Scores so far tonight

(host) Boise State 81, New Mexico State 78
Nick Jezierny tweeted the game

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(host) Utah State 39, San Jose State 38 at the half, 28 fouls have been called
Tony Jones is tweeting the game
Kraig Williams is also tweeting

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(host) Nevada 82, Hawaii 47 with four minutes remaining
Brian McInnis is tweeting the game

8 WAC teams trip the light fantastic on New Year's Eve

Hawaii now faces a youthful Nevada squad in Reno but it's really a newcomer versus newcomer matchup. Here's Brian McInnis, Dayton Morinaga and Jeff Portnoy.

Pat Hosier at Silver and Blue Sports goes numerical. We didn't realize that Dario Hunt is averaging a double-double. Joe Santoro is here with his game preview.

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New Mexico State now comes up against Boise on the road. Jason Groves looks at the health of the Aggie Big 3. Nick Jezierny covers Robert Arnold, the hot hand and what is a feel for the game.

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It's nothing new but Adrian Oliver will be the focus of the Utah State defense. Kraig Williams, Shawn Harrison plus Craig Hislop and Tony Jones are all over the pairing. Are enough students back in Logan to pack The Spectrum?

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Idaho and Louisiana Tech tangle in Moscow and Bulldog athletics has a preview.

A Thursday p.m. edition

Jason Groves offers a new concept -- we like it -- with this blog entry -- check it out here.

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Chris Murray must have downed a Red Bull or two -- no plug intended -- producing this flurry of articles:

* the Wolf Pack is favored against Hawaii
* keys to the game and a prediction here
* Carter's squad is ready for a clean break here

Thursday's opening night game reports

It was Wesley power -- 27/13 -- that propelled Utah State to a home victory over a very game Hawaii.

There's a bevy of game reports: Kraig Williams, Shawn Harrison, Tony Jones (plus a blog entry), Weston Mangum, plus Craig Peterson's 40 game photos. From the alternate perspective, Dayton Morinaga, and Jeff Hunter.

Jeff Portnoy notes that his radio show is switching days.

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Celebrating his entry into this world, Troy Gillenwater returned from injury and led the Aggies to a road win up in Moscow.

Sam Wasson is here, the Sun-News is here and Jason Groves has posted a blog entry on the game.Josh Wright twittered the game and also reports that Idaho frontcourter Djim Bandoumel is academically ineligible -- that was quick. Josh's game report is here.

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Fresno State, in its best game of the season and powered by Smith and Steed, turned back visiting San Jose State.

Marek Warszawsk's game report is here

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A 20-2 start by Boise State left visiting Louisiana Tech in the dust.

Nick Jezierny was present and offers this game report. The Daily Bronco has every number you could ever want on the game.

Early scores

* (host) Utah State 77, Hawaii 66

* New Mexico 74, (host) Idaho 69
It was tied at 44 with 11:49 remaining

* (host) Boise State is leading LA TECH 60-39 with 7:42 remaining
It was BSU 36, LA TECH 14 at halftime 

* (host) Fresno State is leading San Jose State 33-29 at the half

+++ Responding to the comment posted here, my very bad. Not sure why I typed that but there's no excuse for such a mistake.

The WAC evening edition

The evening edition is as chock full as our a.m. one.

Thanks to albelpasowho for posting this at the Aggie Alert MB:a Texas State Bobcat Report interview with Karl Benson. Key quote: Benson acknowledged a 3 to 5 year plan to extend membership to some combination of Cal Poly, Sacramento State, UC-Davis, Montana, Montana State – plus “some Texas schools to join us whenever they are ready”.

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Jason Groves offers his look at the WAC as of today.

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Chris Murray goes lengthy with rights, wrongs and predictions throughout the WAC.

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Tony Jones blogs the keys to USU winning versus Hawaii.

Plus, the Hawaii issue of The Refraction is here. Guys, is it to be a bitch slap or a reality slap, or both?

A Nate Bendall interview

Here's a link to an interview with Utah State's Nate Bendall. Not to minimize his performances at all but he is the poster player for choosing the right college basketball program and system to enter and good for him.

Check here as the latest edition of The Refraction, featuring Hawaii, should be up shortly.

Wednesday's WAC world

The non-conference records, good, medium and bad, mean nothing now as the real thing begins tonight.

