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PLAYER OF THE WEEK Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap, a sophomore from Grambling, La. (Grambling HS), averaged 21.0 points and 13.0 rebounds in two home victories last week. Against Hawaii last Thursday (Millsaps 20th birthday), he scored a game-high 29 points, pulled down 13 rebounds, blocked three shots and had two steals in playing all 40 minutes of a 71-70 win. Two nights later, he recorded his conference-leading 16th double-double of the year with 13 points and 13 rebounds against San Jose State. It is Millsaps third career WAC Player of the Week award and second this year.
Others nominated:
Jermaine Blackburn, Sr., G, Boise State - averaged 19.0 points in a split of two home games last week. He scored a career-high 26 points in the win over Fresno State.
JaVance Coleman, So., G, Fresno State - averaged 20.5 points in two games last week. He scored 20 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists at UTEP. Coleman then scored 21 at Boise State including two on a dunk that was named the No. 1 play of the day by ESPNs SportsCenter.
Ramon Sessions, Fr., G, Nevada - averaged 17.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in a sweep of two road games. He scored a career-high 23 points, including 17 in the second half at Boise State. In that game, he was 9-of-11 from the free throw line and made all six of his attempts in the final 1:22.
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice - averaged 21.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in two home wins. He scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Rockhurst and then scored 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the overtime win at Tulsa.
Bryan Hopkins, Jr., G, SMU - averaged 20.5 points and 5.5 steals in two home victories. He scored 14 points and had a school-record nine steals against San Jose State. He then had 27 points against Hawaii. The nine steals are tied for the most by any player in the country this season.
Filiberto Rivera, Sr., G, UTEP - averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 assists in a split of two games. He had 19 points and tied a career-high with 12 assists against Fresno State. For the week, he was 15-of-16 from the free throw line.
TWO PLAYERS RECEIVE SUSPENSIONS Nevada forward Jermaine Washington and UTEP forward Omar Thomas each received suspensions for an incident that occured during the Nevada-UTEP game in El Paso on Saturday. Washington was whistled for a flagrant foul and then ejected from the game for fighting with 8:25 remaining in the first half. As per NCAA rules, Washington automatically is suspended one game. He will sit out the Wolf Packs home game against Rice on Wednesday night. Also, WAC Commissioner Karl Benson announced that Thomas will sit out the first half of UTEPs road game at San Jose State on Wednesday due to his involvement in the incident.
BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY The third annual ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday will be held this Saturday and the WAC will have three of its five teams that were selected for the event televised on either ESPN or ESPN2. UTEP faces No. 19 Pacific in the only ESPN game of the event while ESPN2 will show Vermont at Nevada and Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Hawaii. The other two games featuring WAC teams (Murray State at Rice and Buffalo at Fresno State) will be shown by ESPN Full Court, the networks out-of-market pay-per-view service, and will be distributed in the markets of the competing teams through ESPN Regional Television (ERT). Of the 11 games included in the Bracket Buster Saturday event, a total of five games will be shown on ESPN2, one on ESPN and five will be produced by ERT. A total of 64 teams made up the field for this years Bracket Buster Saturday, including all 10 WAC schools. Those teams not selected for the event were matched up to create 21 non-conference games. In all 32 games, the home team will play at the visiting team's arena next year in a non-conference game.
2005 ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday Games-February 19
Wichita State (18-4) at Miami (Ohio) (15-6), 12:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN2
Ark.-LR (15-8) at Bowling Green (14-7), 1:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN Full Court
Vermont (18-4) at Nevada (18-5), 11:00 a.m. (PT) ESPN2
Western Michigan (16-8) at Northern Iowa (17-8), 3:00 p.m. (CT) ESPN2
Drexel (13-10) at Ball State (12-9), 5:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN Full Court
Murray State (13-9) at Rice (13-8), 4:00 p.m. (CT) ESPN Full Court
Buffalo (15-7) at Fresno State (13-9), 4:00 p.m. (PT) ESPN Full Court
Southern Illinois (20-6) at Kent State (16-8), 6:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN2
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (19-5) at Hawaii (13-7), 3:00 p.m. (HT) ESPN2
Illinois St. (16-8) at UW-Green Bay (17-7), 8:00 p.m. (CT) ESPN Full Court
UTEP (19-6) at Pacific (20-2), 9:00 p.m. (PT) ESPN
Boldface denotes games involving WAC schools
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)
FIVE SCORERS IN NATIONS TOP 30 In this weeks WAC stats, five players are averaging at least 19.5 points per game. At this time last year, there were none. Nevadas Nick Fazekas is first with 21.0 points per game followed by San Jose States Marquin Chandler (20.7), Rices Michael Harris (20.0), Louisiana Techs Paul Millsap (19.9) and UTEPs Omar Thomas (19.5). In the most recent NCAA stats, the five players are all ranked in the top 30 nationally in scoring. No other conference has more than three in the top 30. Fazekas ranks 10th in the nation.
