PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Nevada guard Brandon Fields has been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball player of the week for Dec. 10-16. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for the sophomore.
Fields, a sophomore from Arlington, Texas (Bowie), turned in career highs for scoring in both of Nevada’s wins last week. Fields averaged 19.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game in wins against San Diego and Central Florida. He shot 50 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three-point land on the week. Fields also made 85.7 percent of his free throw attempts. He scored a then career-best 17 points in Wednesday’s victory over San Diego. He made three three-pointers in the game and blocked a career-best two shots against the Toreros. Fields bested that career mark with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting Sunday against Central Florida, matching his career best with four three-pointers against the Knights. The sophomore is leading the Wolf Pack in three-point shooting at 47.5 percent (19-40).
The other nominations were senior forward Matt Nelson, Boise State; sophomore guard Jonathan Gibson, New Mexico State and freshman forward Tai Wesley, Utah State.
THIS WEEK IN THE WAC ? It is tourney time for several teams this week. Utah State will host the Gossner Classic, while Hawai?i hosts the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. Louisiana Tech travels to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic. Utah State is 24-0 all-time in the Gossner Classic. San Jose State has the tough task of taking on No. 10 Michigan State in East Lansing. First-place Boise State will take on Albany in its only game of the week. Nevada will host Colorado State before traveling to Northern Iowa.
WAC STRIKES A DEAL WITH GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT ? Athletic director Dr. Steve Cobb announced Tuesday that the University of Alaska Anchorage Athletic Department has signed a scheduling agreement with the Western Athletic Conference for the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
Under the 5-year deal, the WAC will send one men’s team per year to the prestigious college basketball tournament, starting with the 31st annual Shootout in 2008.
“This is a great opportunity for the WAC and its basketball programs,” said WAC commissioner Karl Benson. “This tournament has a national tradition that attracts top-caliber teams that we are excited to be a part of. We also appreciate the national attention that is delivered by the exposure from ESPN.”
The 2008 Shootout will be played Nov. 26-29 at Anchorage’s Sullivan Arena.
WAC ON ESPN ? The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of WAC football and basketball. The complete television schedule will be available at a later date.
RAINBOW WARRIORS HOST 44TH RAINBOW CLASSIC ? Hawai?i hosts the 44th Annual Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Rainbow Classic, Dec. 19-22 at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH will face Louisiana-Lafayette of the Sun Belt Conference on Wednesday, the tournament’s opening night. It will be the first game in 10 days for the ’Bows, the team’s longest layoff of the season. Hawai?i last played on Dec. 9, defeating Long Beach State, 61-57. UH is 72-57 (.558) all-time in 43 years of the Rainbow Classic. Hawai?i has won 11 titles, including five in the last six years. UH has advanced to the championship bracket 11-straight years.
O’REILLY ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS ? For the sixth year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters, a weekend men’s basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All nine WAC teams will be a part of this year’s pool of teams. The event will be held February 22-24, and ESPN2 and ESPNU will present 11 games. The match-ups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences about three weeks before the event.
SPARTANS FACE SPARTANS ? San Jose State makes the long trip from San Jose to East Lansing to face Michigan State on Dec. 19. Michigan State leads the series, 2-0. Michigan State won the last meeting between these teams (88-61) in a first-round Oldsmobile Classic match-up in the then-brand new Breslin Center on December 29, 1989. San Jose State became the sixth Michigan State opponent in the Breslin Center and the first from the Pacific Time zone. San Jose State will be the first Pacific Time zone opponent to make a second appearance in the Breslin Center. San Jose State’s last win against a nationally-ranked team was against No. 19 Alabama (60-59, OT) on December 27, 1996.
NELSON AND CARROLL CANDIDATES FOR SENIOR AWARD ? Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll and Boise State’s Matt Nelson have been named two of 30 candidates for the 2007-08 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday.
Carroll, a 6-2 senior guard from Evanston, Wyo., is the only player from the state of Utah to be selected for this award and one of just two candidates from the WAC. Nelson, a 6-9 senior forward from Issaquah, Wash., is third in the WAC in field goal percentage (.624). The senior is also seventh in the WAC in scoring, averaging 16.1 ppg.
