PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Idaho senior forward Michael Crowell has been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball player of the week for Feb. 25-Mar. 2. This is the first career WAC Player of the Week honor for the senior and the second for the Vandals this season.
Crowell, a senior from Mesa, Ariz. (Central Arizona College), earned his first career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a road win at Hawai?i. He shot 56-percent from the floor and 50-percent from the three-point line in the two games. Crowell led the Vandals to their first two WAC road wins ever, as Idaho defeated both Hawai?i and San Jose State on the road. The senior led the Vandals in scoring in each game and rebounding at Hawai?i (11 rebounds). He made a career-high eight field goals at Hawai?i, while playing a career-high 44 minutes against the Warriors. He also scored 20 points against the Spartans with eight rebounds.
The other nominations were senior forward Tyler Tiedeman Boise State; sophomore guard Brandon Fields, Nevada; senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins, New Mexico State and senior guard Jaycee Carroll, Utah State.
WHAT’S AT STAKE ? There is a lot on the line as the WAC regular season comes to a close this week. Boise State is 12-3 in WAC play and alone atop the league standings after a road sweep last week, clinching at least a share of the WAC regular season title. A victory Thursday against Utah State in Boise would be the Broncos’ first outright men’s basketball conference championship since joining the WAC in 2001. Utah State will also have to take on Idaho to end the regular season, needing wins in both games for a chance at a share of the WAC title.
Nevada stands alone in second place with an 11-4 record. The Wolf Pack, who have captured the last four WAC regular season titles, end the season on the road at Fresno State. New Mexico State also remains in the mix. The10-4 Aggies end the regular season at home hosting San Jose State and Hawai?i.
There has never been a four-way tie for first in WAC history. The last three-way tie was between Wyoming, UTEP and Utah during the 1985-86 season.
There are only two seeds set so far. Hawai?i will be the fifth seed, while Louisiana Tech will be the ninth seed. The remaining seeds will be determined in the last two days of the regular season.
TOP SHOOTERS IN THE NATION ? The WAC boasts the top two shooting teams in the nation. This week, Utah State passed Boise State with the top field goal percentage in the nation (.511). The Broncos are close behind, shooting .510. The Aggies are also first in the nation in free throw percentage, shooting .787
Individually, Utah State senior Jaycee Carroll is also among the nation’s best shooter. Carroll is first in the country in three-point field goal percentage (.505), while Boise State’s Tyler Tiedeman is second (.500). Carroll is also second in free throw percentage, shooting .922.
Boise State’s Matt Nelson is third in field goal percentage (.650).
FIVE EARN ALL-DISTRICT HONORS ? The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced Tuesday its Division I All-District teams. Five players from the WAC were recognized by the NABC including, Marcelus Kemp of Nevada (District 13 First-Team), Jaycee Carroll of Utah State (District 14 Second-Team), Reggie Larry of Boise State (District 13 First-Team), Kevin Bell of Fresno State (District 13 Second-Team) and Justin Hawkins of New Mexico State (District 15 Second-Team). The NABC recognized 150 student-athletes from 15 districts, who are now eligible for selection to the NABC Division I All-American team which will be announced at the end of the season.
ACHIEVING 20 ? With a win over Cal State Bakersfield, Boise State’s 2007-08 team became just the eighth team in school history to win 20 games in a season. The 2007-08 team joined the 1987-88 team (24 wins), the 1988-89 and 2003-04 teams (23 wins), the 1986-87 team (22 wins), the 1992-93 and 1998-99 teams (21 wins) and the 1969-70 team (20 wins).
Utah State’s Stew Morrill has now won at least 20 games 13 times as a collegiate head coach. In his 22 years as a head coach, he has had 21 winning seasons and won at least 17 games 19 times. Entering the 2007-08 campaign, Morrill was one of just 13 active coaches to notch 12 20-win seasons, while his streak of eight straight 20-win seasons entering the year was tied for the ninth-longest active streak in the nation.
