United Athletic Conference

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UTEP Information
No. 11 UTEP vs. No. 6 Utah, 1:05 p.m. (MT)-CBS, Sirius Radio 138
Game Notes | GameTracker

Nevada Information
No. 9 Nevada vs. No. 8 Texas, 7:10 p.m. (ET)-CBS, Sirius Radio 125
Game Notes | GameTracker

NEVADA, UTEP EARN REPEAT TRIPS TO NCAA TOURNAMENT For the second year in a row, Nevada and UTEP are playing in the NCAA Tournament. UTEP earned the WACs automatic bid after winning the WAC Tournament last week while Nevada received an at-large spot. The Miners are the No. 11 seed in the Austin Regional and will play sixth-seeded Utah on Thursday in Tucson, Ariz. Later in the day, No. 9 Nevada takes on No. 8 Texas in a Chicago Regional game in Indianapolis. The Miners have made 15 previous appearances (1963-64-66-67-70-75-84-85-86-87-88-89-90-92-04), the last 11 as members of the WAC. Last year, the Miners were a No. 13 seed and narrowly lost to No. 4 Maryland, 86-83, in the first round. Overall, UTEP is 14-14 in NCAA Tournament games and won the 1966 National Championship when the school was known as Texas Western. Nevada has three previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament (1984-85-04) and is 2-3. Last season, Nevada was a 10 seed and beat No. 7 Michigan State, 72-66, and No. 2 Gonzaga, 91-72, to advance to the Sweet 16 where it lost to No. 3 Georgia Tech, 72-67.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The WAC has a 63-83 record (.432) in its teams 77 previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament. In 1998, Utah advanced to the NCAA title game before losing to Kentucky, 78-69, in San Antonio. It was the furthest a WAC team had ever advanced. UTEP is the only current WAC team to have won a National Championship, but did so prior to joining the WAC (1966).

UTAH CAPSULE Utah is 27-5 and the No. 6 seed in the Austin Region. The Utes have lost two of their last six games (both against New Mexico) after an 18-game winning streak. Utah won the Mountain Wests regular season title, but lost in the finals of the conference tournament to New Mexico. Head coach Ray Giacoletti is in his first year with the Utes. He is 144-88 in eight years as a head coach. Utah and UTEP have met numerous times as the Utes were a member of the WAC from 1962-99. Utah has a slight lead in the series record with a 33-31 mark after winning the previous eight games between the two schools. They last met in 1999 when Utah won 75-70 in Salt Lake City.

TEXAS CAPSULE Texas is 20-10 and the No. 8 seed in the Chicago Regional. The Longhorns finished in a tie for fifth in the Big 12 and were eliminated by Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. Texas opened the season with a 14-3 record, but after leading scorer and rebounder P.J. Tucker was declared academically ineligible, the Longhorns finished the season with a 6-7 mark. Head coach Rick Barnes is in his seventh year with the Longhorns and is 161-68. He has led Texas to the NCAA Tournament in all seven years as its coach. Overall, he is 363-202 in 18 years as a head coach. This will be the first ever meeting between Texas and Nevada.

RICE INVITED BY NIT The Rice Owls earned their second consecutive NIT appearance and will play an opening round game at Southwest Missouri State on Wednesday night. The winner of that game will face either Davidson or VCU in the first round. This is Rices fifth trip to the NIT (1943-91-93-04). The Owls are 1-4 (.200) in previous tournaments. In last years appearance, Rice lost at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 91-63, in an opening round game.

THE WAC IN THE NIT The WAC has a 74-61 record (.548) in its teams 61 previous appearances in the NIT. Last year, three teams were invited to the tournament. Rice lost its opening round game while Boise State was 2-1, losing to Marquette in the second round. Hawaii advanced to the quarterfinals where it lost to eventual champion Michigan, 88-73. Two WAC teams have won the NIT title as Brigham Young did it in 1966 and Tulsa in 2001. Fresno State (1983) and Tulsa (1981) each wore the NIT crown prior to WAC membership.

