WAC NOTES
NEVADA’S BURTON NAMED VERIZON WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nevada’s Deonte Burton has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4. The honor marks the second career WAC Player of the Week award for Burton.
Burton, a sophomore guard from Los Angeles, Calif. (Compton Centennial HS), led the Wolf Pack to a 76-73 win over Washington on ESPNU last week. Burton scored a game-high 31 points in leading Nevada to the upset victory in overtime as the Pack rallied from a 10-point second half deficit. Burton hit a three-point field goal with 4.3 seconds to go in the game to force overtime. His 3-pointer with 1:41 to play in overtime put the Pack up to stay 72-70. In the overtime period, he scored Nevada’s first eight points and the Pack’s final two points of the game. With 5:54 to play in the second half, Burton hit a 3-pointer which was the start of a run that saw him score 19 of Nevada’s next 22 points.
The game marks Burton’s first career 30-point game at Nevada and the 31 points is the high in the WAC this season. He tied career highs with four 3-pointers made and six attempted. The 40 minutes played, nine field goals made and 18 field goals attempted are also career highs. In addition to his 31 points, Burton also tallied a game-high six assists and six rebounds.
Other nominees included: Fresno State sophomore guard Kevin Olekaibe … Idaho sophomore guard Stephen Madison … Louisiana Tech junior forward J.L. Lewis … New Mexico State senior forward Wendell McKines … San Jose State junior guard James Kinney.
WEEK 4 WAC HIGHLIGHTS
Nevada’s thrilling 76-73 overtime victory over Washington on ESPNU highlighted the week. Deonte Burton scored a career-high 31 points in the win and hit a game-tying three-point field goal to send the game to overtime before scoring 10 points in overtime to secure the win. Fresno State went 2-0 last week with a pair of wins over Academy of Art and Utah. The win over Utah marked the WAC’s second win of the week over a Pac-12 team. Kevin Olekaibe led the Bulldogs to the pair of victories, averaging 20 points per game. San Jose State’s James Kinney had an impressive week, averaging 27.3 points while shooting 53.1 percent from the field in three games. Kinney scored 30 points in a SJSU win over future WAC member UTSA.
INDIVIDUAL WAC SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCES RANK NATIONALLY
New Mexico State’s Christian Kabongo connected on a perfect 15-of-15 free throws against Southern Miss on Nov. 25 at the Great Alaska Shootout. The 15-of-15 effort ranks as the top single game free throw mark in the nation this season. Utah State’s Preston Medlin hit eight three-point field goals in a win at Idaho State on Nov. 26. That performance is the fourth-best mark in the nation this season.
UTAH STATE’S HOME WIN STREAK ENDS AT 33
Utah State had its 33-game home winning streak snapped in its last home game against Denver, 67-54, which was the third-longest active streak in the nation and the second-longest in school history. USU had also won 17 straight home games against non-conference opponents before its loss to the Pioneers. The last team to defeat USU at home prior to its loss to Denver was Saint Mary’s (68-63) on Dec. 5, 2009. USU also had won 29 straight home games during the month of November prior to its loss to Denver as its last home loss during November was on Nov. 26, 1996 to Utah (60-41).Overall, Utah State has won 85 of its last 88 home games and is now 195-14 (.933) at home under head coach Stew Morrill.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2012 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 7-10 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and will include all eight WAC teams. Ticket information and tournament format will be available soon at www.wacsports.com.
ESPN SEARS BRACKETBUSTERS
For the 10th year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for ESPN Sears BracketBusters, a weekend men’s basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All eight WAC teams will be a part of this year’s pool of teams. The event will be held February 18. The match-ups for Sears BracketBuster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences about three weeks before the event.
WAC-TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs (4-4, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State went 2-0 at home last week to even up its overall record to 4-4 ... the Bulldogs defeated Academy of Art 85-55 before downing Utah 82-52 ... the Bulldogs got back in the win column behind a 25-point night by shooting guard Kevin Olekaibe ... Olekaibe reached double-digits through the net for the ninth straight game on seven of 16 from the field ... on the defensive end of the floor, Olekaibe tied a career-high with four steals and pulled down a season-best six rebounds ... against Utah, Kevin Foster scored a career-high 16 points, Olekaibe and Steven Shepp both reached 15 points each, and Jonathan Wills added 11 for Fresno State, who never trailed in the contest ... Shepp also dished out eight assists for the Bulldogs, who shot a season-high 58.2 percent from the floor to register the 30-point victory and the largest in program history over a school currently in the Pac-12.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors (2-3, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai‘i got off to a quick start but lost momentum in the second half in a 73-67 loss to Pepperdine Saturday night at Firestone Fieldhouse ... freshman point guard Shaquille Stokes led UH with 18 points while Joston Thomas added 15 ... junior Hauns Brereton finished with a career-high 14 point with all his points coming in the second half ... the key play of the game occurred with five minutes remaining in the game and UH trailing 57-51 when Vander Joaquim was assessed a personal foul, then received a pair of technical fouls, earning an ejection ... Pepperdine was rewarded six straight free throws, with Corbin Moore converting five of those to give the Waves a 62-51 lead ... a total of four players fouled out for UH, including leading scorer Zane Johnson, who finished with a season-low nine points ... UH will continue it two-game California road trip with a meeting against Pacific on Tuesday.
