PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Boise State forward Reggie Larry, a junior from Newark, N.J. (College of Southern Idaho), scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in Boise State’s 99-66 win over Sacramento State. He made 9-of-10 shots from the floor, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, and all four of his free throw attempts. Larry also had two assists, one block and a steal as the Broncos moved over .500 for the first time this season (5-4). It is Larry’s first career WAC Player of the Week award and first for a Bronco player this year.
Others nominated:
Dominic McGuire, Jr., G/F, Fresno State - had nine points, 14 rebounds, seven blocked shots and four assists in a 69-54 win over Creighton.
Bobby Nash, Jr., F, Hawai?i - recorded career-highs in points (22) and rebounds (11) in a win over Northwestern State. It was his first career double-double. He was 8-of-14 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range.
Marcelus Kemp, Jr., G, Nevada - averaged 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in a pair of home wins last week. He scored a team-high 20 points against Saint Mary’s and made all four of his three-point field goal attempts. For the week, he was 8-of-12 from three-point range.
Hatila Passos, Jr., F, New Mexico State - averaged 12.0 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 9-of-11 from the field. He had a career-high 16 points versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
HAWAI?I HOSTS 43RD RAINBOW CLASSIC ? Hawai?i opens play at the 43rd Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic against San Francisco on Wednesday night. The eight-team field will compete over four days for the tournament title. Prior to Hawai?i’s game, Wyoming will face Nebraska. On Thursday, Charlotte takes on Houston followed by Valparaiso against Creighton. All eight teams will be in action on both Friday and Saturday. Hawai?i has won the tournament 10 times with its last title coming in 2004. The Rainbow Warriors are 17-2 in first round game under head coach Riley Wallace and hasn’t lost in that round since 1995.
NEW MEXICO STATE WITH 6-GAME WINNING STREAK ? With Utah State seeing its eight-game winning streak snapped at Brigham Young, New Mexico State now has the WAC’s longest active winning streak at six games. The Aggies won their first game of the season and then lost three straight before putting together their current streak. New Mexico State has three more non-conference games on its schedule before the WAC season with two of those games coming at home (Western New Mexico and Norfolk State).
FAZEKAS LEADS NATION IN REBOUNDING ? Nevada senior forward Nick Fazekas continues to lead the nation in rebounding with 12.8 per game following Monday’s NCAA report. Arkansas-Little Rock’s Rashad Jones-Jennings is second with 11.9 per contest. The WAC has boasted the nation’s top rebounder the past three seasons as Louisiana Tech’s Paul Millsap won the title each year. Prior to Millsap, no WAC player had ever won the rebounding title.
WAC.TV ? The Western Athletic Conference officially launched WAC.tv prior to the 2006-07 season. WAC.tv, the Internet based media platform of the Western Athletic Conference, will offer nearly all of the conferences home games this season, many of them on an exclusive basis. Go to www.wac.tv to sign up or login.
This Week’s Schedule
December 19 (Tuesday)
Stanford at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m. PT
December 21 (Thursday)
Western New Mexico at New Mexico State, 7:00 p.m. MT
IPFW at Utah State, 7:00 p.m. MT
December 22 (Friday)
Colorado State at Boise State, 7:00 p.m. MT
December 23 (Saturday)
Cal Poly at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m. PT
NATIONAL RANKINGS ? Nevada remained 25th in the AP poll and moved up one spot to 20th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll. No other teams received votes in either poll.
1,000-POINT SCORERS ? The WAC has five players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers. Those players with points and all-time school ranking: Nevada senior forward Nick Fazekas (2,018-1st); Boise State senior guard Coby Karl (1,376-6th); Utah State junior guard Jaycee Carroll (1,211-23rd); Fresno State senior guard Ja’Vance Coleman (1,118-21st); and New Mexico State senior guard Elijah Ingram (1,093-scored 607 points at St. John’s). New Mexico State’s Tyrone Nelson is next on the list with 928 points.
TEAM LEADERS ? The WAC has six players that lead their team in two of three statistical categories (points-rebounds-assists). Louisiana Tech’s Chad McKenzie is the only player in the WAC to lead his team in all three categories.