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE CAPSULE The Bears are 18-12 and finished in fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference. SMS advanced to the championship of the conference tournament where it lost to Creighton, 75-57. This will be the first ever meeting between SMS and Rice.

UTEP WINS 2005 WAC TOURNAMENT For the fifth time in school history and first since 1990, UTEP won the WAC Tournament after beating Boise State in the championship game, 91-76. It was the 10th time the Miners had appeared in the title game and second year in a row. The 91 points were the most ever scored in a WAC Tournament championship game. Last season, UTEP lost to Nevada in the finals, 66-60. UTEP opened the 2005 tournament by beating Hawaii in the quarterfinals, 80-62, and Rice in the semifinals, 85-77.

BOISE STATE MAKES FINAL AS AN EIGHT SEED For the first time in WAC history, an eight seed advanced to the finals of the conference tournament. Boise State opened the tournament with an 83-73 win over Tulsa in the first round. The Broncos then beat the host and No. 1 seed Nevada, 73-72 in the quarterfinals. Boise State picked up another one-point win in the semifinals, 86-85, over Fresno State. Only once previously had a team that played in the opening round advanced to the championship game. UNLV did it in 1998 when it won the tournament as a fifth seed out of the Mountain Division.

RECORDS SET There were a few tournament records established last week in Reno. Boise State senior Jason Ellis pulled down 21 rebounds in the game against Tulsa to break the old record of 19 set by Wyomings Theo Ratliff against San Diego State in 1994. Ellis ended up with 53 rebounds in the tournament, surpassing the old record of 44 set by Fresno States Larry Abney in 2000. UTEP senior Omar Thomas was 24-of-26 from the free throw line during his three games. The 24 made free throws broke the old record of 23.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM UTEP placed two players on the WACs all-tournament team as selected by the media in attendance. Miner teammates Filiberto Rivera and Omar Thomas were joined by Boise States Jason Ellis and Jermaine Blackburn and Rices Michael Harris. Rivera was named the tournament MVP after averaging 20.0 points and 8.0 assists in the three contests. He had 11 assists against Hawaii in the quarterfinals and scored a career-high 32 points and added eight more assists in the championship game against Boise State.

ATTENDANCE The mens tournament was attended by 19,607 fans during the five sessions (3,921/session). The title game drew 4,178 to the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

PACK WINS RECORD 16TH WAC GAME For the first time in WAC history, a team won 16 conference games. Nevada finished the regular season with a 16-2 mark in league play to win the regular season conference title by two games. This year marked the eighth season that the WAC had an 18-game conference schedule. Previously, seven teams had won 15 WAC games with Hawaii and Tulsa the last schools to do it in 2001-02.

UTEP WITH SEVEN-GAME WINNING STREAK With Boise State snapping Nevadas 10-game winning streak in the quarterfinals of last weeks WAC Tournament, UTEP now has the conferences longest winning streak at seven straight. It is tied for the 10th longest in the nation. Earlier this season, the Miners put together a 10-game winning streak which is tied with Nevadas for the longest in the WAC this year.

WAC ON ESPN/SPORTSWEST The WAC has a multi-year contract with both ESPN and SportsWest for coverage of football and basketball. A total of 24 basketball games between the two networks were scheduled this season including the final seven games of the WAC Tournament.

ALL-WAC TEAMS The 2005 all-WAC teams as voted upon by the coaches were announced in early March. Nevada sophomore forward Nick Fazekas was named the Player of the Year. Nevada guard Ramon Sessions garnered Freshman of the Year honors and his coach, Mark Fox, was named the Don Haskins Coach of the Year. The complete list of teams can be found later in this release.

USBWA ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS Rice senior Michael Harris, UTEP senior Omar Thomas, SMU junior Byran Hopkins and Louisiana Tech sophomore Paul Millsap were named all-District 7 by the United State Basketball Writers of America (USBWA). Nevada sophomore Nick Fazekas earned all-District 8 honors.

