 11-man rotation that includes seven freshmen and a sophomore in his first year at the Division I level (Coleman) ... senior Mustafa Al-Sayyad leads the WAC in blocks with 2.0 per game.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (10-3, 2-3 WAC)
Leads the WAC in scoring defense allowing 60.4 points per game ... sophomore Matt Gibson leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.878) ... he has made his last 14 free throw attempts ... has not lost a game by more than three points and its three losses are by a combined six points ... UH has had at least 20 wins in two of the last three seasons ... has won 35 straight games when scoring 80 or more points ... has won 17 of its last 19 home games ... has held its opponents to under 90 points in 127 consecutive games ... 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 153 conference wins trails only Haskins 262 victories.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (7-8, 2-4 WAC)
Snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Hawaii in Honolulu on Saturday ... only six players saw action in the game with Eric Woods playing just five minutes off the bench ... is the only WAC team to win at Hawaii since Jan. 3, 2004 and has done so twice ... scored 87 points in a loss at SJSU, the most points for Tech since a 99-97 OT win against Nevada on Feb. 15, 2003 ... it was the most points in a loss since a 100-89 defeat against La.-Monroe during the 1990-91 season ... Paul Millsap has scored in double figures in 19 straight games ... Millsap has a WAC-high 11 double-doubles this year after recording three in a row ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 324 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC.
Nevada Wolf Pack (12-4, 5-1 WAC)
Nick Fazekas averaged 23.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in the Packs two games last week ... Nevadas 12-4 start is its best since beginning the 1981-82 season 12-4 ... had its seven-game winning streak snapped last Wednesday against UTEP ... is 4-2 on the road after a 5-8 mark last year ... senior sophomore Nick Fazekas has scored in double figures in all 16 games this year and has scored 20 or more in nine contests ... Nevada leads the WAC in field goal percentage defense (.380), rebounding margin (+8.6) and blocked shots (5.4) ... has won 23 of its last 25 games at home ... has made more free throws (271) than its opponents have attempted (250) ... last year, its 25 wins tied the 1945-46 squad for the most in school history.
Rice Owls (9-4, 4-1 WAC)
Has won four of its last five games ... scored 52 points against Tulsa in the first half on Saturday, the fifth time this season that the Owls have scored at least 50 in a half ... is the only team in the WAC to not lose a home game this year (8-0) ... senior Michael Harris has scored in double figures in 16 consecutive games ... Harris grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds against Tulsa ... he has 42 career double-doubles, the most of any active WAC player ... he leads the WAC in field goal percentage (.604) and is second in rebounding (11.7 rpg) ... senior Jason McKrieth did not play against Tulsa due to a leg bruise ... McKrieth recorded a triple-double on Dec. 29 against SMU, the first by a WAC player in over three years ... Rice leads the WAC in FG percentage (.488).
San Jose State Spartans (4-10, 1-4 WAC)
Snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating Louisiana Tech last Thursday ... it also snapped an 11-game conference losing streak ... scored 88 points against Tech, its highest output since scoring 98 against Menlo College on Nov. 26, 2002 ... set a team and arena record with 14 three-point baskets against Tech ... three of its four wins this season have come by one point ... is averaging 60.3 points per game for the season ... is 3-0 when leading at the half, but just 1-10 when trailing or tied at the intermission ... Marquin Chandler has reached double figures in scoring in 15 straight games ... junior Alex Elam leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (.483) ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (729 games).
SMU Mustangs (8-6, 3-3 WAC)
Junior Bryan Hopkins scored 27 points against San Jose State on Saturday after missing Thursdays game against Hawaii due to a wrist injury ... Devon Pearson just missed a double-double against the Spartans with 13 points and nine rebounds ... Hopkins leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (3.1) and steals (2.2) ... he is second in the WAC in scoring in conference games only with 22.2 points per game ... the Mustangs are 6-0 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 ... has played just one game decided by five points or less (0-1).
UTEP Miners (14-3, 4-1 WAC)
Had its 10-game winning streak snapped against Fresno State on Saturday ... it was its longest winning streak since the 1991-92 season when it won 12 in a row ... is the only WAC team with one road loss (3-1) ... is the only WAC team to not lose back-to-back games this year ... the win over Nevada snapped a four-game losing streak in Reno ... Omar Thomas has scored at least 10 points in 21 straight games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... he leads the WAC in scoring with 20.8 points per game ... Filiberto Rivera leads the WAC in assists (6.5 apg) ... UTEP leads the WAC in scoring (76.9), FT percentage (.780), 3-point FG percentage (.386), assists (17.1) and scoring margin (+15.5) ... has made more free throws (312) than its opponents have attempted (285).
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3-11, 0-5 WAC)
Had four players score in double figures against Rice led by Jarius Glenns 19 points ... is the only team in the WAC with two players in the top 10 in scoring as Jarius Glenn is eighth (16.4 ppg) and Anthony Price is ninth (15.6 ppg) ... has scored more points in the second half than the first half in nine of 14 games this season ... is 0-10 when trailing at the intermission, the only WAC school to not win a game this year when trailing after the first half ... Alvin Pooh Williamson, 31, is the second youngest coach in NCAA Division I 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.