Louisiana Tech is at Boise State. Ethan Conley offers a feature on DeAndre Brown and Olu Ashaolu acting as role models for the younger Bulldogs.

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Hawaii leaves the islands to face league behemoth Utah State -- Dayton Morinaga has a report plus video.

Brian McInnis offers something similar but also serves up a tasty WAC team-by-team preview/review. Brian also wrote a Court Sense blog entry with interesting quotes from Stew Morrill.

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Chris Murray takes a look at each member of the Wolf Pack roster in a very good read.

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Sam Wasson at Bleed Crimson provides his weekly interview with Marvin Menzies.

Jason Groves previews the New Mexico State matchup with and at Idaho and wrote a commentary plus, who knows what this means but Troy Gillenwater, Hamidu Rahman and Wendell McKines tripped to Moscow.

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Nick Jezierny looks at the WAC as a whole and see a hole, especially compared to last season.Plus, the Idaho Statesman encapsulizes each WAC team plus what the BSU players will miss the most and least about the other WAC destinations.

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Marek Warszawski sees a backcourt offensive juggernaut with SJSU playing tonight in Fresno. Jeff Davis blogs about the Red Wave trickling into the Save Mart Center.

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Kraig Williams gives some pub to Tai Wesley, Shawn Harrison writes about the WAC this season and also Hawaii arriving at The Spectrum tonight while Tony Jones calls USU the best team in a lesser (from the 2009-2010 edition) WAC. The Standard-Examiner expects the crowd to be smaller tonight since the Aggie students are on break.

Tuesday's WAC links

The Wolf Pack made it very close but still fell to Portland in the Rose City. AW Prince is here, Chris Murray is here with Nick Daschel here.

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Dayton Morinaga has a feature and video on Hiram Thompson and family and their different Christmas.

Brian McInnis looks at where the Warriors are now and the next two games -- road ones -- for UH.

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Bleed Crimson's Sam Wasson provides a lengthy must-read look at who is what and where right now entering WAC play.

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Tony Jones at Aggieville serves up an entry about Big Dance projecting.

Adrian Oliver named WAC POW

From Jason Erickson, WAC Director of Media relations:

San Jose State's Adrian Oliver has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 20-26. The honor marks the third career WAC Player of the Week award for Oliver.

Oliver, a senior guard from Modesto, Calif. (U. of Washington), scored a career-high 42 points in just 25 minutes of play in a 95-62 win over Puget Sound. The 42 points breaks the 30-year old San Jose State single-game scoring record of 40 points. Oliver also broke the SJSU single-game mark for the most points in a half with 30, eclipsing his own mark of 25 last season. He also set a San Jose State record for most consecutive three-point baskets made in a game with seven and tied the school record for most threes made in a single game. Oliver out-scored Puget Sound by himself in the first half of the contest, 30-29. His 42 points marks the most points in a game by a WAC player since Jaycee Carroll of Utah State scored 44 against New Mexico State on Feb. 5, 2007.

In the game, Oliver tallied 42 points on 12-of-15 (80 percent) shooting from the field. He hit 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) shots from three-point range and was 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) from the free throw line. He also recorded three rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal.

Other nominees included:

* Hawai'i junior guard Zane Johnson
* Idaho senior forward Brandon Wiley
* Louisiana Tech junior forward Olu Ashaolu
* Nevada junior forward Dario Hunt
* New Mexico State freshman guard Christian Kabongo
*Utah State senior guard Brian Green

A thank you to Tony Jones, too

Tony Jones at Aggieville also deserves kudos for his contributions as he has posted a pair of blog entries here and here.

Chris Murray comes through

Chris Murray comes through! With PTW bereft of material of late due to the sparsity of games, he's helping us out by adding a pair of articles: * the doings of 12 former Nevada basketballers and *the 10 biggest WAC surprises. We especially love the latter type of article.

Plus, he'll probably post a game report tonight when the Portland - Wolf Pack contest concludes.

A meager Monday WAC roundup

Newcomer -- now that the UH football season is completed -- Miah Ostrowski receives coverage from Dayton Morinaga.

Brian McInnis writes about the passing of former Hawaii player Chris Gaines.

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At the Silver and Blue site, Neil Henderson previews tonight's Wolf Pack matchup with Portland -- which ends non-conference play for the WAC.

One last Sunday item

Chris Murray is already on it: Monday night's Wolf Pack visit to Portland. Chris also offers keys to the game and a prediction.