NABC ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS The WAC had six players named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District teams. First-team selections included Louisiana Techs Paul Millsap, Rices Michael Harris, Nevadas Nick Fazekas and UTEPs Omar Thomas. Brian Hopkins of SMU and Filiberto Rivera of UTEP were second-team honorees. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the 150 student-athletes, from 15 districts, are now eligible for the NABC Division I All-American Team to be announced at the conclusion of the 2004-05 season.

NATIONAL SINGLE-GAME HIGHS Two WAC players have posted stats in games that rank as the best in the nation this year. Louisiana Techs Paul Millsap grabbed 25 rebounds against Boise State on Feb. 27. That total is the most since Ohios Brandon Hunter had 26 rebounds on Jan. 8, 2003. On Feb. 25, UTEPs Filiberto Rivera dished out 18 assists against Louisiana Tech. That total is tied for the most by any player this year.

FOUR SCORERS OVER 20 PPG In this weeks WAC stats, four players are averaging more than 20 points per game. Last year, Kirk Snyder led the WAC with 18.8 points per game. Nevadas Nick Fazekas is first with 21.4 points per game followed by Rices Michael Harris (20.5), Louisiana Techs Paul Millsap (20.4) and UTEPs Omar Thomas (20.4). San Jose States Marquin Chandler finished just short of the mark with 19.6 points per game. In the most recent NCAA stats, the four players are all ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring while Fazekas ranks 12th.

MILLSAP FIRST IN NATION IN REBOUNDING Louisiana Tech sophomore Paul Millsap leads the nation in rebounding while Rice senior Michael Harris is fourth. Millsap is averaging 12.4 rebounds per game and Harris is averaging 11.8. Last year, Millsap became the first WAC player to finish the season as the nations leading rebounder with 12.5 boards per game.

MINERS FIRST IN NATION IN FREE THROW PERCENTAGE UTEP leads the WAC and the nation in free throw percentage (.791). Arizona is second at .778. The Miners led the WAC in free throw percentage last year (.752). Last week, UTEP was 61-of-77 (.792) in its three WAC Tournament games. In a game against Hawaii, the Miners were 20-of-22 from the charity stripe while Omar Thomas was 14-of-14 against Rice in the semifinals. Filiberto Rivera hit 11-of-12 attempts in the championship game against Boise State.

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 a 24-6 record and his winning percentage of .800 is second behind only Utahs Ray Giacoletti (27-5, .844). Sadlers record of 27-7 (.794) ranks third while his 27 wins are tied with Giacoletti for the most in the nation.

GLENN LEADS TEAM Tulsas Jarius Glenn is the only WAC player to lead his team in scoring, rebounding and assists. The WAC has seven other players that lead their teams in two of those three statistical categories:
Julian Sensley, Jr., F, Hawaii (6.9 rpg, 3.1 apg)
Paul Millsap, So., F, Louisiana Tech (20.4 ppg, 12.4 rpg)
Nick Fazekas, So., F, Nevada (21.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg)
Michael Harris, Sr., F, Rice (20.5 ppg, 11.8 rpg)
Marquin Chandler, Sr., F, San Jose State (19.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
Bryan Hopkins, Jr., G, SMU (17.9 ppg, 3.9 apg)
Omar Thomas, Sr., F, UTEP (20.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
Jarius Glenn, Sr., F, Tulsa (17.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.4 apg)

1,000-POINT SCORERS The WAC has 10 players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Those 10 players with points and all-time school ranking: Rice senior forward Michael Harris (1,990-1st); Rice senior guard Jason McKrieth (1,493-7th); SMU junior guard Bryan Hopkins (1,342-16th); Tulsa senior forward Jarius Glenn (1,329-15th); SMU senior forward Patrick Simpson (1,271-17th); UTEP senior forward Omar Thomas (1,187-12th), SMU senior forward/center Eric Castro (1,093-27th), Nevada sophomore forward Nick Fazekas (1,070-13th), Louisiana Tech sophomore Paul Millsap (1,060-29th) and Boise State senior Jason Ellis (1,004-16th). Rice senior guard Brock Gillespie (997) is next on the list.

