WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (6-1, 0-0 WAC)
The Broncos went 1-1 last week, defeating Northern Illinois, 80-51 on the road before dropping a 69-66 decision at home to Long Beach State ... La’Shard Anderson led the Broncos with 17 points and five assists against Northern Illinois in the Broncos’ 80-51 victory ... the win improved the Broncos’ record to 6-0, matching the longest winning streak to start a season in school history (1987-88) ... Anderson followed the performance with 13 points, three assists and five steals against Long Beach State. Although the Broncos lost 69-66, the team was one of the final 20 unbeaten teams in the nation ... Boise State travels to play UNLV on Wednesday before traveling to play Drake on Sunday.
Fresno State Bulldogs (1-5, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State went 0-2 on the week road games at Utah and Colorado State ... 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 in Fresno State’s 76-63 loss at Utah on Tuesday ... later in the week, sophomore shooting guard Garrett Johnson hit all five of his 3-point attempts for a career-high 17 points and Olekaibe notched his fourth consecutive game with double-digits in scoring with a career-best 15 points as Fresno State lost 87-74 to CSU ... Fresno State finishes a three-game road trip on Tuesday night at San Diego and returns home on Saturday evening to face Pepperdine.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (5-2, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i went 0-2 last week, dropping its first two games of the season ... the Rainbows dropped a 54-53 heartbreaker at the buzzer in regulation at Cal Poly ... the team then lost a 78-57 decision to No. 21 BYU ... Zane Johnson led Hawai‘i with 11 points and four assists against Cal Poly ... Joston Thomas added 10 points while freshman Bobby Miles and Trevor Wiseman each contributed 8 ... against BYU, senior Hiram Thompson led UH with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting, while Thomas added 12 points and six rebounds ... sophomore post Vander Joaquim continued his strong play with 12 points and 12 rebounds, marking the first double-double UH performance this season ... UH hosts Hawaii Pacific on Saturday.
Idaho Vandals (5-3, 0-0 WAC)
The Vandals went 3-0 at the Basketball Travelers Classic over the weekend with victories over North Dakota, Monmouth and Eastern Michigan … Idaho has now won four straight games, which is the team’s longest non-conference win streak since the 1989-90 season … junior forward Luiz Toledo was named to the Basketball Travelers Classic All-Tournament Team, while junior guard Deremy Geiger was named Most Outstanding Player … Idaho’s .581 (25-43) shooting performance against Monmouth is the best in the WAC so far this season … Idaho is averaging 4.6 blocks per game this season ... the Vandals averaged 3.1 blocks last season … Idaho travels to play Seattle on Saturday.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (7-2, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech had a 2-0 week with wins over SMU and ULM ... the Bulldogs shot 47.9 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from three-point range during the week ... Brandon Gibson averaged 15.5 points on the week and recorded his first career double-double in the win over SMU ... junior forward Olu Ashaolu scored a career-high 24 points and Tech shot 53.8 percent from three-point range against ULM ... it was Tech’s 13th consecutive home win against non-conference opponents ... the Bulldogs continue its play of in-state schools with a game at Northwestern State on Tuesday.
Nevada Wolf Pack (1-7, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada is 0-2 in its last two contests ... the Wolf Pack dropped an 82-70 decision against No. 24 UNLV on Saturday before taking a 64-61 setback at Houston on Monday ... Deonte Burton and Malik Story each scored 15 points while Dario Hunt added 14 points and 13 rebounds for Nevada (1-6) against UNLV ... against Houston, Malik Story scored 21 points and Dario Hunt finished with 18 rebounds for the Wolf Pack (1-7), who lost their seventh straight ... Kevin Panzer had 11 rebounds to help Nevada outrebound Houston 53-35 ... this week, Nevada hosts San Francisco State on Saturday.
New Mexico State Aggies (2-6, 0-0 WAC)
In the second Sonic Battle of I-10 game of the season, the Aggies fall to UTEP, 74-72, Nov. 30 in Las Cruces ... junior forward Troy Gillenwater led the Aggies with 22 points and 10 rebounds, his second consecutive double-double, and freshman guard Christian Kabongo added 13 points ... the Aggies then suffered an overtime heartbreaker against in-state rival New Mexico, 84-78, Dec. 4 ... Gillenwater scored a career-high 32 points and senior guard Gordo Castillo added 11 points with junior guard Hernst Laroche supplying 13 ... this week, New Mexico State travels to play rival New Mexico on Saturday ... the game will be televised live on the Mtn.