CARROLL AND KEMP NAMED TO NAISMITH AND WOODEN WATCH LISTS ? Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll and Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp continue to receive national attention this fall and were recently named to the preseason watch list for the 2007-08 Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced. Last week, both were named one of 50 preseason candidates for the 2007-08 John R. Wooden Award.
The Naismith Trophy watch list, which consists of 50 players, was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its preseason criteria on player performances from last season and expectations for the 2007-08 season. There were 17 seniors and 17 juniors on the preseason list, along with 16 sophomores. The list does not include incoming freshmen, although those student-athletes will be considered in the first vote in January, 2008. The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball’s player of the year.
KEEPING TRACK OF COACH MORRILL ? With seven wins thus far this year, Utah State head coach Stew Morrill is now 220-80 (.733) in his 10th year at USU and is just five wins shy of tying legendary coach E. Lowell Romney (1920-41) for the most wins in school history with 225. Coach Morrill is also second all-time in school history in games coached with 300.
DOUBLE TROUBLE ? Nevada has seen three different players turn in its four double-doubles this season. Most recently, sophomore JaVale McGee added his second of the season with 15 points and a career-best 18 rebounds Sunday vs. UCF. Marcelus Kemp tallied his second career double-double with 20 points and a career-high-tying 12 rebounds Dec. 1 at Pacific. McGee nabbed his first career double-double Nov. 24 at UNLV, matching his career best with 20 points and pulling down a then career-high 13 rebounds, while senior Demarshay Johnson turned in his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 11 boards Nov. 13 at UC Irvine.
ON THE BOARDS ? The Aggies are dominating teams on the boards this season and out-rebounding their opponents by a 9.8 margin. NMSU has grabbed 188 offensive rebounds this year, which is an average of 15.7 per contest. Both senior center Hatila Passos and freshman forward Wendell McKines all have over 85 rebounds this year. McKines leads the squad with 44 offensive boards. He leads the WAC in that category with 3.67 offensive rebounds per game and Passos ranks second as he contributes 3.25 offensive rebounds per contest as of Dec. 17.
WAC IN THE NCAA STATS ? Boise State is ninth in the nation in field-goal percentage (.515) behind first-place Texas Arlington (.532). Utah State is up to third in the nation in free throw percentage (.784) behind IUPUI which is first (.812). Individually, Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll is seventh in the nation in free throw percentage (.933). Nevada’s JaVale McGee is 14th in the country in blocked shots (3.2 bpg), while Kenny George of UNC Ashville is first averaging 6.3 bpg. Boise State’s Reggie Larry is 18th in field goal percentage (.634), while teammate Matt Nelson is 25th (.624)
NELSON SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT ? Matt Nelson reached a career milestone at Utah Valley on December 13 when he scored his 1,000th career point. Nelson scored 17 against the Wolverines to push his career total above the milestone. The senior has 1,003 points heading into Boise State’s game at Albany. Nelson, who spent two seasons at Eastern Washington, still has an outside chance to score 1,000 career points at Boise State, but he would need to score 583 points during his senior season, a point total only Roberto Bergersen (644 in 1998-99) and Ron Austin (636in 1970-71) have reached, while at Boise State. Nelson scored 425 points in two seasons at Eastern Washington and then scored 417 last season for Boise State. He has 161 through 10 games this year.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO RETURN TO RENO IN 2009 ? Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson announced that the WAC Board of Directors awarded the 2009 and 2010 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments to the University of Nevada and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. The tournaments will be held in the 11,485-seat Lawlor Events Center, located on the campus of the University of Nevada.
The WAC tournaments were last held in Reno in 2006. The 2007 tournaments were held in Las Cruces, New Mexico at New Mexico State University, as will the 2008 tournaments before returning to Reno in 2009.
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2008 WAC TOURNAMENT ? Las Cruces and New Mexico State University will host the 2008 WAC Tournament, March 11-15. It will be the second year in a row that the event will be held at the Pan American Center. The tournament features all nine men’s and women’s teams.
SUPER SENIORS ? The WAC seniors are leading the way offensivley this season. Seven of the top 10 leading scorers in the league are seniors, while eight of the top 10 are upperclassmen. Utah State Jaycee Carroll leads the way, averaging 20.0 ppg. The guard is the only player in the WAC averaging over 20 ppg. Fresno State senior Kevin Bell is fifth in scoring (17.5 ppg) and first in assists (6.20 apg). There are just two underclassman in the top 10 in scoring, Nevada’s JaVale McGee (13.8 ppg) and Brandon Fields (13.3 ppg). New Mexico State’s Justin Hawkins is the only junior in the top 10. He is fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 18.2 ppg.