NATIONAL RANKINGS The WAC has no teams ranked in this weeks top 25 polls but both Nevada and UTEP are receiving votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.

HOME SWEET HOME The WACs 10 teams are a combined 107-51 (.677) at home this season after Nevada lost to Boise State in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 46-83 (.357). In conference games, home teams are 59-31 (.656).

ROAD WARRIORS In all games, the WAC has two teams with winning road records this season. Nevada is 11-2 while UTEP is 7-4. In conference games only, Nevada was 9-0, UTEP was 6-3 and Rice 5-4.

NON-CONFERENCE MARK The WAC is 62-42 (.596) in non-conference games this season, including a 54-42 (.563) 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).

NEVADA TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS Over the last four seasons, Nevada is 84-42 (.667), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 49 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. Nevada 84-42 (.667) 1. Nevada 49-23 (.681)
2. Hawaii 83-43 (.659) 2. Hawaii 42-30 (.583)
3. Rice 70-51 (.579) 3. Fresno State 41-31 (.569)
4. Fresno State 69-52 (.570) 4. Louisiana Tech 40-32 (.556)
5. Tulsa 68-57 (.544) Rice 40-32 (.556)

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 was 8-22 and New Mexico State finished its season at 6-24. Utah State advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a 24-7 record.

TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (16-18, 6-12 WAC)
Jason Ellis grabbed 21 rebounds (to go along with 22 points) against Tulsa in the first round of the WAC Tournament ... the 21 boards are a tournament record and one shy of the school record set three times ... sophomore guard Coby Karl scored a team-high 24 points in the championship game against UTEP ... finished the season with a 7-4 mark after a five-game losing streak ... was the only WAC team to not lose a conference game decided by five points or less (4-0) ... Boise State leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (7.7) ... senior forward Jason Ellis is the schools all-time leader in rebounds with 948, the 15th most in WAC history ... he had 496 career rebounds in WAC games, the 12th most in conference history.

Fresno State Bulldogs (16-14, 9-9 WAC)
Lost five of its last seven games ... lost its final three home games for the first time since 1989-90 ... was 6-1 in conference games decided by five points or less and 8-4 overall ... after scoring at least 80 points in four of its first seven games, the Bulldogs reached that mark just twice in the last 23 ... senior center Mustafa Al-Sayyad leads the WAC in blocks (2.3 bpg) ... freshman Donovan Morris leads the WAC in three-point FG percentage (.425) ... featured an 11-man rotation that included seven freshmen and a sophomore in his first year at the Division I level (JaVance Coleman) ... Coleman leads the WAC in three-point field goals made per game (2.7) ... senior center Jack Marlow was held out of the last five games due to an issue concerning his eligibility.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (16-13, 7-11 WAC)
Finished with a winning season for the sixth straight year, the longest such streak in the WAC ... did not have a player score more than 13 points in either WAC Tournament game ... sophomore guard Matt Gibson averaged 16.5 points per game in the last 12 contests after beginning the season with a 10.5 per game average in his first 17 games ... Gibson scored just 12 points in two WAC Tournament games ... he scored at least 20 points in five of his last nine games ... lost eight of its last 11 games ... opened the season winning its first eight contests and had the best non-conference record in the WAC (8-1) ... UH leads the WAC in assists with 17.0 per game ... was 6-7 in games decided by five points or less ... the 13 five-point games are the most in the WAC.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (14-15, 9-9 WAC)
Sophomore forward Paul Millsap has scored in double figures in 33 straight games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... he had 25 points and 17 points in the quarterfinal loss against Fresno State ... Millsap has a WAC-high 22 double-doubles this year and 42 in his two-year career ... he has a chance to become the first player to lead the nation in rebounding in back-to-back seasons since Americans Kermit Washington did it in 1973 ... lost six of its last seven games after winning seven of its previous eight ... Tech has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 338 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... has a home record of 216-60 (.783) at the Thomas Assembly Center, the best winning percentage of any WAC team at its current arena.