Idaho Vandals (4-3, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-1 last week with a 73-66 setback at home against Eastern Washington and a 94-74 victory on the road over UC Davis ... against EWU, the Eagles opened the game on a 21-4 run over the first nine minutes, extended its lead to as many as 20 points at 27-7 and maintained its lead for the remainder of the game ... junior center Kyle Barone led Idaho with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 6-of-7 from the free throw line ... Idaho took care of business from start to finish in a 94-74 road victory over UC Davis Saturday ... the win is Idaho’s third in its last four games, and the Vandals improve to 4-3 overall ... the Vandals shot a season-high 56.1 percent from the field, connecting on 32-of-57 shots, including 12-of-20 3-pointers ... freshman Connor Hill was responsible to for five of Idaho’s 3’s, and he finished with a career-high 17 points in just 12 minutes off the bench.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech went 1-1 last week on the road, falling 72-69 in overtime at Southeastern Louisiana before taking a 73-71 victory at Louisiana-Monroe ... a three-pointer from sophomore guard Cordarius Johnson hit off the front rim as the Louisiana Tech fell 72-69 in overtime to intrastate rival Southeastern Louisiana as junior forward J.L. Lewis’ recorded his first career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, both career-highs ... LA Tech escaped with a 73-71 victory over I-20 foe Louisiana Monroe as a half-court shot from the Warhawks hit off the back of the rim at the buzzer as freshman guard Raheem Appleby scored a game-high 19 points for the Bulldogs ... the victory extended Tech’s winning streak over the Warhawks to four straight with the two-point margin of victory being the closest in the series since a 63-61 Bulldog victory on Jan. 10, 1986.
Nevada Wolf Pack (5-3, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada went 1-0 last week with a thrilling overtime victory over Washington ... Deonte Burton scored 31 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation and eight of Nevada’s 10 points in overtime, as the Wolf Pack defeated Washington 76-73 on Friday night ... Nevada trailed 65-60 with 34 seconds remaining in regulation ... Malik Story, who finished with 13 points, hit a 3-pointer with 16.4 seconds left and, after a Washington free throw, Burton made his shot behind the arc with 4.3 seconds to go ... Terrance Ross, who led Washington (4-2) with 18 points, scored the first four points in overtime before Burton registered a three-point play and hit a 3-pointer to put the Wolf Pack ahead 72-70 with 1:39 left ... Nevada led 74-71 with 45 seconds left when Ross cut the lead to a point with a short jumper ... Burton fed Kevin Panzer for a baseline jumper with 18.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.
New Mexico State Aggies (5-3, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State went 0-2 last week with an 83-76 loss at home to Arizona and a 74-66 setback at Southern Miss ... NM State fell short against Arizona, 83-76, in its first home game inside the Pan American Center versus a BCS school since December 2005 ... redshirt senior forward Wendell McKines had a career high for the Aggies with 28 points and a 4-of-7 performance from the 3-point line ... he also recorded his fourth double-double of the season and 31st of his career with 10 rebounds ... The Aggies made a late comeback against Southern Miss but couldn’t recover from a slow start ... with his first field goal of the game, redshirt senior forward Wendell McKines became the 28th member of the 1,000-point club at NM State, finishing the game 15 points ... Christian Kabongo led all scorers with 21 points. Senior guard Hernst Laroche was also in double-digits with 12 points.
San Jose Spartans (3-5, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State went 1-2 last week with a 77-70 loss at home to Montana State, a 72-66 victory at home over UTSA and a 91-89 double overtime loss at Weber State ... San Jose State guard James Kinney scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, but that was not enough as Montana State pulled away from the Spartans in the final four minutes for the win ... Kinney scored a career-high 30 points and Keith Shamburger added 18 points and a career-high 11 assists leading the Spartans to a come-from-behind victory over UTSA ... Forward Wil Carter scored a career-high 19 points, Calvin Douglas popped for a season-high 18 points Kinney poured in 23 of his 28 points after halftime, but Weber State outlasted SJSU in a double-overtime contest ... the Spartans return to action, Wednesday, December 7, taking on nationally-ranked California in a 7:30 p.m. in Berkely.
Utah State Aggies (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State went 0-2 last week with a 67-54 loss at home to future WAC member Denver before a 65-57 setback at Pacific ... Utah State’s 33-game home winning streak came to a halt with the loss to Denver Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum ... the Pioneers shot a scorching 52.1 percent from the field for the game in dealing the Aggies their first home loss since Dec. 5, 2009, breaking USU’s 33-game home win streak which was the third-longest in the country ... sophomore guard Preston Medlin scored 15 points and junior forward Kyisean Reed added 13, but Utah State dropped its second-straight game in losing at Pacific ... for USU, it is its first back-to-back losses since the end of the 2009-10 season as the Aggies are below .500 for the first time since it was 3-4 during the 2007-08 campaign ... Utah State returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 6 when it hosts Utah Valley in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum at 7 p.m.