THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
November 23 (Monday)
San Diego State def. Fresno State, 62-58
November 24 (Tuesday)
Idaho State at Utah State, 7:00 p.m. MT
Boise State at Eastern Washington, 7:00 p.m. PT
New Mexico State at Cal State Fullerton, 7:00 p.m. PT
Sacramento State at Idaho, 7:00 p.m. PT
November 25 (Wednesday)
UALR at Louisiana Tech, 7:00 p.m. CT
November 26 (Thursday)
North Carolina A&T at New Mexico State, 7:00 p.m. MT
November 27 (Friday)
Nevada at VCU, 7:30 p.m. ET
New Mexico at Hawai‘i, 8:00 p.m. HT
Television: KFVE
November 28 (Saturday)
Pacific at San Jose State, 1:00 p.m. PT
Fresno State at Santa Clara, 2:00 p.m. ET
Louisiana Tech at TCU, 7:00 p.m. CT
Southern Utah at Utah State, 7:00 p.m. MT
Television: CW30-Utah
North Texas at Boise State, 7:00 p.m. MT
Eastern Washington at Idaho, 7:00 p.m. PT
November 29 (Sunday)
Nevada at #4 North Carolina, 6:45 p.m. ET
Television: Fox Sports Net
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (2-2, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State junior La’Shard Anderson continues to lead the way for Boise State as he led the Broncos with 19 points in Saturday night’s loss at Wyoming … Anderson went 5-of-10 from the field and made an incredible 8-of-9 from the line … in fact, he went 8-for-8 from the line during the first half of play … the Broncos have stuck to the same starting five in each of its four games this season (La’Shard Anderson, Kurt Cunningham, Paul Noonan, Ike Okoye and Anthony Thomas) ... this is something that has not been seen done by Boise State since the 2007-08 season ... last year, the Broncos would rotate its starting five every other game ... this week, BSU plays at Eastern Washington before hosting North Texas.
Fresno State Bulldogs (2-2, 0-0 WAC)
The defensive emphasis by head coach Steve Cleveland paved the way for Fresno State to secure a key road opening win against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, 65-59 … Paul George and Greg Smith each recorded double-doubles with 24 points and 10 rebounds as the Seattle University Redhawks frantically clipped Fresno State 85-84 on Thursday night in KeyArena … George led the team with an average of 19.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals during Fresno State’s first road games of the season, for back-to-back double-doubles, which marked his 7th and 8th of his career … Fresno State also took a 62-58 setback at home against San Diego State on Monday evening.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine (2-2, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 0-2 last week with losses at home to Northern Colorado (81-75) and Brigham Young (83-65) ... despite the two losses, UH had four players average double figure scoring over the two games ... Jeremy Lay led the effort at 13.0 points per game, followed by Roderick Flemings and Petras Balocka, who each averaged 12.0 points per game ... 18 of Lay’s 26 points last week came from beyond the arc ... Balocka led the team in rebounds with 17 over the two contests ... this week, Hawai‘i hosts New Mexico on Friday.
Idaho Vandals (2-1, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho brought its season record to 2-1 with a 81-69 victory at North Dakota State … Saturday’s win was Idaho’s second of the season over a 2009 NCAA Tournament team … Idaho shot .571 as a team from the floor against North Dakota State and hit 46.2 percent of their 3-point attempts … Idaho has started the season 2-1 for the first time since 2002-03 … after having just five assists and 10 turnovers in his first two games of the season, Idaho senior guard Mac Hopson had eight assists and two turnovers against NDSU ... this week, Idaho hosts Sacramento State on Tuesday before hosting Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-1, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech finished 2-1 at the World Vision Classic with wins over Miami (Ohio) and Nicholls State and a loss to host New Mexico … sophomore Olu Ashaolu recorded a double-double in all three games and now has accomplished the feat in all four games for Tech this season … senior Kyle Gibson recorded double-digit point totals in all three games including 27 in the win over Miami (Ohio) … Gibson had a string of 17-straight free throws made until he went 6-of-7 at New Mexico … senior Jamel Guyton drained 17 three-point shots over the weekend and recorded 19 points against Nicholls State … the Bulldogs next play their home opener against UALR on Wednesday before playing at TCU on Saturday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (2-1, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada continues its stretch of four of five games on the road this week, traveling to VCU and North Carolina this week ... the team will log 5,465 travel miles on this week’s trip ... Nevada’s 112 points in Saturday’s win over Houston marked the most for the Wolf Pack since the team turned in a 117-88 win over Northwestern State on Dec. 19, 1991 ... according to preliminary research, the team’s 61 points in the first half marked the most points in a half since the Wolf Pack scored 62 in the first half and 63 in the second half in its record-setting 130-125 loss to Loyola Marymount on Dec. 30, 1988 ... the Wolf Pack is leading the WAC in scoring at 87.3 points per game and has five players averaging in double figures for scoring this season.
New Mexico State Aggies (1-2, 0-0 WAC)
In the first two home games of the season, NM State went 1-1 with an 83-73 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State, Nov. 21, and a 97-87 loss to in-state rival New Mexico, Nov. 17, which was the Aggies first home opening loss in the Marvin Menzies era ... in the earliest matchup with the Lobos, NM State rallied from a 52-36 halftime deficit to take a second-half lead but the Aggie comeback fell just short ... NM State had four players in double digits with junior guard Jahmar Young leading the way with a team-high 26 points ... in the Aggies’ first win of the year, Gibson led NM State with a career-high 30 points to become the 25th member of the 1,000 point club. Young added 18 points while Rahman supplied 13.