Good and bad surprises in the WAC so far

Here's some of the good, the bad and the ugly emanating from WAC teams so far this season:

Boise State (7-5)

* Robert Arnold at 16.2 points per game, second in the league
* His unremarkable 14/29 assist-to-turnover ratio
* As a team, shooting 45% overall balanced by allowing opponents to shoot 46%
* Leading the league in steals at 9.7 a game and with a +5.3 turnover margin

Fresno State (4-6) (we've already hammered on the Greg Smith situation)

* No Bulldog in the top 15 in scoring -- amazing!
* Did anyone have frosh Kevin Olekaibe leading the team in scoring (10.7)?
* A 27% team three-point field goal percentage but only allowing 32%
* Leading in blocked shots at 5.2 per contest

Hawaii (8-3)

* Shooting 45% overall as a team, a league-leading 41% from three-point range as a squad, as well as being tops in field goal percentage defense at 37%
* Parlaying that trey accuracy into a tops in the WAC 7.6  three-pointers a matchup
* Hiram Thompson shooting 52% overall after last season's 42%
* 200 turnovers in 11 games -- although this is a brand new and a young squad

Idaho (6-5)

* As a team, a second-in-the-league 38% three-point shooting percentage and just behind Utah State with 13.4 assists per game
* Kyle Barone still not in double figures scoring(8.5 ppg.)
* 6-foot-3 Shawn Henderson leading the team with 6.4 rebounds a contest!
* 6-foot-6 Brandon Wiley with 18 blocked shots in 11 games

Louisiana Tech (9-5)

* Holding opponents to 41% shooting, 32% from three-point range
* A +4.7 rebounding number after losing Magnum Rolle and just getting 4.5 minutes a contest from junior center Antwond Roshell
* Second in the league with 6.7 treys made per game
* Olu Ashaolu with a 28/48 assist-to-turnover ratio

Nevada (3-9)

* The caboose in scoring defense, scoring margin and assist-to-turnover ratio
* Shooting 40% from the floor
* Newcomer Malik Story leading the team at 13.3 ppg. but shooting just 40% from the floor despite a 47% three-point shooting percentage, plus a 16/31 a-to-t ratio
* It's early but Olek Czyz must shoot better than his current 33%

New Mexico State (6-8)

* The current numbers won't mean a heckuva lot if/when Troy Gillenwater, Hamidu Rahman and especially Wendell McKines get back on the court
* The Aggies are eighth in field goal percentage defense at 43%
* Troy Gillenwater at 41% shooting, with around a third of his shots three-pointers and a 2/18 assist-to-turnover ratio
* Steady Hernst Laroche  shooting 45% overall, 45% on treys and owning a 60/32 a-to-t ratio plus 33 steals in 14 games

San Jose State (8-3)

* Tops in scoring offense (75.9 ppg.) and free throw percentage (77%) yet last in field goal percentage (40%)
* + 3.64 in turnover margin (second in the league)
* Justin Graham at 51% overall shooting (second in attempts on team) plus 58% on 33 three-point shots
* Frontcourters Wil Carter and Matt Ballard must shoot better than 37% and 24% respectively

Utah State (11-2)

* Still tops as a team in field goal percentage (46%), second in defense at 38%, tops again in rebounding margin at 8.9 a game
* Last in steals at 4.2 a contest
* Brockeith Pane with a 26/30 assist-to-turnover ratio balanced by Tyler Newbold's 40/9 assist-to-turnover figure -- but only a +4 total (146 to 150) in overall team TOs
* Brian Green at 48% on his 71 three-point attempts

Sunday's WAC-itude

UH took down the Mississippi State Fightin' Bulldogs to continue the momentum coming into WAC play. Dayton Morinaga has print, video and photos, Brian McInnis is here with Jeff Portnoy also checking in.

Give Hiram Thompson the team MVP honors (and a cortisone shot, too).

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Jason Groves reports on the state of the Aggies and his story contains a dramatic quote from Coach Marvin Menzies on the recent NMSU - St. Mary's game: "They were looking for their teammates and we were taking, 'me' shots..."

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Chris Murray is all over JaVale McGee's (and Andray Blatche's) not-to-be-outdone by the lulu in Honolulu's pugilistic effort.

Mel Grussing mentions Kyisean Reed

In an article on the Antelope Valley College frontcourters at Mel Grussing's wonderful site, Utah State signee Kyisean Reed is covered -- head here.

