THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
February 8 (Monday)
*New Mexico State def. Louisiana Tech, 70-68
Television: ESPN Regional
February 10 (Wednesday)
*Nevada at Idaho, 8:00 p.m. PT
Television: ESPN2
February 11 (Thursday)
*Utah State at Boise State, 7:00 p.m. MT
*New Mexico State at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m. PT
Television: AggieVision
February 13 (Saturday)
*Boise State at Nevada, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Utah State at San Jose State, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Idaho at Fresno State, 7:00 p.m. PT
*Hawai‘i at Louisiana Tech, 8:00 p.m. CT
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (11-12, 2-8 WAC)
Boise State dropped a 79-55 decision at home to in-state rival Idaho on Saturday night ... the Broncos were led by Daequon Montreal, who scored 16 points. Boise State shot 45 percent from the floor but had 19 turnovers and made just 4-14 from behind the 3-point line ... La’Shard Anderson also reached double digits with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including a 2-of-3 mark from long range ... Paul Noonan and Robert Arnold each had eight points in the losss ... Boise State looks to get back on track this week as the team hosts Utah State on Thursday night before traveling to play Nevada on Saturday night.
Fresno State Bulldogs (12-12, 5-5 WAC)
Fresno State defeated Hawai‘i 61-51 Saturday night in Honolulu ... sophomore Mike Ladd scored a team-high 18 points to lead four `Dogs in double figures for the tenth time this season ... the three others were Greg Smith (16), Sylvester Seay (13) and Steven Shepp (11) ... Fresno State knocked down eight 3-pointers and forced 19 turnovers on the evening ... Fresno State returns home next week for a two-game homestand with contests against New Mexico State on Thursday and Idaho on Saturday.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors (9-14, 2-8 WAC)
Hawai‘i lost its fifth straight game with a 61-51 setback to Fresno State Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center ... the ’Bows lost despite a strong effort from senior wing Roderick Flemings who finished with 21 points and eight rebounds ... however, the rest of the team struggled, including another tough night from beyond the arc ... UH went just 2-of-14 on 3-pointers and 7-of-13 from the free throw line as the ’Bows finished with a season-low 51 points. The ’Bows also turned the ball over 19 times ... UH now heads back on the road and will face Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Feb. 13.
Idaho Vandals (11-11, 3-7 WAC)
Idaho split a pair of games last week, dropping an 80-62 decision at Utah State before defeating rival Boise State 79-55 in Boise ... senior center Marvin Jefferson hit eight of his 11 attempts from the field for a career-high 17 points, while also leading the team with six rebounds and a pair of blocks against Utah State ... in the victory over Boise State, Luciano De Souza connected on four of his six attempts from the 3-point line and all four free throws to give him a career-high-tying 16 points ... seniors Kashif Watson and Mac Hopson contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Hopson also added a team-high five assists ... this week, Idaho hosts Nevada on Wednesday (ESPN2) evening before traveling to play Fresno State on Saturday.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (19-5, 7-3 WAC)
Louisiana Tech has gone 1-1 in its past two games ... last week, LA Tech used a 15-0 start to beat San Jose State 71-64 ... senior Magnum Rolle led Tech with 21 points and added five rebounds and four blocks ... he was 8-for-14 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Senior Kyle Gibson scored 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting ... after leading by 15 and being down by as much as 17, Louisiana Tech lost to New Mexico State 70-68 on a last-second shot Monday at the Pan American Center ... the Bulldogs shot a season-low 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from the free throw line and were outscored in bench points 25-2 ... Rolle led Tech with 18 points and had seven rebounds, five offensive.
Nevada Wolf Pack (13-9, 5-4 WAC)
Despite Luke Babbitt’s 20 points and nine rebounds, Nevada took a 76-65 loss at Utah State Saturday night in the team’s lone game of the week ... Armon Johnson helped with 19 points while Joey Shaw added 14 ... the Wolf Pack also fell to 2-7 on the road this season (2-3 in WAC play) ... Saturday’s game started a stretch of five of seven games on the road for Nevada ... Johnson dished out five assists and moved into seventh in the Nevada career record book with 376 assists, jumping past Mike Mardian who had 374 from 1974-76 ... The 65 points were a low for Nevada in WAC play this year ... Nevada shot 44.1 percent for the game ... Nevada blocked nine shots in the game, including three each from Babbitt and sophomore Dario Hunt.