FOX, SADLER RANK NEAR TOP OF FIRST-YEAR COACHES There are 38 coaches in Division I who are in their first year at their respective schools. Nevadas Mark Fox and UTEPs Doc Sadler are near the top of the list. Fox has an 18-5 record and his winning percentage of .783 is the second best of the group. Sadlers record of 19-6 (.760) ranks fourth. Utahs Ray Giacoletti is first with a record of 22-3 (.880).
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, ESPN and ESPN2 are televising three games in conjunction with Bracket Buster Saturday. ESPN is showing UTEP at Pacific while ESPN2 will be televising Vermont at Nevada and Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Hawaii.
GLENN, SENSLEY LEAD TEAMS Tulsas Jarius Glenn and Hawaiis Julian Sensley 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 (13.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.2 apg)
Paul Millsap, So., F, Louisiana Tech (19.9 ppg, 11.8 rpg)
Nick Fazekas, So., F, Nevada (21.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg)
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice (20.0 ppg, 11.6 rpg)
Marquin Chandler, Sr., F, San Jose State (20.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg)
Bryan Hopkins, Jr., G, SMU (17.3 ppg, 4.3 apg)
Jarius Glenn, Sr., F, Tulsa (17.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.8 apg)
MILLSAP, HARRIS 4-5 IN NATION IN REBOUNDING Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap is fourth nationally in this weeks rebounding statistics while Rice forward Michael Harris is fifth. Millsap is averaging 11.8 rebounds per game. Utahs Andrew Bogut is first with 11.9 boards per contest. Rice senior Michael Harris is averaging 11.6 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 SECOND IN NATION IN FREE THROW PERCENTAGE UTEP leads the WAC and is second in the nation in free throw percentage (.775). The Miners led the WAC in free throw percentage last year (.752). Last week, UTEP was 42-of-45 (.933) in its two games against Boise State and Nevada.
1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has six players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Those six players with points and all-time school ranking: Rice senior forward Michael Harris (1,796-3rd); Rice senior guard Jason McKrieth (1,360-9th); SMU junior guard Bryan Hopkins (1,205-22nd); Tulsa senior forward Jarius Glenn (1,190-18th); SMU senior forward Patrick Simpson (1,187-25th); and SMU senior forward/center Eric Castro (1,004-34th). UTEP senior forward Omar Thomas is next on the list with 982 points.
LOUISIANA TECH OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK With UTEPs 13-game home winning streak snapped against Nevada last Saturday, Louisiana Tech now has the WACs longest home winning streak at five in a row. Tech also has the longest home winning streak in conference games only at five straight.
NATIONAL RANKINGS No WAC teams are ranked in the top 25, but Nevada received consideration in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls. The top two WAC teams in the CollegeRPI.com ratings are Nevada (33) and UTEP (65).
HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 88-35 (.715) at home this season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 34-64 (.347). In conference games, home teams are 43-20 (.683). Last week, Nevada won both of its road games at Boise State and UTEP while Rice won at Tulsa.
ROAD WARRIORS In all games, the WAC has two teams with winning road records this season. Nevada is 8-2 while UTEP is 5-3. In conference games only, Nevada is 6-0 and UTEP is 4-3.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 59-35 (.628) 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 80-37 (.684), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 44 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 80-37 (.684) 1. Nevada 44-23 (.657)
2. Nevada 78-41 (.655) 2. Hawaii 40-26 (.606)
3. Fresno State 66-47 (.584) 3. Fresno State 39-28 (.582)
4. Rice 64-48 (.571) Louisiana Tech 39-28 (.582)
5. Louisiana Tech 62-49 (.559) 5. Rice 35-31 (.530)
Tulsa 35-31 (.530)
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 8-16, New Mexico State is 5-19 and Utah State is 18-6.
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 (10-14, 4-9 WAC)
The win over Fresno State on Saturday snapped a five-game losing streak ... Jermaine Blackburns career-high 26 points against the Bulldogs led four Broncos in double digits ... sophomore guard Coby Karl dished out a career-high eight assists in that game ... the Broncos shot 55.2 percent from the field, its first game over 50 percent in the last 14 contests and second best percentage this season ... has lost seven road games in a row ... plays two of its next three games on the road ... Boise State leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (7.5) ... senior forward Jason Ellis is the schools all-time leader in rebounds with 851.