Coby Karl, Sr., G, Boise State (15.1 ppg, 4.0 apg)
Matt Lojeski, Sr., G, Hawai?i (16.4 ppg, 5.1 apg)
Chad McKenzie, Sr., F, La. Tech (11.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.9 apg)
Nick Fazekas, Sr., F, Nevada (20.6 ppg, 12.8 rpg)
Justin Hawkins, Jr., G/F, New Mexico State (16.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg)
Jaycee Carroll, Jr., G, Utah State (22.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
NEVADA TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS ? Since the start of the 2003-04 season, Nevada is 86-23 (.789), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 42 games, the most in that same time period.
FRESNO STATE, NMSU OWN WAC’S LONGEST HOME WINNING STREAKS ? Fresno State and New Mexico State have both won 10 home games in row, tied for the longest active winning streak in the WAC and 21st longest in the nation. Both teams are 6-0 at home and are coming off four-game streaks to end last season. Nevada has longest home winning streak in WAC games only at five straight.
FAZEKAS NAMED TO WATCH LISTS ? For the second straight year, Nevada forward Nick Fazekas has been named a candidate for both the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. Both awards listed 50 players on their early season watch lists.
FAZEKAS NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR ? In a vote by the WAC’s head coaches and media, Nevada senior forward Nick Fazekas was picked as the league’s preseason Player of the Year. Last season, Fazekas led the WAC in scoring with 21.8 points per game and also pulled down 10.4 rebounds per contest. He helped lead the Wolf Pack to a 27-6 record and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
HOME SWEET HOME ? The WAC’s nine teams are a combined 29-10 (.744) at home this season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC is 18-30 (.375).
NON-CONFERENCE MARK ? The WAC is 47-40 (.540) in non-conference games, including a 46-40 (.535) mark against Division I team. Last year, the WAC was 63-52 (.548) in non-conference games (57-52 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).
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2007 AND 2008 WAC TOURNAMENTS ? Las Cruces and New Mexico State University will be the host for both the 2007 and 2008 WAC Tournaments. The 2007 tournament will be held March 6-10 and will feature all nine men’s and women’s teams.
WAC ON ESPN ? The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of WAC football and basketball. Four games have been scheduled so far while others could be added during the season.
BRACKETBUSTERS ? For the fifth year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for BracketBusters, a weekend men’s basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All nine WAC teams will be involved in this year’s pool of teams. The event will be held February 16-17, and ESPN2 and ESPNU will present 11 games. The match-ups for BracketBusters will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences about three weeks before the event.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (5-4, 0-0 WAC)
Beat Sacramento State, 99-66, on Saturday, scoring the most points ever against a Division I opponent under head coach Greg Graham (5 seasons) ... the game was the 100th as a Bronco for Eric Lane ... five players scored in double figures led by Reggie Larry’s 24 points and Coby Karl’s 19 ... Karl was 7-of-8 from the field (4-4 treys) and added eight assists ... senior G Coby Karl has started 77 consecutive games, the second longest current streak in the WAC ... is the only team in the WAC that returns all five starters from last season ... is 24-1 when scoring 80 or more points under head coach Greg Graham ... the Broncos have reached 80 points in three straight games (3-0) ... Boise State is 5-1 when scoring at least 70 points.
Fresno State Bulldogs (9-1, 0-0 WAC)
Beat Creighton last week for the first time in the history of the series (1-5) ... four players scored in double figures (led by Hector Hernandez’s 14 points) against Creighton, the ninth time in 10 games that has happened ... is 9-0 when four players score in double figures ... almost had a fifth as Dominic McGuire had nine points ... is facing Stanford for the first time since the 1953-54 season and for the first time in Fresno since the 1926-27 season ... is the only team in the WAC with five players averaging double figures in scoring ... leads the WAC in scoring margin (+14.6) and scoring defense (60.9 ppg) ... junior G Kevin Bell leads the WAC in assists with 5.3 per game ... Dominic McGuire leads the WAC in blocks with 3.0 per contest.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors (5-4, 0-0 WAC)
Hosts the 43rd Rainbow Classic this week ... lost in last year’s semifinal after winning the previous four tournaments ... has lost 23 of its last 28 road games dating back to the 2003-04 season ... against Northwestern State, Matt Lojeski scored a career-high 25 points including 20 in the second half ... Hawai?i is 8-1 when Lojeski has scored 20 or more points in his career ... Riley Luettgerodt had a career-high 13 points in that game ... UH is 5-0 when leading at the half and 0-4 when trailing ... the Rainbow Warriors are also 5-0 when scoring 60 or more points and 0-4 when held below that mark ... UH has posted seven consecutive winning seasons ... has won seven straight OT games dating back to the 2002-03 season.