New Mexico State Aggies (15-8, 8-2 WAC)
New Mexico State has gone 2-0 in its past two games ... last week, Jahmar Young was one of five New Mexico State players in double figures in a 94-82 victory over San Jose State ... Young paced the Aggies with 25 points and five assists ... Jonathan Gibson added 20 on 4 of 6 shooting from 3-point range as NMSU was 10 of 20 from long distance ... New Mexico State sophomore guard Hernst Laroche hit a jumper from the free throw line with 1.1 seconds left to lift NMSU to a 70-68 victory over Louisiana Tech on Monday ... with the game tied at 68-68, Aggies guard Jahmar Young missed a jumper from the top of the key, but the rebound found its way to Laroche, who hit a 15-footer from straight away ...Young led the Aggies with 20 points.
San Jose Spartans (12-11, 5-6 WAC)
San Jose State dropped a pair of road games last week, falling 71-64 at Louisiana Tech before taking a 94-82 loss to New Mexico State ... Justin Graham had one of his best games of the season scoring 15 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and getting credit for 3 steals in the loss at LA Tech ... Robert Owens tied a San Jose State single-game school record with seven 3-point baskets and led all players with 29 points at NM State ... Owens was 7-of-12 from 3-point range to tie the mark matched by Mac Peterson against Fresno State and set by Terrance Richmond in a 1998 game at Montana ... for the night, Owens was 10-of-18 from the field and even converted a four-point play in the second half ... SJSU hosts Utah State on Saturday night.
Utah State Aggies (18-6, 8-2 WAC)
Utah State went 2-0 at home last week, defeating Idaho 80-62 before taking down Nevada 76-65 ... junior guard Brian Green scored 16 points, hitting four three-pointers to lead Utah State against Idaho on ESPN2 ... Green, who made his first five shots from the field and all four of his three-pointers, was one of five Aggies in double-figures, marking the third time this season that USU has done so, winning all three times ... against Nevada, junior forward Tai Wesley netted 19 points, while junior guard Pooh Williams chipped in with 16 points, one shy of his season and career-high ... sophomore forward Brady Jardine came off the bench to post 13 points, his third double-digit scoring outing in the last four games and fourth in the last six contests.
WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE’S YOUNG NAMED VERIZON WIRELESS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State’s Jahmar Young has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 1-7. The honor marks the third career WAC Player of the Week award for Young.
Young, a junior guard from Baltimore, Md. (W.E.B. Dubois HS), led New Mexico State to a 94-82 win over San Jose State last week. Young scored a team-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-6 mark from three-point range. Young also connected on 5-of-5 shots from the free throw line. Additionally, he dished out five assists, pulled down three rebounds and recorded a blocked shot.
Other nominees included: Idaho senior forward Luciano de Souza … Louisiana Tech senior forward Magnum Rolle … Utah State junior forward Tai Wesley.
WAC SELECTED FOR FOUR BRACKETBUSTERS TELEVISION MATCHUPS
For an eighth-straight year, the WAC is participating in BracketBusters -- a two-day men’s college basketball event pitting NCAA Tournament hopefuls. WAC teams have secured four of the 11 televised games, including Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State and Utah State.
WAC Televised BracketBusters Games
Sat., 2/20, Louisiana Tech at Northeastern, 1 p.m. (ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com)
Sat., 2/20, Nevada at Missouri State, 3 p.m. (ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com)
Sat., 2/20, New Mexico State at Pacific, 10 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sat., 2/20, Wichita State at Utah State, 11:59 p.m. (ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com)
WAC Non-Televised BracketBusters Games
UC Santa Barbara at Fresno State, 7:30 p.m. PT
San Jose State at Montana State, 7 p.m. MT
Long Beach State at Idaho, 5:30 p.m. PT
UC Davis at Boise State, TBA
Cal Poly at Hawai‘i, 8 p.m. HT
WAC WEDNESDAYS ON ESPN2
The Wednesday, Jan. 13 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 and ESPN Regional Television as 11 games will be broadcast this season on those networks.