Fresno State Bulldogs (13-9, 7-6 WAC)
Has lost five of its last seven games ... plays its next four games at home where it is 9-3 on the season ... sophomore guard JaVance Colemn has scored at least 20 points in nine games this season ... he leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (2.6) and leads the WAC in free throw percentage in conference games only (.868) ... is 5-1 in conference games decided by five points or less and 6-2 overall ... has scored at least 80 points five times this year, matching its total in the past two years combined ... senior center Mustafa Al-Sayyad leads the WAC in blocks (2.0 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 (13-7, 5-7 WAC)
Has lost five of its last eight games ... plays five of its final seven regular games at home ... senior Jake Sottos leads the WAC in three-point FG percentage (.460) ... he has made at least five three-point field goals in four straight games ... sophomore Matt Gibson leads the WAC in free throw percentage (.875) ... is 6-6 in games decided by five points or less ... has four players averaging double figures in scoring, tied for the most in the WAC ... UH has not lost a game by more than six points and its seven losses are by a combined 18 points ... has won 36 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 134 consecutive games.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (13-9, 8-5 WAC)
Has won seven of its last eight games ... swept Hawaii this season for the first time since joining the WAC ... has four players averaging double figures in scoring, tied for the most in the WAC ... Paul Millsap has scored in double figures in 26 straight games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... he had his six-game streak of scoring 20 or more points snapped against San Jose State on Saturday with 13 points ... Millsap has a WAC-high 16 double-doubles this year, and 36 in his two-year career ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 331 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... has a home record of 215-58 (.788) at the Thomas Assembly Center, the best winning percentage of any WAC team at its current arena.
Nevada Wolf Pack (18-5, 11-2 WAC)
Was behind at the half in both wins last week ... its 18-5 mark is its best since beginning the 1965-66 season with the same record ... is 8-2 on the road after a 5-8 mark last year ... is 14-0 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less ... has won seven straight road games (for the first time since 1965-66) including six in a row in the WAC ... Nick Fazekas has scored in double figures in all 23 games this year and has scored 20 or more in 14 contests, the most of any player in the WAC ... he leads the WAC in scoring with 21.0 ppg ... Nevada leads the WAC in scoring defense (61.6), field goal percentage defense (.386), rebounds (39.6) and rebounding margin (+8.0) ... has made more free throws (409) than its opponents have attempted (390).
Rice Owls (13-8, 7-5 WAC)
Has won two games in a row after losing four of its previous five ... won for the first time in nine trips to Tulsa ... senior Michael Harris has scored in double figures in 24 consecutive games ... he has 48 career double-doubles, the most of any active WAC player ... he is second in the WAC in rebounding (11.6 rpg) and first in field goal percentage (.613) ... Harris has 1,796 career points and 991 career rebounds ... he needs 110 points and 58 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 (75.6) and FG percentage (.479).
San Jose State Spartans (6-15, 3-9 WAC)
Marquin Chandlers streak of eight consecutive three-point field goals made was snapped after his first attempt against SMU last Thursday ... he scored 24 points and pulled down 18 rebounds (tied for the second most by a WAC player this year) in the game ... has matched its overall win total from a year ago and tripled its number of WAC wins ... three of its six wins this season have come by one point ... is averaging a WAC-low 62.4 points per game for the season after averaging 50.5 points in its two losses last week ... Chandler has reached double figures in scoring in 22 straight games ... has lost its last 18 conference road games ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (736 games).
SMU Mustangs (11-10, 6-7 WAC)
Has won three of its last five games ... completes its three-game homestand (the longest of the year) on Wednesday against Louisiana Tech ... SMU is 8-3 at home this season and has won three in a row at Moody Coliseum ... Patrick Simpson had a double-double on Saturday against Hawaii with 14 points and 10 rebounds ... Eric Castro scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds versus San Jose State last Thursday ... junior guard Byran Hopkins leads the WAC in steals (2.6) ... the Mustangs are 7-2 when Hopkins leads the team in scoring ... Hopkins has 299 career assists while Justin Isham has 199 ... SMU leads the WAC in steals (9.3) ... is the only team in the WAC to not win a game decided by five points or less (0-4).
UTEP Miners (19-6, 9-4 WAC)
Plays three road games in six days ... meets Pacific on Saturday for the first time since the Tigers knocked the defending national champion Miners out of the 1967 tournament ... UTEP is 5-3 on the road this season ... the Miners are 2-4 against the Spartans in San Jose ... Filiberto Rivera leads the WAC in assists (6.9 apg) ... Rivera is second in the WAC in free throw percentage (.866) while Omar Thomas is third (.820) ... senior forward Jason Williams has started 57 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... is 13-0 when scoring 70 or more points ... UTEP leads the WAC in FT percentage (.788), 3-point FG percentage (.360), assists (16.6) and scoring margin (+10.4) ... has made more free throws (453) than its opponents have attempted (435).
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-15, 3-9 WAC)
The loss to Rice snapped Tulsas three-game home winning streak ... has lost seven overtime games in a row and is 0-3 this season ... is 6-1 when holding its opponents to 65 points or less ... is 1-11 in games decided by eight points or less ... is the only team in the WAC with two players in the top 10 in scoring as Jarius Glenn is eighth (17.0 ppg) and Anthony Price is 10th (14.9 ppg) ... freshman Brett McDade has scored 93 points in his last six games for a 13.3 scoring average ... in the 13 games before that, McDade averaged 4.4 points per game ... interim head coach Alvin Pooh Williamson, 31, is the second youngest coach in NCAA Division I this season.