WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (6-0, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State has gone 3-0 over the past week to raise its record to a
perfect 6-0 under first-year head coach Leon Rice ... the team defeated
Eastern Washington (83-54) and Denver (65-52) at home before downing
Northern Illinois, 80-51, on the road ... with the win at Northern
Illinois, Boise State tied the school record with its sixth-consecutive
win to begin the season ... the only other time Boise State began a
season 6-0 was in 1987-88, when the team finished 24-6, won the Big Sky
Conference regular season and tournament titles and made the NCAA
Tournament ... this week, Boise State hosts Long Beach State on Sunday.
Fresno State Bulldogs (1-4, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State went 0-2 over its last two games ... the Bulldogs dropped a
66-55 decision at home to Washington State before taking a 76-63
setback at Utah ...
against WSU, Fresno State was led by sophomore wing Garrett Johnson, who
recorded a career-high 15 points on a career-best trio of 3-pointers
... in the loss to Utah, junior Bennie Rhodes paced the Bulldogs with 15
points and freshman point guard Kevin Olekaibe scored a career-high 13
points for his third consecutive double-digit scoring performance ...
this week, Fresno State will travel to play Colorado State on Saturday.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (5-0, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i played just one game last week, defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff
70-63 ... playing its first game without injured senior leader Bill
Amis, UH found difficulty getting into rhythm and trailed by three at
halftime ... but the Rainbow Warriors ramped up their play after the
break to preserve their unblemished record ... Joston Thomas and Zane
Johnson led UH with 16 points each with Johnson scoring all but three of
his points in the decisive second half ... Hiram Thompson posted 15
points and buried 8-of-10 free throws ... meanwhile, starting center
Vander Joaquim came up with a huge performance recording five points and
16 rebounds ... UH travels to play Cal Poly and BYU this week.
Idaho Vandals (2-3, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-1 during the week … after starting the week with a
cold-shooting effort in a loss at Montana, the Vandals rebounded with a
70-60 win at Eastern Washington in which they hit 41.7 percent from the
field and 47.8 percent from 3-point range … in the win over Eastern
Washington, senior forward Brandon Wiley became already the third Vandal
this season to block at least three shots in a game … this weekend,
Idaho will host its first regular-season tournament in 21 years when it
holds the Basketball Travelers, Inc. (BTI) Classic, Friday through
Sunday, against Monmouth, North Dakota and Eastern Michigan.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-2, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech lost 74-65 at UALR on Friday ... in the game, senior
guard DeAndre Brown scored 24 points, his third game this season of
scoring at least 20 points ... Brown is currently leads the team in
points, assists, steals, field goals made and three-pointers made ...
junior forward Olu Ashaolu is averaging 14.6 points this season and has
scored in double figures in every game ... in the Bulldog’s seven games
played, they have had five different starting lineups ... this week,
Louisiana Tech hosts SMU on Wednesday and I-20 rival ULM on Saturday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (1-5, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada dropped both of its games last week, falling 66-57 to Boston
University before taking a 82-65 setback at South Dakota State ...
against BU, Malik Story scored 14 points and Dario Hunt finished with 11
points and 10 rebounds for the Wolf Pack, who held a 47-32 rebounding
advantage over Boston U ... Derrell Conner scored 15 points, including 3
of 5 from 3-point range, to lead the Wolf Pack in the loss at South
Dakota State ... this week, Nevada hosts UNLV on Saturday night.
New Mexico State Aggies (2-5, 0-0 WAC)
In the final game of a four-game road trip, the Aggies fell at UTEP,
73-56, Nov. 23, in the first meeting of the Sonic Battle of I-10 this
season ... junior forward Troy Gillenwater directed the Aggies with 18
points and a career-high 14 rebounds ... junior guard Hernst Laroche was
also in double-figures with 11 points ... senior guard Gordo Castillo
added eight points on 2-for-4 shooting from the 3-point line, while
freshman guard Christian Kabongo supplied seven points ... the Aggies
then dropped a tough 74-72 decision at home to UTEP on Tuesday night ...
Gillenwater led the Aggies with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Christian
Kabongo added 13 points for the Aggies, who were 41 percent for the
game.
