United Athletic Conference

PLAYER OF THE WEEK San Jose State forward Marquin Chandler, a senior from Oakland, Calif. (George Washington University), averaged 26.5 points and 12.5 rebounds as San Jose State beat Tulsa and Rice. He opened the week with 20 points and 14 rebounds versus Tulsa and then scored a career-high 33 points to go with 11 rebounds in the win over Rice. For the week, he was 22-of-38 (.579) from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point range and hit all six of his free throws. It was the first time the Spartans had won back-to-back conference games since the 2002 season. It is Chandlers second career WAC Player of the Week award.

Others nominated:
Mustafa Al-Sayyad, Sr., C, Fresno State - scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 66-63 win at Nevada. He was 8-of-16 from the field and made his first ever three-point field goal.
Julian Sensley, Jr., F, Hawaii - averaged 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two home victories. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds versus Rice and then had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists while playing all 40 minutes against Tulsa.
Wayne Powell, Sr., F, Louisiana Tech - averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in a pair of home wins. He opened the week with 20 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against Boise State and then added 17 versus UTEP.
Devon Pearson, So., F, SMU - averaged 19.0 points in a split of two home games. He recorded his first double-double with 19 points and a career-high 10 rebounds versus Boise State. In that game, he was 5-of-10 from three-point range and added six steals and four assists.
Omar Thomas, Sr., F, UTEP - averaged 22.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in a split of two road games. He was 17-of-32 from the field and 11-of-14 from the free throw line. He had 22 points against SMU and scored 23 at Louisiana Tech.

BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY The WAC will have five teams participate in the third annual ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday on February 19 as announced by ESPN on Monday. Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, Rice and UTEP will all have their respective games televised by either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN Full Court. The times and network televising each game will be announced next Tuesday, February 9. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise six of the 11 Bracket Buster Saturday contests. The other five televised games will be produced and distributed in the markets of the competing teams through ESPN Regional Television and will be available nationally on ESPN Full Court, the networks out-of-market pay-per-view service. 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 were 64 teams available in this years field, including all 10 from the WAC. The other five games involving WAC schools not selected for this years event are: Weber State at Boise State, New Orleans at Louisiana Tech, San Jose State at Drake, SMU at Toledo and Northern Arizona at Tulsa.

2005 ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday Games-February 19
Buffalo (13-5) at Fresno State (12-6)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (15-5) at Hawaii (12-5)
Vermont (15-3) at Nevada (14-5)
Murray State (11-7) at Rice (10-7)
UTEP (17-4) at Pacific (15-2)
Illinois State at UW-Green Bay
Wichita State at Miami (Ohio)
Southern Illinois at Kent State
Drexel at Ball State
Western Michigan at Northern Iowa
Arkansas-Little Rock at Bowling Green

In the previous two events, the WAC has gone 3-6 in Bracket Buster Saturday games:
2003
at Creighton 67, Fresno State 66 (ESPN2)
Northern Iowa 76, at Louisiana Tech 71 (Full Court)
Hawaii 79, at Kent State 78 (ESPN2)
at Gonzaga 69, Tulsa 60 (ESPN)

2004
at Rice 81, Louisiana-Lafayette 76 (Full Court)
East Tennessee State 66, at Fresno State 62 (Full Court)
Gonzaga 76, at Tulsa 56 (ESPN2)
at Nevada 60, Toledo 58 (Full Court)
at Southern Illinois 66, Hawaii 62 (ESPN)

SEASON HITS MIDWAY MARK The first half of the 2004-05 WAC season came to an end on Saturday with last years co-champions UTEP and Nevada in a tie for first this year. The teams are tied with 7-2 marks, though UTEP defeated Nevada in Reno on January 12 in overtime, 83-80. The biggest surprise has been the play of Fresno State. In the preseason polls, the Bulldogs were picked eighth by the media and ninth by the coaches. Fresno State is currently in sole possession of third place. In conference games only, Nevadas Nick Fazekas leads the WAC in scoring with 21.4 points per game, Rices Michael Harris is averaging a conference-best 13.0 rebounds per game and UTEP guard Filiberto Rivera is tops in the league in assists with 7.1 per contest.

SADLER, FOX RANK NEAR TOP OF FIRST-YEAR COACHES There are 38 coaches in 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 17-4 record and his winning percentage of .810 is the second best of the group. Foxs record of 14-5 (.737) ranks fifth. Utahs Ray Giacoletti is first with a record of 18-3 (.857).

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.

CREDENTIAL/HOTEL INFORMATION The deadline for media members to return any requests for media headquarters hotel rooms and/or credentials is Monday, February 21. The media headquarters in Reno is the Silver Legacy Hotel. 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 15 basketball games between the two networks are scheduled this season. This week, SportsWest is producing the UTEP-Tulsa game on Thursday and the Hawaii-San Jose State game on Saturday. ESPN2 is showing the UTEP-Rice game Saturday night.