PTW's sense is that playing in Stew Morrill's system will be tremendously beneficial to Reed -- learning what to do and when to do it on the floor --  and hopefully Reed will see it that way. Such a style won't be restrictive to Reed's physical talents, serving more as an additional manner in which to prosper.

Saturday's WAC report

We're hoping some of the WAC coaches check in with us to report finding some gift-wrapped wins under their Christmas trees.

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Shawn Harrison looks back on Utah State's steamrolling the opposition in its tourney. PTW doesn't know if next year's opponents are already set but here's hoping at least one can put up a better fight -- just for the sake of the fans.

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Free throws. Charity stripe. Fresno State has to develop a like-minded mantra if the Bulldogs are going to become more competitive this season -- Bryant-Jon Anteola has the story.

Two more links for you

Jason Groves offers a clarification on the status of Wendell McKines.

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Jeff Portnoy writes about the UH win over Utah.

Two more Friday items

Adam Zagoria is reporting that many schools -- including New Mexico State -- are pursuing the services of Cezar Guerrero, a southern California senior backcourter. Head here.

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Here are the members of the Utah State All Decade Squad.

Friday's WAC-aroo

Yes, it was at home but nothing can dim short-handed (hey, Bill Amis remains out) Hawaii's sparkling victory over soon-to-be PAC-12 member Utah last night. Dayton Morinaga leads us off with a game report, photos and video, Brian McInnis is here plus here with a Gib Arnold Q-and-A after the Florida State game and Jeff Portnoy looks back at the first night of action and also predicts the outcome of the Hawaii - Utah matchup.

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Sam Wasson writes about New Mexico State's fall at home to St. Mary's plus Bleed Crimson's 25 game photos are here. Jason Groves serves up his game report and notes that Trpy Gillenwater, Hamidu Rhaman and Wendell McKines all were absent. Jason also offers a post-game blog entry.

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Utah State made it a tourney trifecta as Weston Mangum initiates our coverage of Utah State bulldozing of Troy last night -- plus 41 game photos can be found here. Coverage by Tony Jones, Shawn Harrison and Kraig Williams can be read by clicking on their respective names.

Craig Hislop measures the Aggies prior to WAC play beginning.

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Joe Santoro has a pair of Wolf Pack basketball items in his column today.

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Ethan Conley has a feature on frosh backcourter Kenyon McNeaill who looks to be the frontrunner for WAC Freshman of the Year. Anyone else with a nominee?

Utah State is romping/New Mexico State falls

Utah State is leading Troy 40-13 at the half -- BillS is already singing.

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New Mexico State welcomed St. Mary's tonight but the Gaels triumphed 73-53.

Much more tomorrow.

A Greg Allen update

Greg Allen came out of Eureka High a couple of years ago, drew some definite D-1 interest -- including an engagement with Idaho --  but ended up playing at Navarro College in Texas. He is in his sophomore season.

Creighton was also in the running during Allen's senior high school season and the BlueJays are apparently re-recruiting Allen, who sports a 3.4 grade point average.

Currently, Allen is averaging a team-leading 12.4 points a game on 41% overall shooting, 44% from three and  87% from the foul line.

There have been some rumblings about Idaho also re-recruiting Allen and that may or may not be true. But in a recent Rivals article (sub required), Allen doesn't mention the Vandals. 

Thursday's WAC report

Hawaii's shrinking roster played a major role in the Warriors falling to Florida State last night -- but it was close. Dayton Morinaga, Brian McInnis and Jeff Portnoy all report.

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Utah State won by 21 over Western Michigan but it wasn't ballet on display. Check out Tony Jones, Shawn Harrison and Kraig Williams. Tony also serves up a post-game blog entry. Weston Mangum of the Cache Valley Daily is here and 41 game photos accompany his game report.

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San Jose State University athletics has the scoop on the Spartans 95-62 timber-ing of the Loggers of Puget Sound.

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Mike Allende has the details of the Wolf Pack's no-show in Seattle. Percy Allen of the Seattle Times is here.

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The Rose City,  Eric Reveno's Portland Pilots in particular, proved inhospitable to Boise State, tipping the Broncos 88-79. Jim Besada of the Oregonian provides his game report. The Daily Bronco and all the numbers are here.