San Jose Spartans (4-2, 0-0 WAC)
The Spartans went 1-2 over their last three contests ... the team
dropped an 82-77 decision at Cal State Bakersfield before returning home
to defeat UC Riverside, 80-77 ... San Jose State then dropped a 72-63
decision at UT San Antonio on Tuesday night ... in the loss at UTSA,
Justin Graham led the Spartans with 20 points and a game-high 11
rebounds ... Adrian Oliver began the day as the nation’s third leading
scorer at 27.8 points a game, was held to a season-low 17 points on
8-of-19 shooting and played the last 6:52 of the game with four fouls
before fouling out with 20 seconds to go ... this week, San Jose State
hosts UC Irvine on Saturday night.
Utah State Aggies (4-1, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State won both of its home games last week, defeating Utah 79-62
and Northeastern, 56-54 ... Brady Jardine led the Aggies over both games
as he averaged 17.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, while
shooting 64.7 percent from the field (11-17) and 72.2 percent at the
free throw line (13-18) ... Jardine was named the WAC’s Player of the
Week for his efforts ... Utah State received votes in the ESPN/USA Today
Coaches Poll for the fourth time in as many weeks with one vote this
week to rank tied for 43rd in the nation along with Old Dominion ...
this week, Utah State travels to play at Denver on Wednesday night
before heading to play Georgetown on Saturday.
WAC NOTES
UTAH STATE’S JARDINE NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Brady Jardine has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 22-28. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Jardine.
Jardine, a junior forward from Twin Falls, Idaho (Twin Falls HS), led Utah State to a pair of home wins last week against Utah (79-62) and Northeastern (56-54). Against Utah, Jardine posted his second-career double-double as he had a career-high 20 points to go along with a career-high 13 rebounds. Jardine was 6-of-7 from the field and 8-of-10 at the free throw line in the game. Against the Huskies, Jardine registered another double-double with 15 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds as he was 5-of-10 from the field and 5-of-8 at the charity stripe. He also tied a career high with three blocks and played a career-high 34 minutes in the game.
On the week, Jardine averaged a team-high 17.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. He shot 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from the field and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) at the free throw line.
Other nominees included: Boise State senior forward Robert Arnold … Idaho junior guard Deremy Geiger … Louisiana Tech senior guard DeAndre Brown … Nevada junior forward Dario Hunt … New Mexico State junior forward Troy Gillenwater.
LOUISIANA TECH CLAIMS 2K SPORTS COACHES VS. CANCER IRVINE SUBREGIONAL
Behind a career-high 26 points by senior guard DeAndre Brown, Louisiana Tech beat UC-Irvine 76-72 Nov. 21 at the Bren Center in Irvine, Calif. The win marked Tech’s fourth win in five days and third win in the three games in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer and was named MVP of the Irvine subregional.
HAWAI‘I WINS 2010 RAINBOW CLASSIC TITLE
Hawai‘i captured the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic title with a hard-earned 65-62 victory over Central Michigan in the championship game on Nov. 15. With the win, UH improved to 3-0 on the season for its best start in six years. The nationally-televised game—which tipped of at 11:00 p.m. local time—was emotionally charged from the get-go with the Rainbow Warriors eventually grinding out the win. The lead changed hands 11 times, including seven times in the second half, before UH took the lead for good at the four-minute mark and held off the Chippewa squad. Senior guard Hiram Thompason was named the Tournament MVP. The win gave UH its 12th all-time Rainbow Classic title and first since the tournament went to a four-team, round-robin format in 2009.
ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS
For the ninth 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 February 19. 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 HEADS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2011 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 9-12 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and will include the top eight teams in the regular-season standings. Ticket information will be available soon at www.wacsports.com.
WAC ANNOUNCES TOURNAMENT FORMAT CHANGE
The WAC will change its postseason men’s and women’s basketball tournament format, effective for the 2011 tournament. The change was recommended by both the WAC men’s and women’s basketball coaches and approved by the WAC Board of Directors. The change will reward teams based on regular season success, giving the top two teams byes into the tournament semifinals. Under the format, the tournament will begin on Wednesday with two men’s and two women’s games featuring the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and No. 6 versus No. 7. The winners then advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal matchups to play the No. 4 and No. 3 seeds. The winners of those games then advance to Friday’s semifinals against the top two seeds. The change also results in two men’s and two women’s games being played each day of the tournament except for Saturday, which will feature the men’s and women’s championship games.