TEAM LEADERS ? The WAC has four schools with players who lead their team in two of three statistical categories (points-rebounds-assists). Idaho’s Jordan Brooks is the only player in the WAC to lead all three categories.
Kevin Bell, Sr., G, Fresno State (17.5 ppg, 6.2 apg)
Bobby Nash, Sr., G/F, Hawai?i (17.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
Jordan Brooks, Jr., F, Idaho (11.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.4 apg)
Kyle Gibson, So., G, Louisiana Tech (11.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
Jaycee Carroll, Sr., G, Utah State (20.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg)
NEVADA TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS ? Over the last four-plus seasons dating back to 2003-04, Nevada has turned in a 111-32 record, the best record of any WAC team during that time (.782 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 56 games, the most in that same time period. The top three teams in
wins (both overall and WAC) over the last four-plus seasons:
Overall Record (Pct.) WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Nevada 111-31 (.782) 1. Nevada 56-12 (.824)
2. Utah State 102-38 (.729) 2. Fresno State 37-31 (.544)
3. Hawai?i 75-53 (.586) 3. Hawai?i 36-32 (.529)
TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS ? WAC teams could face at least 18 non-conference opponents that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Boise State, Fresno State and New Mexico State are scheduled to play three of those teams, a WAC-high.
Utah State at Weber State, Nov. 10
New Mexico State at Duke, Nov. 12
Florida A&M at New Mexico State, Nov. 14 (Legends Classic)
Washington State at Boise State, Nov. 13
Idaho at Gonzaga, Nov. 13
Idaho at Washington State, Nov. 16
Illinois at Hawai?i, Nov. 16
Nevada at UNLV, Nov. 24
Louisiana Tech at Texas Tech, Dec. 5
Fresno State at UNLV, Dec. 8
Fresno State at Arizona, Dec. 16
San Jose State at Michigan State, Dec. 19
Boise State at Albany, Dec. 22
New Mexico State at Louisville, Dec. 22
Nevada at North Carolina, Dec. 27
Brigham Young at Boise State, Dec. 29
Oral Roberts at Utah State, Dec. 29
Fresno State at Stanford, Dec. 29
UTAH STATE’S CARROLL NEAR RECORDS ? Senior guard Jaycee Carroll is closing in on several Utah State career records, as he ranks second all-time in both three-pointers attempted (642) and 10-point games (98). He is also third in games started (109), fourth in field goals made (693), fifth in minutes per game (33.5), fifth in total minutes played (3,718), fifth in free throw percentage (.847), and fifth in field goals attempted (1,374). Carroll also ranks ninth all-time in steals (101), is 11th all-time in points per game (17.8), 14th all-time in games played (111) and 20th all-time in assists (223).
Boise State Broncos (5-2, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State is averaging a WAC-best 83.5 points through its first 10 games ... the Broncos are 6.3 points ahead of New Mexico State in scoring ... the Broncos also leads the WAC in scoring margin (+9.9), field goal percentage 51.5 percent), assists (17.20/game), steals (9.30/game), turnover margin (+2.80) and assist/turnover ratio (1.15) ... Boise State is also ninth in the nation in field goal pecentage ... Reggie Larry is 18th in field goal percentage (63.4) ... Boise State travels to Albany this week with a four-game road winning streak ... the streak is the longest winning streak by the Broncos away from Boise since they won four in a row on the road during the 03-04 season.