Nevada needs just one more win to reach the 20-win mark. It would be the fifth-straight season that the Wolf Pack have won at least 20 games.
COACH MORRILL BREAKS RECORD ? Jan. 17 and Jan. 19 were without a doubt two of the most historic days in Aggie Basketball history as Stew Morrill became the school’s all-time winningest coach on Jan. 17 and senior guard Jaycee Carroll became the school’s all-time scoring leader on Jan. 19. Morrill passed E. Lowell Romney’s (1920-41) 225 career wins, while Carroll passed Greg Grant’s (1983-86) 2,127 career points.
BIG IMPROVEMENT ? The 2007-08 San Jose State team has its first 10-win season since 2001-02 when the Spartans were 10-22. The last time the Spartans won more than 10 games in a season was 2000-01 when the team posted a 14-14 win-loss record.
CARROLL BECOMES USU’S ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER ? Senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll became Utah State’s all-time leading scorer on Jan. 19, 2007 at home against Idaho as he made a three-pointer from the left wing with 13:35 to play in the first-half to eclipse Greg Grant’s (1983-86) record of 2,127 points. Carroll now has 2,339 career points and is one of just three players in school history to score 2,000 points along with Grant and Wayne Estes (1963-65) who scored 2,001 career points.
SPREADING THE WEALTH ? After losing to Hawai’i, the Aggies have averaged 20.2 assists per game in WAC contests. NMSU had a season-high 25 assists at San Jose State, Feb. 2. Senior guard Fred Peete and senior guard/forward Justin Hawkins both recorded seven assists each. The Aggies followed that performance with 20 assists against Idaho, Feb. 6. Hawkins and Pope led the way with four assists apiece. In the win over Boise State, Feb. 9, NMSU had 24 assists with Peete supplying a dozen. At Louisiana Tech, the Aggies recorded 18 assists with Peete and Hawkins combining for 11. Freshman guard JayDee Luster had a career-high four assists in 12 minutes of action off the bench. At Fresno State, Peete had a game-high eight assists.
WAC STRIKES A DEAL WITH GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT ? Athletic director Dr. Steve Cobb announced 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.
WAC ON ESPN ? The WAC has a multi-year contract with ESPN for coverage of WAC football and basketball. On Jan. 26, New Mexico State defeated Utah State on ESPN2. On Feb. 9, Nevada defeated Hawai?i 88-68 on ESPN2.
PACKING THE STANDS ? After a season-high 11,030 fans against Utah State, Fresno State continues to lead the WAC in home attendance, nearly 1,300 more fans per game than the No. 2 program in the league, Utah State. The Save Mart Center has seen an average of 10,469 fans per game through 16 home games. The Aggies average 8,928 per contest. Last season, the Dogs ranked No. 33 in the NCAA in attendance average at more than 11,000 fans per game.
During its last seven home games, Utah State has played in front of a sold-out Dee Glen Smith Spectrum crowd of 10,270, marking the first time in the 37-year history of the building that USU has had seven- straight sellouts. On the season, USU is averaging 9,086 fans which ranks second in the WAC and is the highest average in school history.
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.
TEAM LEADERS ? The WAC has five schools with players who lead their team in two of three statistical categories (points-rebounds-assists). Idaho’s Jordan Brooks is the only player to lead in all three categories.
Reggie Larry, Sr., F, Boise State (18.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg)
Kevin Bell, Sr., G, Fresno State (18.7 ppg, 5.9 apg)
Jordan Brooks, Jr., F, Idaho (12.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.8 apg)
Kyle Gibson, So., G, Louisiana Tech (16.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
Justin Hawkins, Sr., G/F, New Mexico State (17.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
SUPER SENIORS ? The WAC seniors are leading the way offensively this season. Eight of the top 10 leading scorers in the league are seniors. Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll leads the way, averaging 22.7 ppg. The guard is one of only two players in the WAC averaging over 20.0 ppg along with Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp (20.0 ppg). Boise State’s senior duo of Reggie Larry (18.8 ppg) and Matt Nelson (15.6 ppg) are third and eighth, respectively in the league in scoring. There is just one underclassman in the top 10 in scoring, Louisiana Tech’s Kyle Gibson (16.1), which is good enough for seventh in the WAC. New Mexico State’s Justin Hawkins is the only junior in the top 10. He is fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 17.0 ppg.