GLENN, SENSLEY LEAD TEAMS Tulsas Jarius Glenn and Hawaiis Julian Sensley 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:
Julian Sensley, Jr., F, Hawaii (13.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.9 apg)
Paul Millsap, So., F, Louisiana Tech (19.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg)
Nick Fazekas, So., F, Nevada (20.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg)
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice (20.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg)
Marquin Chandler, Sr., F, San Jose State (20.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
Bryan Hopkins, Jr., G, SMU (16.9 ppg, 4.4 apg)
Omar Thomas, Sr., F, UTEP (20.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
Jarius Glenn, Sr., F, Tulsa (16.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 3.5 apg)

MILLSAP, HARRIS 3-4 IN NATION IN REBOUNDING Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap is third nationally in this weeks rebounding statistics while Rice forward Michael Harris is fourth. Millsap is averaging 11.83 rebounds per game. Utahs Andrew Bogut is first with 12.00 boards per contest. Rice senior Michael Harris is averaging 11.77 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 FOURTH IN NATION IN FREE THROW PERCENTAGE UTEP leads the WAC and is fourth in the nation in free throw percentage (.776). The Miners led the WAC in free throw percentage last year (.752). Last week, UTEP was 21-of-30 (.700) in its two games against Hawaii and San Jose State, including an 11-of-14 performance by senior Omar Thomas.

FOUR WITH 20 In this weeks WAC stats, four players are averaging at least 20 points per game. At this time last year, there were none. Nevadas Nick Fazekas is first with 20.6 points per game followed by Rices Michael Harris (20.3), San Jose States Marquin Chandler (20.1) and UTEPs Omar Thomas (20.0).

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has five players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Those five players with points and all-time school ranking: Rice senior forward Michael Harris (1,720-4th); Rice senior guard Jason McKrieth (1,301-12th); SMU senior forward Patrick Simpson (1,136-25th); SMU junior guard Bryan Hopkins (1,131-26th); and Tulsa senior forward Jarius Glenn (1,130-20th). SMU senior Eric Castro is next on the list with 944 points.

UTEP OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK UTEP owns the WACs longest home winning streak at nine in a row. Fresno States four-game home winning streak is the second longest in the WAC. In conference games only, UTEPs 12-game home winning streak is also the longest in the WAC.

NATIONAL RANKINGS No WAC teams are ranked in the top 25, but UTEP received consideration in the AP poll. The top four WAC teams in the CollegeRPI.com ratings are UTEP (55), Nevada (56), Hawaii (76) and Rice (79).

HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 75-29 (.721) at home this season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 28-51 (.354). In conference games, home teams are 31-14 (.689). Last week, the only road wins were UTEPs victory at SMU and Fresno States win over Nevada.

ROAD WARRIORS In all games, the WAC has two teams with winning road records this season. Nevada is 6-2 while UTEP is 4-2. In conference games only, Nevada is 4-0 and UTEP is 3-2.

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 79-35 (.693), 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 five teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last four seasons:

Overall Record (Pct.) WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Hawaii 79-35 (.693) 1. Nevada 40-23 (.635)
2. Nevada 74-41 (.643) 2. Hawaii 39-24 (.619)
3. Fresno State 65-44 (.596) 3. Fresno State 38-25 (.603)
4. Rice 61-47 (.565) 4. La. Tech 36-27 (.571)
5. Tulsa 63-51 (.553) 5. Rice 33-30 (.524)
Tulsa 33-30 (.524)

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 this year, Idaho is 7-13, New Mexico State is 5-15 and Utah State is 15-5.

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.

TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (9-11, 3-6 WAC)
Is in the middle of a four-game road trip (0-2) ... lost its first game of the season in seven contests when leading at the half in the game against SMU ... scored 18 points in the first half against Louisiana Tech, the second lowest total by a WAC team in a half of a conference game this year ... has lost five of its last seven games ... Boise State leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (7.8) ... Jermaine Blackburn tied his career-high with 25 points in the game at SMU ... Franco Harris scored a career-high 23 points at Louisiana Tech ... senior forward Jason Ellis became the schools all-time leader in rebounds last week and currently has 811 ... he has 16 career double-doubles, the third most of any active WAC player.

Fresno State Bulldogs (12-6, 6-3 WAC)
Has won four of its last six games ... has won four straight home games ... plays six of its next eight games at home where it has gone 8-2 ... is 4-1 in conference games decided by five points or less and 5-2 overall ... has not scored over 70 points in six of its last seven games ... has scored at least 80 points five times this year, matching its total in the past two years combined ... leading scorer JaVance Coleman (17.6 points per game) did not start against Nevada due to a bruised knee but did play 29 minutes and scored 14 points ... senior center Mustafa Al-Sayyad leads the WAC in blocks (2.1 bpg) ... features an 11-man rotation that includes seven freshmen and a sophomore in his first year at the Division I level (Coleman).