San Jose Spartans (5-2, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State went 1-1 last week, dropping a 72-63 decision at UTSA before downing UC Irvine 85-70 ... with the 1-1 road split, San Jose State now is 3-2 on the road and is one of 13 NCAA Division I teams with at least three road wins this year .. the Spartans’ 5-2 overall record is the their best record through seven games since the 1997 season ... against UTSA, Justin Graham led the Spartans with 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds ... four Spartans scored in double figures and two had double-doubles as SJSU defeated UC Irvine ... Chris Jones set season highs in points (15), rebounds (11) and assists (4) and Wil Carter equaled his season highs with 12 points and 12 rebounds ... SJSU hosts Santa Clara and Eastern Washington this week.
Utah State Aggies (5-2, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State went 1-1 last week with a 61-53 win at Denver and a 68-51 setback at No. 14 Georgetown ... junior guard Brockeith Pane just missed his first career double-double as he scored 13 points and added a career-high nine rebounds to lead Utah State to the win at Denver ... senior guard Brian Green lead all scorers with 14 points off the bench for Utah State against the Pioneers ... at Georgetown, junior guard Pooh Williams led Utah State with nine points as the Aggies did not have a double-figure scorer in a game for the first time since Dec. 7, 1999 at Utah ... this week, USU hosts Long Beach State on Tuesday before welcoming Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday.
WAC NOTES
SAN JOSE STATE’S GRAHAM NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
San Jose State’s Justin Graham has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 5. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Graham.
Graham, a senior guard from Ripon, Calif. (Ripon HS), led San Jose State with a pair of back-to-back 20-plus point performances for the first time in his career as the Spartans split a pair of road games last week. Graham posted 20 points with a career-high 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 72-63 loss at UTSA. He extended his streak of made three-point baskets to six with a 2-for-2 performance in the game. Graham led the Spartans with 21 points, a team-high five assists and four steals, plus six rebounds in 37 minutes of play in an 85-70 road win at UC Irvine.
On the week, Graham averaged a team-high 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game. He shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field and 60 percent (3-of-5) from three-point range.
Other nominees included: Boise State senior guard La’Shard Anderson ... Fresno State freshman guard Kevin Olekaibe … Idaho junior guard Deremy Geiger … Louisiana Tech sophomore guard Brandon Gibson … Nevada freshman guard Denote Burton … New Mexico State junior forward Troy Gillenwater … Utah State senior guard Pooh Williams.
WAC TEAMS AMONG NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
As of Dec. 5, teams from the WAC rank in the top-25 in six team statistical categories. Individual WAC players rank in the top-25 in four individual categories. San Jose State holds the highest team mark as it ranks seventh in the nation in free throw percentage (78.7 percent). Individually, San Jose State’s Adrian Oliver ranks seventh nationally in scoring at 24.9 points per game, while Utah State’s Tai Wesley ranks seventh in field goal percentage (66.1 percent).
WAC TEAMS OFF TO STONG START
Six WAC teams are off to impressive starts to begin the 2010-11 season. Boise State, Louisiana Tech, Hawai‘i, San Jose State, Utah State and Idaho have a combined 33-12 start this season. Boise State started the season with a perfect 6-0 mark, matching its best start in school history. The last time Boise State started 6-0, the team won the Big Sky title and made the NCAA Tournament. San Jose State’s four November wins were the most by the team since the 1972-73 season. Idaho’s current four-game win streak marks the Vandals’ longest non-conference win streak since Idaho won seven in a row during the 1989-90 season.
UTAH STATE HOLDS NATIONS EIGHTH-LONGEST HOME WIN STREAK
Utah State has won 17 straight home games and 69 of its last 71 overall with its only losses during that stretch coming against Saint Mary’s (68-63) on Dec. 5, 2009 and against Fresno State (71-66) on March 3, 2007. Saint Mary’s snapped USU’s school-record 37-game home winning streak. Utah State’s 17-game home winning streak is the eighth-longest active winning streak in the nation. Kansas has the nation’s longest home winning streak (64), followed by Xavier (27), Duke (23), Kentucky (21), Murray State (21), Morehead State (18), Northern Iowa (18) and USU (17). The Aggies have won 24 straight WAC home games.
IDAHO WINS BASKETBALL TRAVELERS CLASSIC TITLE
Idaho extended its winning streak to four games with a 75-60 victory over Eastern Michigan on Sunday, capping off an exciting Basketball Travelers Classic tournament, which was the first regular-season tourney in Moscow since 1989. Idaho (5-3) went 3-0 at the tournament to claim the title.
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.