NEVADA TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS ? Over the last four seasons dating back to 2004-05, Nevada has turned in a 100-28 record, the best record of any WAC team during that time (.781 winning percentage). In conference games, Nevada has won 54 games, the most in that same time period. The top three teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last four seasons:
Overall Record (Pct.) WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Nevada 100-28 (.781) 1. Nevada 54-11 (.831)
2. Utah State 91-38 (.705) 2. New Mexico St. 31-15 (.674)
3. Hawai?i 62-53 (.539) 3. Utah State 30-16 (.652)
BRONCOS LEAD LEAGUE WITH 19 INDIVIDUAL 20-POINT GAMES IN WAC GAMES AND 32 FOR SEASON ? Boise State players have combined for 32 individual 20-point games this season, which is the most in the WAC this year. Reggie Larry leads the Broncos with 14 individual 20-point games, the second most in the conference to date (Utah State’s Jaycee Carroll leads with 20, while Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp also has 14). Matt Nelson has eight 20-point games, while Tyler Tiedeman has seven 20-point games and Matt Bauscher has three. In league games, the Broncos have a WAC-best 19 individual 20-point games. Nevada
has the second most with 17.
UTAH STATE’S CARROLL RE-WRITING RECORD BOOKS ? Senior guard Jaycee Carroll continues to put his name at the top of Utah State’s records book as he is now the school’s all-time leader in points scored (2,417), three-pointers made (353), three-pointers attempted (758), three-point percentage (.466), field goals attempted (1,650), 10-point games (116), games started (127), games played (129) and total minutes played (4,402). Overall, Carroll currently holds nine school records, which is the most in school history. With two regular season games still to play for Carroll, he will likely break the school’s all-time record for field goals made which would give him 10 school records.
FOX CLIMBING ? Fourth-year head coach Mark Fox is the first coach in school history to lead his squad to three consecutive 20-win and NCAA Tournament seasons. He holds a 10-28 career record in his four seasons at the helm of the Wolf Pack program (.780 winning percentage) and is already fourth in all-time wins at Nevada. His 81 wins after his first three seasons were tied with Gonzaga’s Mark Few for the most victories in Division I history by a coach through three seasons (81-18 record in his first three seasons).
WAC STRUGGLES IN O’REILLY’S BRACKETBUSTERS ? New Mexico State was one of three teams in the WAC to earn a victory in the O’Reilly ESNPU BracketBuster, as the league finished 3-6. The Aggies defeated Long Beach State, 80-48, in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster, Feb. 23 in Las Cruces. Freshman forward Herb Pope had a game-high 14 points to pace the balanced Aggie offense. Utah State started the BracketBusters off with a 72-59 win over UC Santa Barbara, while Fresno State defeated Cal Poly in Fresno. On ESPNU, Nevada fell to Southern Illinois in Carbondale, while Siena knocked off Boise State, 93-70 on ESPN360.com.
Tie-Breaking Principles
a. General Procedures
The following procedures are to be used to determine seeding for a Conference tournament or to establish the
automatic qualifier to an NCAA Championship subject to any sport regulation tie-breakers.
[1] Ties for all places in the standings (between two teams or three or more
teams) which can be broken
based upon head-to-head competition are broken before the implementation of further tie-breaking
procedures.
[2] If more than two teams are tied, the three or more tie-breaking procedures shall be implemented. If
only two teams are tied, the two-team tie-breaking procedures shall be implemented.