San Jose Spartans (1-2, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State opened its season last week with a 1-2 record ... SJSU won its season opener, 89-63, over William Jessup at home ... the team then dropped a pair of road games at No. 14 Washington, 80-70, and at UC Riverside, 70-66 ... Adrian Oliver led the Spartans over the three games, averaging 20.0 points per game ... Oliver dropped in 32 points at Washington ... Oliver also tallied 8.3 rebounds over the three games ... Justin Graham also averaged double digit scoring at 15 points per game ... Chris Oakes led the rebound effort at 11.3 boards per contest ... this week, San Jose State hosts Pacific on Saturday.
Utah State Aggies (1-2, 0-0 WAC)
Senior guard Jared Quayle averaged 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in Utah State’s road losses at Utah (68-67) and Northeastern (64-61) last weekend ... against the Utes, Quayle scored a career-high 27 points and tied his career-high with 11 rebounds as he notched his fourth-ever double-double ... Quayle was 8-of-14 from the field against Utah and made 5-of-7 three-pointers, and all six of his free throws ... in the loss at Northeastern, Tai Wesley led the Aggies with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting ... Nate Bendall and Tyler Newbold each scored in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively ... this week, Utah State returns home to host Idaho State on Tuesday and Southern Utah on Saturday.
WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE’S GIBSON BECOMES MEMBER OF 1,000 POINT CLUB
Jonathan Gibson scored a career-high 30 points last week against Oklahoma Panhandle State to become the 25th player in NM State history to top the 1,000-points mark for his career. Gibson is the only current WAC player with 1,000 or more career points. Nevada junior Armon Johnson is likely to be the next WAC player to hit the 1,000 point mark as he currently has 958 career points.
UTAH STATE OWNS SECOND-BEST HOME WIN STREAK IN THE NATION
Utah State has won 34 straight home games dating back to the 2007-08 season which is a school-record and the second-longest home winning streak in the nation behind Kansas who has won 42 straight home games. Overall, USU has won 49 of its last 50 home games dating back to the 2005-06 season with its only loss during that stretch coming against Fresno State, 71-66, on March 3, 2007.
UTAH STATE’S JARED QUAYLE CANDIDATE FOR LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Utah State’s Jared Quayle has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2009-10 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year. It is the third year in a row that a Utah State player has been named one of 30 national candidates for this award as Jaycee Carroll was selected as one of 10 finalists in 2008 and Gary Wilkinson was one of 30 candidates in 2009. Quayle, a 6-1 senior guard from Perry, Utah is the only player from the state of Utah and the only player from the Western Athletic Conference to be selected for this award.
IDAHO ALREADY 2-0 AGAINST TEAMS FROM LAST YEAR’S NCAA TOURNAMENT
WAC teams will play at least 15 non-conference games against opponents that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament, including last year’s national champion (North Carolina). Idaho opened its season with two of its first three games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams. Idaho beat both Utah and North Dakota State on their home floors and started the season 2-1. The WAC is currently 2-3 against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams, with both wins coming from Idaho.
Idaho def. Utah, 94-87 (Nov. 13)
Utah def. Utah State, 68-67 (Nov. 18)
Washington def. San Jose State, 80-70 (Nov. 20)
Brigham Young def. Hawai‘i, 83-65 (Nov. 20)
Idaho def. North Dakota State, 81-69 (Nov. 21)
Nevada at VCU, Nov. 27
Nevada at North Carolina, Nov. 29
Brigham Young at Utah State, Dec. 2
Idaho at Cal State Northridge, Dec. 3
Boise State at Illinois, Dec. 5
Louisiana Tech at Arizona, Dec. 9
Fresno State vs. Brigham Young, Dec. 12
New Mexico State at UCLA, Dec. 15
Morehead State at Utah State, Dec. 22
Portland State at Boise State, Dec. 21
Nevada vs. Brigham Young, Dec. 22
NEVADA LEADS WAC IN SCORING, PUTS UP A LEAGUE-HIGH 112 POINTS IN WIN OVER HOUSTON
Nevada’s 112 points in Saturday’s win over Houston marked the most for the Wolf Pack since the team turned in a 117-88 win over Northwestern State on Dec. 19, 1991. The team’s 61 points in the first half also mark the most points in a half since Nevada scored what is believed to be a school-record 71 points in the second half of a 117-88 win over Northwestern State on Dec. 19, 1991. Nevada is leading the WAC in scoring offense this season at 87.3 points per game, 7.3 points ahead of second-place Idaho (80.0 ppg). Five Wolf Pack players are averaging in double figures for scoring this season, and Nevada has three players ranked in the WAC’s top 10.
ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS
For the eighth year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for 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 Feb. 20. The match-ups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences about three weeks before the event.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO RETURN TO RENO IN 2010
The Western Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments return to the University of Nevada and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority in 2010. The tournaments will be held in the 11,485-seat Lawlor Events Center, located on the campus of the University of Nevada. This year’s tournament will feature eight men’s and eight women’s teams.