Utah State travels to Hawai'i this Saturday for the first WAC game of the year. The game was rescheduled at the request of both teams as the rest of the WAC does not begin conference play until Jan. 5. In the WAC coaches?™ preseason poll, Hawai'i and Utah State were picked in a tie for second place. Both teams have opened the season with some important wins as Utah State has beaten Oral Roberts and Middle Tennessee while Hawai'i has wins over UNLV and Michigan State. The Spartans were ranked fourth in the nation at the time.
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THIS WEEK IN THE WAC ?“ In other games this week, Louisiana Tech hosts Louisiana-Lafayette and New Mexico State travels to New Mexico on Tuesday night. Key Saturday games include New Mexico State at UTEP and Fresno State at Pacific. This will be the third WAC opponent for Pacific with all three games being played in Stockton. Earlier this month, Pacific lost to Nevada and beat San Jose State.
WAC SCHOOLS STREAM VIDEO OF HOME GAMES ?“ Idaho, Nevada and San Jose State have had hardware installed to stream live video and audio of its home games via the WAC?™s website at www.wacsports.com. Additional teams will have hardware installed in the coming weeks and will be added to the schedule.
This week?™s streaming schedule:
Dec. 13-Seattle Pacific at Nevada, 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Dec. 17-Eastern Oregon at Idaho, 2:00 p.m. (PT)
Dec. 17-Drake at San Jose State., 3:00 p.m. (PT)
XBOX LIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK ?“ Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll, a sophomore from Evanston, Wyo. (Evanston HS), averaged 23.5 points in a pair of wins last week. Last Monday against Middle Tennessee, he score 17 points, grabbed three rebounds and had two steals. At Weber State on Saturday night, Carroll scored a career-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He was 5-of-11 from three-point range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. For the week, Carroll was 17-of-29 (.586) from the field, including 8-of-17 (.471) shooting three-pointers. It is Carroll?™s first career WAC Player of the Week award and first for an Aggie player this year.
Others nominated:
Seth Robinson, Jr., F, Boise State - averaged 16.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in a split of two games. Robinson matched a career-high with 15 points at BYU and then set a new career-high with 17 points against Sacramento State.
Quinton Hosley, Jr., F, Fresno State - averaged 21.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in two games last week. Hosley had 24 points and 13 rebounds against Cal State Northridge and then added 18 points and 10 rebounds versus San Diego.
Julian Sensley, Sr., F, Hawai'i - averaged 20.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in a split of two games. He scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting against UNLV and then had a double-double at Wisconsin-Milwaukee with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Tyrone Nelson, So., F, New Mexico State - averaged a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in a split of two games at the USF Invitational. He had 15 points and 12 rebounds versus San Francisco and then added 14 points and eight rebounds in the win over Chicago State.
NATIONAL RANKINGS ?“ Nevada dropped three spots to 20th in the AP poll and moved up one spot to 21st in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
1,000-POINT SCORERS ?“ The WAC has three players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Those players with points and all-time school ranking: Nevada junior forward Nick Fazekas (1,237-11th); Louisiana Tech junior forward Paul Millsap (1,216-24th) and Utah State senior forward Nate Harris (1,008-29th). Three other players are getting close: Boise State?™s Coby Karl (843); Louisiana Tech?™s Corey Dean (841) and Hawai'i?™s Julian Sensley (840).
UTAH STATE/NEVADA TOP TEAMS OVER LAST FOUR YEARS ?“ Over the last four seasons, Utah State is 77-23 (.770), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 40 games, the most in that same time period. The top three teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last four seasons:
UTAH STATE OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK ?“ Utah State owns the WAC?™s longest home winning streak at five in a row.
HOME SWEET HOME ?“ The WAC?™s nine teams are a combined 17-7 (.708) at home this season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 16-22 (.421).
NON-CONFERENCE MARK ?“ The WAC is 33-29 (.532) in non-conference games, including a 30-29 (.508) mark against Division I teams. In 2004-05, WAC teams were 63-45 (.583) in non-conference games with a 55-45 (.550) mark against Division I teams. The WAC?™s best record ever against non-conference opponents came during the 1974-75 season when it was 73-22 (.768).
WAC ON ESPN/SPORTSWEST ?“ The WAC has a multi-year contract with both ESPN and SportsWest for coverage of WAC football and basketball. Currently, 22 basketball games between the two networks are scheduled this season.
BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY ?“ For the fourth year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for Bracket Buster Saturday, a one-day men?™s basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All nine WAC teams will be involved in this year?™s event to be held on Feb. 18, 2006. 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 Monday, Jan. 30, 2006.
NEVADA TO HOST 2006 TOURNAMENT ?“ For the second consecutive year, Nevada?™s Lawlor Events Center (11,200) will host the WAC Basketball Tournament. The dates for this season?™s tournament are March 9-11. Due to self-imposed penalties, Fresno State will not compete in the 2006 tournament. Therefore, with an eight-team field, there will be no first round games as in years past. The quarterfinals will begin on Thursday, March 9. As announced on Nov. 11, New Mexico State will be the host for the 2007 and 2008 tournaments.
TWO WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO WATCH LISTS ?“ Louisiana Tech junior forward Paul Millsap and Nevada junior forward Nick Fazekas have been named as two of the top 50 preseason candidates for the 2005-06 Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy.
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING ?“ Just two players are back this season from both the 2004-05 all-WAC first and second-teams: junior forwards Nick Fazekas (Nevada) and Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech). Both were first-team selections while Fazekas was also the WAC?™s Player of the Year. Millsap led the nation in rebounding in each of his first two seasons. Four of the five all-newcomer team honorees also returned from last year: Ja?™Vance Coleman, Jr., G, Fresno State; Matt Gibson, Jr., G, Hawai'i; Mo Charlo, Sr., G, Nevada; and Ramon Sessions, So., G, Nevada. Sessions was last year?™s WAC Freshman of the Year.
STAT LEADERS BACK ?“ Statistically, three of the top 10 scorers returned for the 2005-06 season. Nevada?™s Nick Fazekas was first in the WAC in scoring last year with a 20.7 point per game average. Others in the top 10 that returned are Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech (20.4) and Ja?™Vance Coleman, Fresno State (16.9). Millsap was the leading returning rebounder with a 12.4 rpg average last season (first in the nation) and Louisiana Tech?™s Daevon Haskins returned after ranking second in the WAC in assists with 5.8 per game.
FAZEKAS NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR ?“ In a vote by the WAC?™s head coaches and media, Nevada junior forward Nick Fazekas was picked as the league?™s preseason Player of the Year. Last season, Fazekas led the WAC in scoring with 20.7 points per game and also pulled down 9.4 rebounds per contest. He helped lead the Wolf Pack to a 25-7 record and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
MILLSAP LEADS NATION IN REBOUNDING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR ?“ Last year, Louisiana Tech sophomore Paul Millsap led the nation in rebounding with 12.4 per game. In 2003-04, Millsap became the first WAC player to finish the season as the nation?™s leading rebounder with 12.5 boards per game. He is the first player to lead the country in rebounding in back-to-back seasons since American?™s Kermit Washington did it in 1971-72 and 1972-73. Millsap is also the first ever to take consecutive rebounding titles as a freshman and sophomore.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (4-3, 0-0 WAC)
Eric Lane scored 21 points in the win over Sacramento State on Saturday, tied for the second most points by a Bronco in a game this year ... leads the WAC in scoring with 76.1 points per game ... is the only WAC team to have scored at least 70 points in its last four games ... junior guard Kenny Wilson has made 63.6 percent of his three-point field goal attempts this season (14-of-22), but is one made attempt shy of qualifying for the NCAA statistics ... junior guard Coby Karl has started 46 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the WAC ... Karl is one of two players in the WAC to rank in the top 10 in scoring (14.6 ppg-9th), rebounding (5.9 rpg-10th) and assists (4.1 apg-4th).
Fresno State Bulldogs (4-2, 0-0 WAC)
Had a season-high eight blocks in the win last week against Cal State Northridge ... has led at the half in just one game this year (Cal State Northridge) ... has more than twice as many blocks (34-15) and steals (68-33) than its oppopnents ... has recorded 10 or more steals in five of six games ... junior forward Quinton Hosley has posted three straight double-doubles ... Hosley is 13th in the nation in steals with 3.2 per game ... he has scored at least 20 points in three of the six games this season ... announced in November that it self-imposed sanctions for NCAA rule violations and will not participate in the postseason including this year?™s WAC tournament.
Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (3-2, 0-0 WAC)
Senior Julian Sensley scored a career-high 28 points last week against UNLV ... earlier this season, the Rebels held Sensley to a career-low 0 points ... plays its next seven games at home, the longest homestand for a WAC team this season ... Ahmet Gueye is sixth in the nation in field goal percentage (.711) ... he leads the WAC in blocks with 2.0 per contest ... junior Matt Lojeski has made 13-of-21 (.619) three-point field goal tries this season, the second best percentage in the nation ... is 23-4 during the month of December since 2002 ... UH has won 31 of its last 34 non-conference home games ... is 39-1 when scoring 80 or more points since 2000 ... has lost 16 of its last 18 road games ... Matt Gibson has missed three games due to a team suspension.
Idaho Vandals (1-6, 0-0 WAC)
Senior guard Tanoris Shepard scored a game-high 24 points against Portland State ... Shepard has led the team in scoring in five of the seven games ... it was the most points scored by a Vandal player this year ... is 1-3 in its current six-game homestand, the second longest homestand for a WAC team this season (Hawai'i-7) ... is 1-14 in its last 15 games dating back to last year ... has won just four road games since the 2003-04 season ... hosts Eastern Oregon on Saturday, a NAIA team ... the game counts in Idaho?™s record but will be considered exhibtion for the Mountaineers ... has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 409 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (4-4, 0-0 WAC)
Lost 63-47 at Southern last week after beating the Jaguars, 61-52, the previous week in Ruston ... beat Texas Tech, 68-53, last week giving the Red Raiders just their second non-conference home loss in their last 36 games ... junior forward Paul Millsap has led the nation in rebounding in each of his first two seasons ... he has recorded five straight double-doubles and has pulled down at least 10 rebounds in 12 straight games ... Millsap has scored 20 or more points in 28 contests during his career ... he has never had less than seven rebounds in 67 career games ... Millsap is the WAC?™s active leader in double-doubles with 48 and is the school?™s career leader (Karl Malone had 43 in his three seasons at Tech).
(20/21) Nevada Wolf Pack (6-1, 0-0 WAC)
Is off to its best start since going 10-1 during the 1978-79 season ... hosts Seattle Pacific tonight to begin its longest homestand of the year (4 games) ... the Wolf Pack has a 14-game road winning streak ... was 11-2 on the road last season ... junior forward Nick Fazekas has scored 20 or more points in 29 contests in his career ... has a nine-game WAC winning streak ... has won its last 29 games when holding an opponent to under 60 points including 17 times last year ... Mo Charlo is one of two players in the WAC to rank in the top 10 in scoring (14.4 ppg-10th), rebounding (7.6 rpg-5th) and assists (3.4 apg-9th) ... he has scored in double figures in 11 straight games, the longest active streak in the WAC.
New Mexico State Aggies (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
Is shooting 85.3 percent from the free throw line in its last three games ... senior guard Mike Mitchell returned to action on Saturday night and scored 19 points in the win over Chicago State ... he had missed the first six games due to academics ... Tyrone Nelson just missed his fourth straight double-double against Chicago STate with 14 points and eight rebounds ... plays at UTEP and New Mexico this week after hosting the two schools two weeks ago ... has posted two consecutive losing seasons after two straight 20-win campaigns ... Reggie Theus is in his first year as a head coach ... he was an assistant at Louisville when the Cardinals advanced to last year?™s Final Four ... Theus played 13 years in the NBA and was a two-time All-Star.
San Jose State Spartans (4-5, 0-0 WAC)
Snapped a four-game losing streak with the 69-56 win at Long Beach State on Saturday ... Alex Elam scored a game-high 17 points ... Julian Richardson dished out 10 assists in the game, the second most by any WAC player this year ... has now won two road games for the first time since the 2002-03 season ... has not won three road games since going 5-9 away from home in 2000-01 ... the Spartan bench outscored Long Beach State?™s reserves, 28-9 ... in its four wins, the Spartans have won by double digits ... leading scorer Demetrius Brown missed the last four games due to health reasons ... has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (753 games).
Utah State Aggies (4-2, 0-0 WAC)
Beat Weber State, 69-60, for the fourth straight time ... Jaycee Carroll scored a career-high 30 points against the Wildcats, the second most points in a game by a WAC player this year ... senior Nate Harris scored 10 points in the game to surpass the 1,000-point mark as an Aggie (1,008) ... plays at Hawai'i this weekend before returning home for four straight games ... has won 32 consecutive regular season non-conference home games ... Utah State is first in the nation in field goal percentage (.548) ... the Aggies have participated in the postseason (4 NCAAs, 2 NITs) the past six years ... has a home record of 394-102 (.794) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the best winning percentage of any WAC team at its current arena.