Nevada Wolf Pack (24-6, 16-2 WAC)
Had its 10-game winning streak snapped against Boise State in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament ... is 11-2 on the road after a 5-8 mark last year ... had a better road record than home record (13-4) ... has won 10 straight road games overall and 10 in a row in the WAC ... is 17-0 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less ... Nick Fazekas has scored in double figures in all 30 games this year and has scored 20 or more in 18 contests, the most of any player in the WAC ... he leads the WAC in scoring with 21.4 ppg ... Nevada leads the WAC in scoring defense (61.5), field goal percentage defense (.386), rebounds (39.6) and rebounding margin (+7.8) ... has made more free throws (528) than its opponents have attempted (474).

Rice Owls (19-11, 12-6 WAC)
Senior Michael Harris has scored in double figures in 33 straight games ... he has 54 career double-doubles, the most of any active WAC player ... he is second in the WAC in rebounding (11.8 rpg) and first in field goal percentage (.607) ... he was first in rebounding in conference games only (12.7 rpg) and his 229 rebounds are the second most ever in a WAC season ... he is the Owls all-time and WACs active leading scorer (1,990) and rebounder (1,101) ... with 10 points against Southwest Missouri State, he would become the fourth player in WAC history with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds ... senior 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 FG percentage (.483).

San Jose State Spartans (6-23, 3-15 WAC)
Phil Johnson resigned on March 7 but did coach the Spartans in their first round WAC Tournament loss against Hawaii ... SJSU hired George Nessman on March 15 ... Nessman was an assistant at California this past season ... after matching its win total from a year ago on Jan. 29, the Spartans lost 11 games in a row, the longest current streak in the WAC ... had three WAC wins this season, two more than all of last year ... three of its six wins came by one point ... is averaging a WAC-low 61.0 points per game for the season ... senior forward Marquin Chandler finished his career with a 30-game double figure scoring streak ... has lost its last 20 conference road games ... SJSU has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (744 games).

SMU Mustangs (14-14, 9-9 WAC)
Lost to Rice in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament ... it was the first time SMU had lost three games to a team in a season since joining the WAC ... senior forward Patrick Simpson led the Mustangs with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the game against Rice ... it was Simpsons sixth double-double of the year and 15th of his career ... played a WAC-high five overtime games this year (3-2) ... was 10-4 at home ... junior guard Bryan Hopkins leads the WAC in steals (2.3) ... the Mustangs were 11-2 when Hopkins led the team in scoring ... SMU leads the WAC in steals (8.6) ... completed its nine-year tenure in the WAC with a 146-117 (.556) record and had one 20-win season (1999-2000).

UTEP Miners (27-7, 14-4 WAC)
Its 27 wins breaks the old school record of 25 ... won a WAC-high 16 home games ... has won seven games in a row ... is 7-4 on the road ... Filiberto Riveras 226 assists are a new school single-season record and tied for the fourth most in WAC history ... Rivera is first in the WAC in FT percentage (.853) while Omar Thomas is second (.846) ... senior forward Jason Williams has started 66 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... senior Will Kimble is one of 18 finalists for the V Foundation Comeback Award ... is 21-0 when scoring 70 or more points ... UTEP leads the WAC in scoring (75.4), FT percentage (.791), three-point FG percentage (.367) and scoring margin (+10.1) ... has made more free throws (598) than its opponents have attempted (569).

Tulsa Golden Hurricane (9-20, 5-13 WAC)
Hired Doug Wojcik as its head coach on March 14 ... Wojcik was an assistant at Michigan State the past two seasons ... he is the eighth coach for the Golden Hurricane since 1990 ... won six of its final seven home games ... was 0-9 on the road in WAC games this season ... has lost eight overtime games in a row and was 0-4 this season ... was 2-13 in games decided by eight points or less ... leads the WAC in blocks with 5.7 per game ... Jarius Glenn leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists ... ... completed its nine-year tenure in the WAC with a 192-105 (.647) record and had six 20-win seasons (1996-97, 98-99, 99-00, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03).