Idaho Vandals (1-9, 0-0 WAC)
Junior F Darin Nagle made his debut against North Dakota State last week and scored 20 points ... Keoni Watson injured his ankle in that game and his status will be a game-day decision against Eastern Wash. on Thursday ... Idaho is trying to avoid its worst start since going 1-11 in 1976-77 ... has made at least seven 3-pointers and shot at least 18 in 9-of-10 games this season ... its nine losses have come against teams who hold a combined 61-32 record ... the Vandals are the only team in the WAC with one player averaging in double figures (Watson-16.7 ppg) ... has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 441 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC ... has made a three-point field goal in 263 consecutive games (since Feb. 27, 1997).
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-7, 0-0 WAC)
Lost to Southern on Saturday, the first win for the Jaguars this year (1-10) ... Trey McDowell scored a team-high 12 points while Chad McKenzie added 10 ... Tech beat Southern the previous week in Ruston ... the Bulldogs face Centenary on Thursday, the first time the two teams have met since splitting two games during the 2001-02 season ... Centenary leads the all-time series, 86-61, the second longest rivalry in Tech history (Louisiana-Lafayette: 155 games) ... is 19-4 in non-conference home games since joining the WAC before the 2001-02 season.
Nevada Wolf Pack (9-1, 0-0 WAC)
With the win over Pacific, Nick Fazekas and Kyle Shiloh became the winningest players in school history (86-23) ... Ramon Sessions had eight assists and 11 points against Pacific ... Marcelus Kemp has led the team in scoring in two straight games ... has won nine straight regular season games away from home ... has won 23 of its last 25 games dating back to last season ... Nick Fazekas has posted a double-double in eight of the 10 games this season and has 49 in his career ... Fazekas has scored 20 or more points 52 times in his career and has scored in double figures in 40 straight games ... he has started 81 straight games, the longest such current streak in the WAC ... Nevada has won at least 25 games in each of the past three seasons.
New Mexico State Aggies (7-3, 0-0 WAC)
Has won six straight after losing three in a row ... Tyrone Nelson had a double-double against UTEP on Saturday with 11 points and 10 rebounds ... it was his first game in which he played significant minutes (22) this season and his 20th double-double of his career ... Elijah Ingram came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points against UTEP ... the Aggies swept UTEP for the first time since the 2002-03 season after losing six straight against the Miners ... senior G Ted Knauber leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (.531) ... junior G Fred Peete leads the WAC in steals (2.0 spg) ... the Aggies had 10 more wins in 2005-06 than all of the previous season (6-24), tied for the fifth biggest improvement by any team in the nation.
San Jose State Spartans (1-9, 0-0 WAC)
Lost to Long Beach State on Sunday, 76-67 ... the teams met earlier this year with the 49’ers winning by 19 on Nov. 15 ... sophomore F Devonte Thomas made his first start of the season and responded with 15 points and 10 rebounds (his first double-double) against Long Beach State ... senior C Menelik Barbary scored a team-high 18 points (tying his career-high) in the game ... is 1-9 for the first time since going 1-20 to start the 1994-95 season ... has lost 18 of its last 19 games ... has 10 newcomers on its roster this season ... has posted six victories in each of the past three seasons ... has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (785 games).
Utah State Aggies (8-2, 0-0 WAC)
Had its eight-game winning streak snapped at BYU on Saturday ... is 36-8 over the last eight years following a loss ... hosts IPFW on Thursday ... has won 41 straight non-conference regular season home games ... head coach Stew Morrill is two wins shy of 200 at Utah State (198-65) ... junior G Jaycee Carroll leads the WAC in scoring (22.0 ppg) and free throw percentage (.913) ... senior Durrall Peterson has taken a team-high 10 charges this season ... the Aggies have participated in the postseason in each of the past seven years (5 NCAAs, 2 NITs) ... is one of five teams across the country to win at least 23 games in each of the last seven years joining Duke, Gonzaga, Illinois and Kansas ... is 115-11 at home under Stew Morrill.