Fresno State Bulldogs (5-5, 0-0 WAC)
The Bulldogs return to the Save Mart Center for just the second time this month when they host Presbyterian College on Thursday (Dec. 20) and age-old rival Pacific Saturday (Dec. 22) ... the Bulldogs have not played at home since beating Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 5 ... these are the final home games for Fresno State in the 2007 calendar year ... Kevin Bell is 21st in the nation in averaging 6.2 apg behind Davidson’s Jason Richards who is first in the nation averaging 9.1 ... Bell is second in Fresno State history in assists with 474 behind Dominic Young’s (1995-97) 598.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i tallied a season-high 15 steals in a 61-57 win over Long Beach State on Dec. 9 ... in all UH forced 24 LBSU turnovers and made the most out of it, scoring 30 points, nearly half its game output, off of the 49er miscues ... UH was in a giving mood versus LBSU ... all but two of UH’s 25 field goals were assisted ... for the season, UH has assisted on 108 of its 184 field goals (59 percent) ... UH has won on the opening night of the Rainbow Classic 11-straight years. UH’s last opening night loss came against Rhode Island, 89-74, in the 1995 Classic ... Bobby Nash is ninth in school history in three-pointers made (101) and trails Julian Sensley by one for the eighth spot.
Idaho Vandals (2-7, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho currently leads the WAC in scoring defense and has allowed opponents to score just 65.9 points per game ... outside of the two games vs. ranked opponents, Idaho is shooting 45-percent from the floor, outrebounding opponents 32.3 to 32.1, and holds a +2.0 turnover margin ... the Vandals hold a positive margin in every statistical category except free throw percentage and 3-point percentage ... the largest statistical disparity between Idaho and its opponents comes at the free throw line where the Vandals have been outscored by 69 points this season for an average of 7.7 points per game ... Idaho is being outscored overall by just 5.5 points per game this season.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-7, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech will open the 2007 Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic against the Alcorn State Braves ... the Bulldogs and the Braves have only met once ... back in the 1985-86 season, the Bulldogs came away winners at the Indiana Classic against Alcorn State 82-73 ... both teams only have one win on the season this year ... sophomore Kyle Gibson leads Tech scorers with 11.4 points and 7.3 points per game ... the Braves are led by Alex Owumi who is averaging 13.1 points per game.
Nevada Wolf Pack (5-4, 0-0 WAC)
After a slow start the Wolf Pack are on the prowl, winning three in a row ... this week, Nevada looks to extend that streak with games against Colorado State at home and Northern Iowa on the road ... after turning in a career-best 18 rebounds vs. UCF, JaVale McGee jumped from ninth to second in the WAC statistics with 8.3 rebounds per game ... his 18 rebounds marked the most for the Wolf Pack since Nick Fazekas had 18 rebounds in Nevada’s Jan. 27, 2007 win over Utah State ... McGee has led the team in rebounding in six games this season ... the Wolf Pack is 16th in the WAC in blocked shots, averaging 6.4 bpg behind the nation’s leaders UConn and UNC Asheville.
New Mexico State Aggies (5-7, 0-0 WAC)
In addition to McKines leading the league in offensive rebounds, the Aggies rank first in rebounding offense (41.5), rebounding margin (+9.7), offensive rebounds (15.67) and defense rebounds (25.83) ... Justin Hawkins is fourth in scoring (18.2) and rebounding (7.9) while senior center Hatila Passos ranks first in field goal percentage (.653) ... Wednesday’s game with 1-25 rival, UNM, marks the 200th all-time meeting with the Lobos ... Hawkins leads the Aggies with 18.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. In all, the Aggies have four players with double-figure averages, including Fred Peete (12.7), Jonathan Gibson (11.9) and Hatila Passos (10.6).
San Jose State Spartans (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State forced a team-best 21 turnovers in the Northern Arizona game ... in the last three games, the Spartans are creating an average of 17 turnovers by the opponent compared to 11.7 turnovers in the first four games ... San Jose State was credited with 14 steals in the Northern Arizona contest, the first time this season the team had 10 or more steals in a game ... this week, the Spartans take on No. 10 Michigan State before hosting Presbyterian on Dec. 22 ... sophomore C.J. Webster is fourth in the WAC in blocks, averaging 1.29 bpg ... Webster is also sixth in rebounding, avering 7.7 rpg.
Utah State Aggies (7-5, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State has won 49 straight regular season non-conference home games, which is the second-longest streak in the nation behind Duke who has won 55 straight ... when including postseason play, USU has won 25 straight home games against non-conference opponents and 49 of its last 51 overall ... the last time Utah State lost a non-conference home game during the regular season was on Jan. 8, 2000 against BYU, 82-73 ... Utah State is 130-12 (.915) in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum under Coach Morrill, which includes a 62-4 (.939) record against non-league opponents ... overall, USU is 424-105 (.802) in 37 years in the building.