[3] In the case of ties for more than one place, the first tie broken is that of the highest place (i.e., first
place, second place, etc.) and continue downward through the standings.
[4] If the tie is for first place and cannot be broken by a head-to-head results, compare the tied teams'
winning percentage against the next highest finishing team and continue through the standings. The team
with the best winning percentage against the next highest-finishing team or group of tied teams advances.
If the tie is for any position other than first place, the comparison shall begin at the top of the standings.
[5] Once a tied team has been placed in a position/seed, that team shall be included in all further comparisons
of other tied teams from the position/seed in which it has been placed.
b. Tie-Breaking Procedures
[1] Two-Way Tie:
[i] The winner of the head-to-head competition is the higher seed.
[ii] If the tie is for first place, compare the tied teams' records against the next highest finishing team
and continue through the standings. The team with the best record/winning percentage against the
next highest finishing team or group of tied teams advances. If the tie is for any position other than
first place, the comparison shall begin at the top of the standings.Regulations
[iii] If a tie still remains, the Conference office shall conduct a draw.
The drawn team shall receive the
higher seed.
[2] Three or More-Way Tie. Once a tie has been reduced to two teams, the two-team tie-breaker is
implemented.
[i] Compare the records of the tied teams against each other. The team(s) with the best record(s)
versus the other tied teams receives the higher seed or advances to the next tie-breaker; the team
with the next best record versus the other tied teams receives the next highest seed or advances to
the next tie breaker, etc.
[ii] If the tie is for first place, compare the tied teams' records against the next highest finishing team
and continue through the standings. The team with the best record against the next highest-finishing
team or group of tied teams advances. If the tie is for any position other than first place the comparison
shall begin at the top of the standings.
[iii] If a tie still remains, the Conference office shall conduct a draw.
The first team drawn shall receive
the higher seed, the second team drawn shall receive the next highest seed, etc.
[iv] Men and Women's Basketball Only. If a tie still remains, the institution with the highest RPI following
the conclusion of the WAC's regular season shall receive the higher seed (replaces iii above).
The official NCAA RPI shall be used, if available. If not, CollegeRPI.com shall be used. [5/06]
Boise State Broncos (22-7, 12-3 WAC)
With a win against Utah State on Thursday, Boise State would capture its first ever outright WAC title ... the Broncos joined the WAC in 2001 ... on Thursday, Boise State will be honoring four seniors Matt Bauscher, Reggie Larry, Matt Nelson and Tyler Tiedeman ... one of the most successful senior classes in Boise State history ... Reggie Larry is first in the WAC in double-doubles with 13 ... teammate Matt Nelson is second in double-doubles with nine ... the Broncos and Utah State are tied for first in the nation in field goal percentage (.510) ... the Broncos are also sixth in the nation in assists (18.3).
Fresno State Bulldogs
(13-16, 5-10 WAC)
Senior Kevin Bell had a stellar night agianst Utah State on Monday ... after trailing 29-10, Bell led a 27-8 run to pull the Bulldogs to within seven points, 37-30 ... he had 16 points on 7-of-10 from the floor and added a steal in the first half ... Bell ended the game with a career-high 31... Bell is averaging 24.2 points per game in his last five game, setting his career scoring high twice in that time ... before tonight, his previous career-high was 27 points in a win over Hawai?i on Feb. 20 ... Bell has a dozen 20-point games this season and set a new career-high Monday with 13 field goals ... Bell’s four assists in the game give him 590 for his career, tying San Diego State’s Tony Gwynn for sixth.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors
(11-16, 7-7 WAC)
Hawai?i heads down the home stretch of the WAC season with a contest at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, March 6 ... the Rainbow Warriors will be road warriors in the next two weeks, embarking on its longest trip, both in time and distance ... following its contest versus the Bulldogs in Ruston, La., UH will close the WAC regular season on Saturday at New Mexico State ... the Warriors will then will remain in Las Cruces, N.M. for the WAC Tournament, March 11-15 ... UH is currently on a four-game losing streak, tied for its longest of the season ... the ?Bows remain in fifth place in the WAC standings and will finish no lower than that if they are able to defeat the Bulldogs on Thursday.