WAC TEAMS AMONG NATIONAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
As of Feb. 7, teams from the WAC rank in the top-25 in 11 team statistical categories. Individual players rank in the top-25 in seven individual categories. Utah State holds the highest team mark as it ranks second the nation in both free throw percentage (77.4 percent). USU also ranks third nationally in three-point field goal percentage with a 41.6 percent clip. Individually, Nevada’s Luke Babbitt holds the highest individual ranking as he ranks fifth nationally with 14 double-doubles.
WAC AND THE RPI
The WAC’s RPI stays steady at 10 this week as a conference. The WAC has four teams in the top-100, including Utah State (53), New Mexico State (67), Louisiana Tech (73) and Nevada (78) according to the CollegeRPI.com.
WAC BOASTS FIVE OF THE TOP SCORERS IN THE NATION
As of Feb. 7, four players in the WAC rank in the top-17 nationally in scoring. All four players hold scoring averages of 21.4 or better. San Jose State’s Adrian Oliver holds the top scoring mark in the league at 22.3 points per game, ranking him seventh nationally. Louisiana Tech’s Kyle Gibson averages 21.5 points per contest and ranks 15th nationally while Nevada’s Luke Babbitt and NM State’s Jahmar Young each rank 17th with a 21.4 per game average.
UTAH STATE’S STEW MORRILL REACHES 500 WINS
Utah State’s Stew Morrill achieved a coaching milestone on Jan. 23 as the Aggies defeated Idaho 60-48 to give Morrill his 500th career victory and become one of just 19 active coaches and just the 73rd coach in Division I history to record 500 career wins. Among his now 503 wins, Morrill has posted a 285-97 mark in 12 seasons at Utah State as he is the school’s all-time winningest coach. He recently tied E. Lowell Romney (1920-41) for the most games coached in school history tonight at 382.
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 Points
Kyle Gibson, Sr, Louisiana Tech, 1,582
*Jonathan Gibson, Sr., NM State, 1,366
*Jahmar Young, Jr., NM State, 1,280
*Armon Johnson, Jr., Nevada, 1,256
*Brandon Fields, Sr., Nevada, 1,099
*Tai Wesley, Jr., Utah State, 1,086
*Luke Babbitt, So., Nevada, 1,043
*denotes that player reached 1,000 points during the 2009-10 season.
SJSU’S OLIVER NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR JAN. 18-24
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has selected San Jose State guard Adrian Oliver as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week of Sunday, Jan. 24. The USBWA’s weekly honor is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and will be handed out each Tuesday through Feb. 23 this season.
As the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week, Oliver was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week.
Oliver, a 6-4 junior from Modesto, Calif., had a career-high 39 points in an 87-76 win over Louisiana Tech last Thursday that ended the Bulldogs’ 10-game winning streak. He followed that up with 22 points in a 93-84 win against New Mexico State on Saturday. In both games, he played 38 minutes and had five assists.
For the week, Oliver shot 54.3 percent from the field (19-for-35) and was 19-for-20 from the free-throw line. He also averaged three rebounds and two steals in the two San Jose State wins. Oliver now has four straight 20-plus point efforts and the Spartans boast their best conference record (4-3) since 1999.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA. The winner of the 2010 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced and presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the USBWA’s annual awards breakfast on Fri., April 5 in Indianapolis, site of the 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
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.
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.
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.
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 167-55. In conference games, Nevada has won 84 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 167-55 (.752)
2. Nevada 162-59 (.733)
3. Boise State 125-91 (.579)
WAC Record (Pct.)
1. Nevada 84-25 (.771)
2. Utah State 54-20 (.729)
3. Boise State 62-66 (.484)