WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (12-9, 5-4 WAC)
Boise State went 0-2 last week with road losses at New Mexico State (96-87, OT) and Louisiana Tech (70-60) ... at NM State, La’Shard Anderson scored with 27 seconds remaining in regulation, sending the team into overtime against the Aggies, but then fell short in the extra stanza ... Anderson scored a team-high 21 points, Tre Nichols added a career-high 18 and Daequon Montreal chipped in 15 ... at Louisiana Tech, Anderson and Montreal led the Broncos with 14 points apiece, and Robert Arnold added 13 ... Montreal scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half, and Arnold tied his season high with three assists ... this week, Boise State hosts Hawai‘i on Thursday before traveling to take on Utah State on Saturday.
Fresno State Bulldogs (8-12, 3-6 WAC)
Fresno State dropped a pair of road games this past week at Nevada (79-76) and San Jose State (78-66) ... at Nevada, Tim Steed’s performance was one of the best by a Bulldog player all season long, with 26 points and nine rebounds ... Greg Smith had his seventh career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds ... Kevin Olekaibe scored 19 points hitting three three-point baskets ... at SJSU, Olekaibe, who scored 15 points in the half, made all of Fresno State’s three point field goals (6), leading the Dogs with a career-high of 29 points. was as close as the Dogs would get ... Smith scored 10 points and led the Dogs with nine rebounds ... Fresno State hosts New Mexico State on Thursday and Louisiana Tech Saturday.
Hawai‘i Rainbows (12-9, 3-6 WAC)
Hawai‘i nearly pulled off a monumental win before eventually succumbing to No. 25 Utah State 89-84 in double-overtime Saturday at home in the team’s lone game of the week ... Zane Johnson, who sat out the majority of the first half after being swiped in the head, led UH with 25 points, tying a career-high ... Bill Amis finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks ... Jermiah Ostrowski gave an inspirational performance ... suiting up mere days after the sudden death of his father, the junior guard gave UH a huge lift off the bench with a career game of 15 points, six assists and three steals in 38 minutes of action ... this week, Hawai‘i travels to the mainland to take on Boise State and Idaho.
Idaho Vandals (12-9, 5-4 WAC)
Idaho went 0-2 over the week … the Vandals committed a season-high 24 turnovers on Saturday at New Mexico State … Ledbetter hit 11 shots from 3-point range over the weekend to bring his season total to 57, which is second-most in the WAC this year … Idaho returns to the Cowan Spectrum this week when the Vandals host San Jose State and Hawai`i.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (11-12, 2-7 WAC)
Louisiana Tech broke its eight-game losing streak with home wins over Idaho and Boise State this week ... junior forward Olu Ashaolu added to his league leading double-double total with 24 points and 18 rebounds in the Bulldog’s 71-56 win over Idaho and 15 points and 10 rebounds in the 70-60 win over Boise State ... against Idaho, Tech shot a season-high 87.5 percent (21-24) from the free throw line ... the Bulldogs are 10-0 this season when shooting a better percentage from the floor than their opponent ... Tech will go for its third-straight win on Saturday at Fresno State in a game that will be televised on ESPNU.
Nevada Wolf Pack (8-13, 5-3 WAC)
Dario Hunt had 24 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night as Nevada held on to beat Fresno State 79-76 in the team’s lone contest of the week ... the 24-point, 11-rebound night marks Hunt’s eighth double-double of the season, ranking him second in the WAC ... Deonte Burton added 17 points and Malik Story 13 for the Wolf Pack, who won their fourth consecutive game ... Nevada, which was ahead 39-33 at halftime, led by as many as 13 points in the game ... the Wolf Pack outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-25 and had 14 second-chance points ... Jordan Burris also helped the Wolf Pack with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting ... this week, Nevada travels to play Utah State on Wednesday on ESPN2 before hosting San Jose State on Saturday.
New Mexico State Aggies (12-11, 6-3 WAC)
In their second overtime game of the season, the Aggies survived Boise State, 96-87, Jan. 27 ... junior forward Troy Gillenwater scored a career-high 34 points to lead NM State ... junior guard Hernst Laroche also had a career night with 24 points, and sophomore forward Tyrone Watson recorded his first double-double with a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds ... the Aggies swept the series with Idaho following a 73-65 win, Jan. 29 ... senior guard Gordo Castillo fired a game-high 19 points while junior forward Troy Gillenwater supplied 16 points for the Aggies ... junior center Hamidu Rahman was also in double figures with 11 points ... this week, NM State travels to play Fresno State on Thursday.
San Jose Spartans (10-10, 2-7 WAC)
San Jose State split a pair of home games this past week, falling to Utah State, 84-65, before taking down Fresno State, 78-66 ... against USU, Adrian Oliver poured in a conference scoring high 29 points and Keith Shamburger added 13 to pace San Jose State on offense ... the Spartans became just the fifth team to out-rebound the Aggies, the best rebounding team in the WAC, 32-27 ... Oliver was the game’s leading rebounder with eight ... in the win over Fresno State, -Adrian Oliver scored 18 of his 25 points in the first half propelling San Jose State to the victory ... Oliver was one of four Spartans in double-figure scoring as San Jose State ended a three-game losing streak ... this week, SJSU travels to play Idaho and Nevada.
