THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
January 20 (Wednesday)
*Nevada at Boise State, 7:00 p.m. MT
Television: KAME-TV 21, Comcast SportsNet California, ESPN Full Court
January 21 (Thursday)
*Utah State at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m. PT
Television: ESPN Regional, ESPN Full Court, Altitude, ESPN360
*Louisiana Tech at San Jose State, 7:00 p.m. PT
*New Mexico State at Hawai‘i, 7:00 p.m. HT
Television: KFVE-Hawaii, AggieVision, ESPN360
January 23 (Saturday)
*Utah State at Idaho, 5:00 p.m. PT
Television: CW30-Utah
*New Mexico State at San Jose State, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Nevada at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m. PT
Television: KAME-TV 21, ESPN Full Court
*Louisiana Tech at Hawai‘i, 7:00 p.m. HT
Television: KFVE-Hawaii
* denotes WAC game
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (9-10, 0-6 WAC)
Boise State’s went 0-2 last week with losses at San Jose State and Utah State ... making his first career start, Daequon Montreal led the Broncos with 19 points, while La’Shard Anderson had 15 and Ike Okoye 14 in the 76-74 loss at San Jose State ... Boise State was led by Robert Arnold with 12 points in an 81-59 loss at Utah State .... after trailing 42-25 at half at USU, Boise State went on an 11-2 run to open the second half, closing to within eight, 44-36, with 15:05 to play, but that was as close as the Broncos could get as USU shot 52.6 percent from the field in the game, and BSU shoot 40.8 percent ... USU held Ike Okeye, BSU’s leading scorer, to eight points in the game ... this week, Boise State hosts Nevada on Wednesday.
Fresno State Bulldogs (10-9, 3-2 WAC)
Fresno State started the week with their third straight WAC victory before dropping a pair of road games at Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State ... Paul George tied a career-high with his third 29-point performance of his career to power Fresno State past San Jose State, 80-70 ... Fresno State dropped its first conference loss of the season in an 81-73 road defeat at Louisiana Tech on Thursday night ... Sylvester Seay’s team-high 22 points and George’s team-best nine rebounds were not enough to fend off a determined New Mexico State team as Fresno State finished its first WAC road trip with a 86-77 defeat in Las Cruces ... during the week, both Seay and George became one of the Bulldogs’ top 50 all-time highest scorers.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors (9-9, 2-3 WAC)
Hawai‘i split a pair of games last week, falling 98-54 at Utah State before returning home to defeat San Jose State 68-67 ... Brandon Adams averaged 14.5 ppg and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 65 percent in games versus Utah State and San Jose State last week ... he also set career highs with 19 points and nine rebounds in win over San Jose State ... Jeremy Lay had a string of 25 straight free throws before a second-half miss against San Jose State ... UH won its 1000 game in school history (including non-collegiate teams) with its win over San Jose State ... this week, Hawai‘i hosts New Mexico State on Thursday before welcoming Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Idaho Vandals (8-8, 1-4 WAC)
Idaho dropped a pair of games last week, falling 75-72 at home to New Mexico State before taking a 76-68 setback at Nevada ... against NM State, senior Mac Hopson led Idaho in scoring for the seventh-straight game with 17 points, 10 of which came in the second half, while senior Kashif Watson added 16 and sophomore Luiz Toledo earned his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds ... at Nevada, Hopson led the team with 16 points, while senior Steffan Johnson added 13 points and sophomore Luiz Toledo had 12 on 6-of-7 shooting from the field ... redshirt freshman Kyle Barone started his second career game and led the team with a career-high nine rebounds, along with four points.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (17-2, 5-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech went 2-0 this past week after a 79-64 win at Boise State and an 81-73 victory against Fresno State … Tech’s 17 wins are its most through 19 games since 1984-85 … this is the best start in school history since that time for the Bulldgos … the team has won 10-straight games, the most since 1984-85 … LA Tech is receiving votes in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 1985 … the Bulldogs are 22-5 in their last 27 games and have won their last 12 games at home … Kyle Gibson ranks among the NCAA leaders in points per game with 21 and free-throw percentage with 89.6 … against Fresno State, Gibson had a career-high 32 points on 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range.