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (12-5, 4-5 WAC)
Trailed at the half of both games last week and won both ... has lost eight straight WAC road games ... is starting an 11-day road trip at San Jose State on Saturday ... after averaging 3.3 points per game in his first nine contests, Jake Sottos has averaged 17.2 ppg in the last six games after scoring 25 against Tulsa on Saturday ... Sottos leads the WAC in three-point FG percentage (.443) ... seven of its nine wins have been decided by four points or less ... UH has not lost a game by more than four points and its five losses are by a combined 11 points ... has won 35 straight games when scoring 80 or more points ... has won 19 of its last 21 home games ... has held its opponents to under 90 points in 131 consecutive games.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (10-8, 5-4 WAC)
Has won four games in a row after a four-game losing streak ... averaged 86.5 ppg in its two wins last week ... beat Boise State by 33 on Thursday, the largest margin of victory ever for Tech in a WAC game ... has four players averaging double figures in scoring, the most in the WAC ... Paul Millsap has scored in double figures in 22 straight games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... Millsap has a WAC-high 13 double-doubles this year ... junior Daevon Haskins leads the WAC in steals with 2.1 per game ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 327 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... has a home record of 213-58 (.786) at the Thomas Assembly Center, the best winning percentage of any WAC team at its current arena.

Nevada Wolf Pack (14-5, 7-2 WAC)
Has lost two of its last three home games after winning 22 of its previous 23 contests ... is 6-2 on the road after a 5-8 mark last year ... has won five straight road games including four in a row in the WAC ... senior sophomore Nick Fazekas has scored in double figures in all 19 games this year and has scored 20 or more in 11 contests ... he leads the WAC in scoring with 20.6 points per game ... Fazekas had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the game against Fresno State ... Nevada leads the WAC in scoring defense (62.2), field goal percentage defense (.388), rebounds (40.1), rebounding margin (+8.7) and blocks (5.3) ... has made more free throws (331) than its opponents have attempted (309) ... last year, its 25 wins tied the 1945-46 squad for the most in school history.

Rice Owls (10-7, 5-4 WAC)
Has lost three games in a row ... lost its first two games of the season when leading at the half (8-2) ... senior Michael Harris has scored in double figures in 20 consecutive games ... he has 45 career double-doubles, the most of any active WAC player ... he is second in the WAC in scoring (20.3 ppg) and in rebounding (11.8 rpg) and first in field goal percentage (.605) ... Harris has 1,906 career points and 948 career rebounds ... he needs 186 points and 101 rebounds to tie Brent Scott for first at Rice ... Harris was one of 12 named to CollegeInsider.coms mid-season All-America team ... senior guard Jason 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 scoring (76.2) and FG percentage (.484).

San Jose State Spartans (6-12, 3-6 WAC)
Has won two WAC games in a row for the first time since 2002 ... has not won three in a row since 2001 ... won both games last week after trailing at the half ... has matched its overall win total from a year ago and tripled its number of WAC wins ... tied a school record with 24 assists in the win over Rice ... three of its six wins this season have come by one point ... is averaging a WAC-low 63.2 points per game for the season ... senior forward Marquin Chandler has reached double figures in scoring in 19 straight games ... he has recorded a double-double in five straight contests, the first Spartan to do so in 35 years ... has lost its last 16 conference road games ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (733 games).

SMU Mustangs (9-8, 4-5 WAC)
Has lost four of its last six games ... scored 50 points in the second half of the Boise State win on Saturday, the most points in any half for the Mustangs this season ... SMU shot 60.7 percent from the field in the second half of that game ... Devon Pearson and Eric Castro each had double-doubles against the Broncos ... junior Bryan Hopkins missed both games last week due to a sprained wrist and is doubtful this week ... Hopkins leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (2.9) ... the Mustangs lost their first game of the year when shooting better than 50 percent of the field on Thursday against UTEP (6-1) ... SMU leads the WAC in steals (9.1) ... has played just three games decided by five points or less (0-3), the fewest in the WAC.

UTEP Miners (17-4, 7-2 WAC)
Has lost two of its last five games after a 10-game winning streak ... is in the middle of a four-game road trip (1-1) and a stretch where it plays seven of nine games on the road ... is the only WAC team to not lose back-to-back games this year ... senior forward Omar Thomas is fourth in the WAC in scoring with 20.0 points per game ... senior guard Filiberto Rivera leads the WAC in assists (6.7 apg) and free throw percentage (.868) ... senior forward Jason Williams has started 53 consecutive games, tied for the longest active streak in the WAC ... UTEP leads the WAC in FT percentage (.776), 3-point FG percentage (.367), assists (16.9) and scoring margin (+12.3) ... has made more free throws (375) than its opponents have attempted (349).

Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-14, 1-8 WAC)
Plays its 100th game at the Reynolds Center on Thursday against UTEP ... the Golden Hurricane are 74-25 in the six-year history of the arena ... has lost four of its last five games ... led at the half of both games last week and lost them both ... 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) ... freshman Brett McDade has averaged 13.8 points in his last four games ... has scored more points in the second half than the first half in 13 of 18 games this season ... Glenn has started 53 consecutive games, tied for the longest active streak in the WAC ... Alvin Pooh Williamson, 31, is the second youngest coach in NCAA Division I this season.