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It's an Omar Samhan-less Gael team appearing tonight in Las Cruces but St. Mary's is a program that reloads, not rebuilds. Jason Groves offers a pre-game look. Jason also has a Wendell McKines blog entry.

Lat night scores

Washington was definitely on tonight, bopping visiting Nevada 90-60. No, that isn't a typo. It was 47-27 at the half. The Wolf Pack shot 28.3% for the game, 16.7% from long distance. Dario Hunt earned a double-double of 16/14 for Nevada.

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It's Utah State ahead 34-30 over Western Michigan at the half at The Spectrum.

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Host San Jose State is leading 55-29 over Puget Sound after 20 minutes. The Loggers obviously checked their chainsaws at the door.

Two more Wednesday links

Dan Hinxman/Reno Gazette-Journal has some Christmas gifts for a few of the Wolf Pack players and also for Coach Carter.

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Tony Jones say USU must embrace 'going Green' for the Aggie distance shooting to be effective.

The world of the WAC on Wednesday

Idaho went into Eugene and plucked the Ducks 69-65 -- the Oregonian game report, the Eugene Register-Guard game report.

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New Mexico State got by Louisiana Lafayette -- Jason Groves was there while Sam Wasson is here and his Bleed Crimson site also offers 25 game photos. Former Louisiana Tech recruits Josh Brown and Scottie Farrington had 10 and eight points respectively, plus Farrington grabbed seven rebounds for the Ragin' Cajuns.

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Pacific came to town and departed with a 65-55 victory over Fresno State despite the addition of Steven Shepp to the Bulldog rotation -- Bryant Jon-Anteola has the details. Steve Cleveland's squad missed its first nine shots and Greg Smith's production (eight points, four boards) remains a conundrum.

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Utah obliterated Idaho State last night 71-48 and the photo that accompanies Kraig Williams' game report  is a summary in itself.

Shawn Harrison is here. Tony Jones's story is here and he also posted a blog entry on what he wants to see this week in USU hoops.

The Cache Valley Daily has 39 game photos on-line.

Go here for the Idaho State issue of The Refraction.

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Former Fresno Stater Bryce Cartwright's 19 points, seven assists and six steals helped pace Iowa's 77-58 victory at home against Louisiana Tech. Here is the first of 11 game photos.

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Scott Oxarart of the Gazette Journal is here with a preview of the Nevada road game in Seattle against Washington. The Nevada Appeal's Joe Santoro provides his grades for the Wolf Pack's win Monday night against Portland State. Mark Rauh at the Silver and Blue site serves up some great photos from the Nevada - Portland State game. 

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Jeff Portnoy previews and predicts the outcomes in the Diamond Head Classic.

Dave Reardon is a Bobby Miles fan. Brian McInnis looks back at the most wackiest of games when Hawaii and Florida State last met.

Dayton Morinaga writes that UH will be bare-bone-sing it roster-wise and provides a pair of video clips. He also continues his roster rollout, introducing Davis Rozitis.

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A threesome of Boise State basketballers prove Thomas Wolfe wrong because they are heading back home -- Nick Jezierny has the details.

A Da'Shawn Gomez update

Point Da'Shawn Gomez came out of Inglewood High (southern California) and signed with New Mexico State in May, 2009. But he stayed just a while into the school year and transferred to Antelope Valley College (AVC), redshirting the remainder of the season.

Now he is starting at AVC. What do his numbers look like?

In 11 games so far, Gomez is averaging 9.2 points per game, shooting 28-69 overall and 13-28 on threes. He's 32-38 at the foul line. He has 11 steals and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 47/27.

Here's an article featuring Da'Shawn from Melvin Grussing at his superb AVC basketball site. Let's see if Gomez plays one or two seasons before heading back to the D-1 level.

An update on Robert Sandoval

One of our favorite players to watch is former Clovis East and Bay Area Hoosier Robert Sandoval. We post this here because he received some attention from Fresno State. He signed with Azuza Pacific and here are his freshman numbers to date in 19 minutes of play per game:

* 7.2 ppg.

* shooting 46% overall, 9-22 on threes

* a surprising 11-19 from the foul line


* 40 assists to 24 turnovers

* a second-on-the-team 20 steals

* 2.1 rebounds a game

A trio of late articles

From Ethan Conley, here is an LT - Iowa preview with some meaty quotes.

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Dan Angell of the Idaho State Journal previews the Idaho State - Utah State matchup. ISU Coach Joe O'Brien talks about facing the system and the crowd.