Nevada Wolf Pack (11-7, 3-2 WAC)
Nevada went 1-1 last week with a 79-72 overtime loss to Utah State before a 76-68 victory at home against Idaho ... sophomore Luke Babbitt scored 26 points as the Wolf Pack lost for the first time this season in nine home games ... senior Ray Kraemer added 14 in the loss ... Babbitt scored 19 points and junior Armon Johnson added 17 to lead Nevada to the win over Idaho ... Babbitt also grabbed nine rebounds and went 7-of-10 from the field for the Wolf Pack, while senior Joey Shaw finished with 15 points and senior Brandon Fields scored 14 ... this week, Nevada travels to play a Wednesday night game at Boise State before heading to play Fresno State on Saturday evening.
New Mexico State Aggies (11-7, 4-1 WAC)
New Mexico State picked up a pair of victories this past week ... junior guard Jahmar Young scored a season-high 32 points to lead NM State to a 75-72 win at Idaho in Moscow ... Young is the first player to record a 30-point game in WAC play this season ... senior guard Jonathan Gibson added 18 points for the Aggies that swept the first conference road trip of the season with the victory ... the Aggies returned home to defeat Fresno State, 86-77 behind a game-high 26 points from Young and 25 points from Gibson ... the Aggies utilized a 52-34 second half advantage to outlast the Bulldogs ... NM State travels to play Hawai‘i on Thursday night before returning to the mainland to play San Jose State on Saturday.
San Jose Spartans (9-8, 2-3 WAC)
San Jose State went 1-2 this past week with a win over Boise State and losses to Fresno State and Hawai‘i ... Mac Peterson tied a San Jose State single-game record with seven 3-point baskets and Chris Oakes notched his fifth double-double of the season, but Fresno State still topped the Spartans, 80-70 ... Adrian Oliver scored a season-high 33 points and made two free throws with 29.3 seconds remaining as San Jose State defeated Boise State, 76-74 this past Thursday ... Justin Graham scored a season-high 21 points and Oliver added 20, but Hawai’i guard Hiram Thompson made two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining in the Rainbow Warriors’ 68-67 win over San Jose State.
Utah State Aggies (13-6, 3-2 WAC)
Utah State went a perfect 3-0 last week ... torching the nets to the tune of 73.1 percent in the first half led to a season-high 54 points at halftime and Utah State tallied a season-high scoring output with a 98-54 rout of Hawai’i in USU’s WAC home opener ... USU used a 24-7 run during the final 12 minutes of the game and held Nevada to 2-of-18 shooting from the field to rally for a 79-72 overtime win over Nevada in a nationally televised game on ESPN2 ... Jared Quayle led Utah State with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists against Nevada ... junior reserve guard Brian Green led five Aggie players in double-figures with a career-high 14 points as Utah State coasted to an easy 81-59 win against Boise State in Logan.
WAC NOTES
UTAH STATE’S QUAYLE NAMED VERIZON WIRELESS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Jared Quayle has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 11-17. The honor marks the second career WAC Player of the Week award for Quayle.
Quayle, a senior guard from Perry, Utah (Western Wyoming CC), led Utah State to a 3-0 record last week with home wins over Hawai‘i (98-54) and Boise State (81-59), and an overtime win at Nevada (79-72). In the overtime victory at Nevada, Quayle scored 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and one steal in 42 minutes. He was 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range. Quayle also had 11 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals against Hawai‘i in just 22 minutes. He also tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in just 28 minutes against Boise State.
On the week, Quayle averaged 14.0 points, 5.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field, 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three-point range and was 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
Other nominees included: Fresno State sophomore guard/forward Paul George … Hawai‘i senior forward Brandon Adams … Idaho senior guard Mac Hopson … Louisiana Tech senior guard Kyle Gibson … New Mexico State junior guard Jahmar Young.
WAC WEDNESDAYS ON ESPN2
Wednesday night’s overtime matchup between Utah State and Nevada in Reno marked the start of five Wednesday night ESPN2 games for the WAC. Following the Jan. 13 game on ESPN2, a WAC game will be featured each Wednesday night in February on the ESPN2 network. The WAC is also a fixture on ESPNU as six games still remain to be broadcast this season on the network.