Idaho Vandals
(8-19, 5-10 WAC)
Mike Crowell earned the Vandals their second WAC Player of the Week ... Crowell and Mike Hall have given Idaho two Player of the Week awards in a season for the first time since 2002-03, while in the Big West Conference ... the Vandals earned just six Player of the Week honors during nine seasons in the Big West ... Idaho returns home for the final game of the 2007-08 regular season as hosts to Utah State Saturday (March 8) ... the Vandals will honor its four seniors as they play their final home game at Idaho.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (4-23, 1-13 WAC)
Louisiana Tech could not overcome a high-octane offense from Nevada Saturday night in the Lawlor Events Center and lost by a final score of 87-57 ... sophomore Kyle Gibson is one of three unreleated Gibsons in the conference ... Gibson is ranked seventh in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.1 ppg ... he is the second ranked Gibson behind Hawai?i senior Matt Gibson (16.8 ppg) ... the Bulldogs end the regular season at home against San Jose State and Hawai?i ... the Bulldogs will be the ninth seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament.
Nevada Wolf Pack (19-10, 11-4 WAC)
Although senior Marcelus Kemp saw his streak of 38 consecutive games in double figures come to an end with nine points March 1 vs. Louisiana Tech, he led the team with eight rebounds and eight assists ... that marked the second consecutive night that he turned in a career-best eight assists after doing it in the Feb. 28 victory over New Mexico State ... Nevada also turned in a season-high 27 assists in the victory over Louisiana Tech ... Sophomore Brandon Fields is averaging 12.9 points per game this season, up from 2.0 points per game last season (+10.9), while fellow sophomore JaVale McGee is averaging 13.6 points per contest, up from 3.4 ppg last season (+10.2).
New Mexico State Aggies
(17-13, 10-4 WAC)
The Aggies split a pair of games on their final road trip of the regular season ... With the 69-64 win at Fresno State, NMSU recorded its fifth WAC road win, which is the most the Aggies have posted since joining the conference ... senior Justin Hawkins had a team-high 14 points in the Aggies come from behind victory ... NMSU was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the last 30 seconds of the game with senior center Hatila Passos and freshman guard Jahmar Young hitting vital free throws ... for the first time this season, the Aggies earned a win after trailing at half ... the Aggies end the regular season at home hosting San Jose State and Hawai?i before hosting the WAC Tournament.
San Jose State Spartans
(12-16, 4-10 WAC)
The San Jose State bench averaged 21.0 points per game in the games against Boise State (Feb. 28) and Idaho (Mar. 1) ... for the first time in conference play this season, San Jose State’s reserve players scored more than 20 points in a game with 24 against Boise State (Feb. 28) ... the Spartan reserves posted a season-high 28 points in the Cal State Bakersfield win (Nov. 30) ... San Jose State is 8-3 in games decided by four or fewer points ... last season, the Spartans were 3-4 in games with a point differential of four or less ... the 2005-06 team was 1-8.
Utah State Aggies
(21-9, 10-4 WAC)
Utah State is one of just four teams in the country to win at least 21 games in each of the last nine seasons joining Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas ... entering the 2007-08 season there were seven teams in the country that had at least eight straight 21 win seasons ... those teams with at least eight straight 21 win seasons who have yet to reach 21 wins this year include Illinois, Kentucky and Syracuse ...entering this season, USU has averaged 24.8 wins and was one of just four teams in the nation to win at least 23 games in each of those seasons along with Gonzaga, Kansas and Syracuse ... USU also ranks fifth with a 75.5 (219-71) winning percentage during the last nine years.