Utah State Aggies (20-2, 9-0 WAC)
Utah State won a pair of road games this past week, defeating San Jose State (84-65) and Hawai‘i (89-84, 2OT) ... against SJSU, senior guard Brian Green scored a career-high 25 points and tied his career-high with six rebounds ... Green finished the game shooting 8-of-9 from the field, 5-of-5 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line ... at UH, Green scored 22 points, including a pair of game-tying shots at the end of regulation and again at the end of the first overtime ... Green, who added three rebounds and three assists in a career-high 38 minutes, finished the game shooting 7-of-13 from the field, 3-of-8 from three-point range and 5-of-6 at the free throw line ... this week, USU hosts Nevada on Wednesday and Boise State on Saturday.
WAC NOTES
UTAH STATE’S GREEN NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Brian Green has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 24-30. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Green.
Green, a senior guard from Kaysville, Utah (Davis HS/Salt Lake CC), led Utah State to a pair of WAC road wins last weekend at San Jose State (84-65) and at Hawai‘i (89-84 2OT).
Against the Spartans, Green scored a career-high 25 points and tied his career high with six rebounds as he was 8-of-9 from the field, 5-of-5 from three-point range and 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Green also tied a school record for shooting percentage from three in the game.
At Hawai‘i, Green posted 22 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists in a career-high 38 minutes. In the game, Green hit a pair of game-tying shots as he tied it at 66-all to send the game in overtime on a long two-pointer, and then hit a 30-footer late in the first overtime to tie the game at 73, sending it into another extra period. Green then sank four straight free throws in the final 0:06 of the second overtime to seal the victory.
On the week, Green averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He shot 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the field, 68.2 percent (8-of-13) from beyond the arc and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the free throw line.
Other nominees included: Boise State senior guard La’Shard Anderson … Fresno State freshman guard Kevin Olekaibe … Idaho senior guard Jeff Ledbetter … Louisiana Tech junior forward Olu Ashaolu … Nevada junior forward Dario Hunt … New Mexico State junior forward Troy Gillenwater … San Jose State senior guard Adrian Oliver.
2011 ESPN BRACKETBUSTER MATCHUPS ANNOUNCED
For an ninth-straight year, the WAC is participating in BracketBusters -- a two-day men’s college basketball event pitting NCAA Tournament hopefuls. WAC teams have secured one of the 11 television games, featuring No. 21 Utah State at Saint Mary’s.
WAC Televised BracketBusters Games
Sat., 2/29, Utah State at Saint Mary’s, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
WAC Non-Televised BracketBusters Games
Boise State at UC Santa Barbara
Hawai‘i at UC Davis
Idaho at Montana State
UC Riverside at Fresno State
Georgia State at Louisiana Tech
UC Irvine at Nevada
Northern Colorado at New Mexico State
Weber State at San Jose State
WAC WEDNESDAY NIGHTS ON ESPN2
Wednesday night, Feb. 2, will be the second of five Wednesday night WAC games featured on ESPN2 when No. 21 Utah State hosts Nevada at 9 p.m. MT
UTAH STATE RANKED 21st IN ESPN/USA TODAY COACHES’ POLL, 22nd IN AP POLL
Utah State continued its climb up the national polls this week and is now ranked 21st in the nation in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll released Monday and 22nd in the latest Associated Press poll. USU was ranked 25th in last week’s coaches’ poll and 30th in the AP poll.
UTAH STATE BREAKS WAC RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WAC GAMES WON
Utah State has won a WAC record 23 straight league games, including 11 straight on the road. USU’s 23 game win streak breaks Utah’s mark of 19 straight during the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Overall, USU has won 41 of its last 45 WAC games and is 49-8 (.859) in WAC play during the last four years.
BOISE STATE AND SAN JOSE STATE TIE WAC RECORD WITH FOUR-OVERTIME GAME
Boise State defeated San Jose State 102-101 in four overtimes on Jan. 6. The four overtime game ties the WAC record for most overtimes played in a single game. The only other time two teams played a game that went into four overtimes was on March 3, 1983 when New Mexico defeated Hawai‘i 63-61 in Honolulu.
WAC TEAMS AMONG NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
As of Jan. 30, teams from the WAC rank in the top-25 in seven team statistical categories. Individual WAC players rank in the top-25 in six individual categories. Utah State holds the highest team mark as it ranks sixth in the nation in rebound margin (8.7). Individually, Utah State’s Tyler Newbold holds the highest individual mark as he ranks second in assist/turnover ratio at 3.58. San Jose State’s Adrian Oliver ranks fourth nationally in scoring at 23.7 ppg.
UTAH STATE HOLDS NATION’S THIRD-LONGEST HOME WIN STREAK, THIRD-LONGEST OVERALL WIN STREAK
Utah State has won 26 straight home games and 78 of its last 80 overall with its only losses 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 26-game home winning streak is the third-longest active winning streak in the nation behind Duke (31) and Kentucky (29). The Aggies also hold the nation’s third-longest overall win streak at 15 games, following only Ohio State (22) and Coastal Carolina (18).
WAC TOURNAMENT HEADS TO LAS VEGAS, TICKETS NOW ON SALE
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 is available at www.wacbasketballtournament.com.