WAC TEAMS AMONG NATIONAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
As of Jan. 17, teams from the WAC rank in the top-25 in seven team statistical categories. Individual players rank in the top-25 in eight individual categories. Utah State holds the highest team mark as it ranks fourth the nation in free throw percentage at 77.3 percent. Individually, Nevada’s Luke Babbitt holds the highest individual ranking as he ranks third nationally with 12 double-doubles. New Mexico State’s Jonathan Gibson ranks sixth nationally in three-point field goals per game at 3.4.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FREEBIES
As of Jan. 17, seven players in the WAC rank in the top-50 nationally in free throw percentage. Two of those players hold free throw percentages in the 90s. Utah State’s Jared Quayle holds the top free throw mark in the league at 92.3 percent, ranking him seventh nationally. As a team, Utah State holds nations’s fourth-best free throw team ranking at 77.3 percent. There have been five players in the WAC that have had perfect games at the line with 10 or more attempts. Idaho’s Kashif Watson has the third-best single-game performance in the nation as he went a perfect 15-for-15 at the line on Dec. 3 against Cal State Northridge. Both Nevada’s Luke Babbitt and Louisiana Tech’s Kyle Gibson each have accomplished the perfect game of 10 or more free throws on two separate occasions this season.
WAC AND THE RPI
The WAC’s RPI climbs to 12 this week as a conference. The WAC has three teams in the top-100, including Louisiana Tech (52), Nevada (67) and Utah State (81).
NEVADA’S JOHNSON AND IDAHO’S HOPSON CANDIDATES FOR COUSY AWARD
Idaho senior guard Mac Hopson and Nevada junior guard Armon Johnson ire among the candidates for the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford Financial Services, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts announced. The annual award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes college basketball’s top point guard. 73 candidates have been nominated for the 2010 award. Nominations were solicited from all Division I, II and III schools across the country. A 2009 first-team All-WAC selection, Johnson is averaging 15.8 points and 5.3 assists per game this season. Hopson, also a first team all-WAC selection in 2009, is averaging 12.8 points and 4.7 assists per game this year. Previous winners of the Bob Cousy Award have included: Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s), Raymond Felton (North Carolina), Dee Brown (Illinois), Acie Law (Texas A & M), DJ Augustin (Texas) and Ty Lawson (North Carolina). For more information on the 2010 Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford, log onto www.cousyaward.com.
LOUISIANA TECH STREAKIN’
With a 17-2 record, the Bulldogs hold theier best record since the 1984-85 season. It marks the best start in school history since that time for the Bulldgos. The team has won 10-straight games, also the most since 1984-85 campaign. Louisiana Tech is also a perfect 5-0 in league play for the first time in its history.
FIVE WAC PLAYERS BECOME MEMBERS OF 1,000 POINT CLUB THIS SEASON
Below is a list of current career scoring leaders in the WAC.
Player
Kyle Gibson, Sr, Louisiana Tech 1,518
*Jonathan Gibson, Sr., NM State 1,294
*Armon Johnson, Jr., Nevada 1,202
*Jahmar Young, Jr., NM State 1,156
*Brandon Fields, Sr., Nevada 1,039
*Tai Wesley, Jr., Utah State 1,026
*denotes that player reached 1,000 points during the 2009-10 season.
IDAHO, UTAH STATE AND FRESNO STATE PICK UP WINS AGAINST TEAMS FROM LAST YEAR’S NCAA TOURNAMENT
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. Utah State downed Brigham Young 71-61 on Dec. 2, while Fresno State defeated North Dakota State 68-54 on Dec. 19.
UTAH STATE’S HOME WIN STREAK ENDS
For the first time since March 3, 2007, Utah State dropped a game at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies had won 37 straight home games before its loss to Saint Mary’s on Dec. 5. The loss also halted Utah State’s 65-game regular season non-conference home winning streak, as well as its 41-straight home non-conference victory streak. Idaho now holds the WAC’s longest home win streak at nine games.
NEVADA PUTS UP A LEAGUE-HIGH 112 POINTS IN WIN OVER HOUSTON
Nevada’s 112 points in its Nov. 21 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.
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.
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.
TOP WAC TEAMS OVER LAST SIX YEARS
Over the last six seasons dating back to 2003-04, Utah State leads current WAC teams with an overall record of 162-55. In conference games, Nevada has won 82 games, the most in that same time period.
The top three teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last six seasons:
Overall Record (Pct.)
1. Utah State 162-55 (.747)
2. Nevada 160-57 (.737)
3. Boise State 123-89 (.580)
WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Nevada 82-23 (.781)
2. Utah State 49-20 (.710)
3. Boise State 60-64 (.484)