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Jagdip Dhillon of the Stockton Record looks at the Pacific - Fresno encounter and writes about who will start for the Tigers.

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Tuesday's world of the WAC

It was Nevada who came on late and downed Portland State as Chris Gabel reports. Joe Santoro is here. Mark Littlefield offers a pair of nice photos to go with his Silver and Blue game report.

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Louisiana Tech hoops is surrounded by cornfields in taking on host Iowa tonight -- Hawkmania provides a game preview. PTW did not know that Olu Ashaolu has the nickname Air Canada -- that'll work.

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Brian McInnis is all over the Diamond Head Classic and Dayton Morinaga reports on the status of Hiram Thompson. Jeff Portnoy serves up a Q-and-A.

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Sam Wasson @ Bleed Crimson has posted his weekly interview with Coach Marvin Menzies.

Jason Groves writes that New Mexico State just might be morphing into a defensive-focused team.

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Here are some weekly honors from the Daily Bronco.

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It's Idaho State against Stew Morrill's squad in the opener of the Gossner Foods tourney in Logan. Here is Shawn Harrison, Kraig Williams and Tony Jones.

The latest edition of The Refraction isn't posted yet but we'll try and come back to it.

Olu Ashaolu named WAC POW

Louisiana Tech’s Olu Ashaolu has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 13-19. The honor marks the second career WAC Player of the Week award for Ashaolu.

Ashaolu, a junior forward from Toronto, Canada (Christian Life Center Academy), recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the third time this season and helped LA Tech to a 2-0 record last week. Ashaolu scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds in an 80-57 win at Houston Baptist. He then recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 62-61 win at UT Arlington. Ashaolu also tallied two blocks in each game.

On the week, Ashaolu averaged 16.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 assists per game. He shot 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the field and 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from the free throw line.

Other nominees:

* Boise State senior forward Daequon Montreal
* Fresno State freshman forward Bracken Funk
* Hawai‘i junior guard Zane Johnson
* Idaho junior guard Deremy Geiger
* Nevada sophomore guard Malik Story
* New Mexico State senior guard Gordo Castillo
* San Jose State freshman guard Keith Shamburger
* Utah State junior guard Brockeith Pane.

The Monday morning version of WAC hoops

Nick Jezierny has the game report on Boise State's shellacking of Texas-Pan American. The Daily Bronco offers numbers galore.

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Shawn Harrison writes that Tai Wesley was again the centerpiece for the Logan-ites. It's also worth noting that Nate Bendall's number are growing larger and larger.

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Dayton Morinaga reports a fairly sizeable contingent of Maui residents turned out to see UH basketball -- will Gib Arnold take his team to any of the other islands?

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It's Portland State versus Nevada tonight as the sole WAC game.

A Casey Oliverson feature

The Salt Lake Tribune's Bill Oram has a feature article today on 6-foot-8 Casey Oliverson who is two seasons (counting this one) and an LDS mission away from taking to the court in The Spectrum.

Boise State bamboozlesTexas Pan American

Try 91-62. It was 41-18 at the half. Nick Jezierny is tweeting away.

Nevada hosts Portland State Monday evening

Will it be Nevada's defense or offense (or a combo thereof) that perform better against Portland State Monday night? The Vikes can score -- defend, not so much. Chris Murray tells the story here.

Chris also offers this preview, including a prediction.

The WAC enjoys a very solid Saturday

New Mexico State's victory over visiting Pacific was the best of a very good night for the WAC. Sam Wasson/Bleed Crimson is here with a game report, analysis, video and also photos from last night's contest.

Jason Groves was there and here is his story, plus a post-game blog entry. What readers will also find it interesting is Jason's pre-game blog entry.

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Louisiana Tech just got by visiting UT Arlington despite opening with two touchdowns and a pair of field goals before the Mavericks put up a point -- Bulldog athletics provides this and Ethan Conley/News Star is here.

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Jayda Evans/Seattle Times reports on San Jose State's 86-70 victory up in the Emerald City.

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Fresno State closed out strong against visiting North Dakota State and Bryant-Jon Anteola serves up the details. Coach Steve Cleveland sent an in-game telegram to Greg Smith and it actually was a love letter despite the latter's spectator status.

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It was close at the half but then Utah State put it away against Utah Valley. Shawn Harrison, Kraig Williams and Tony Jones were there. Jones also provides a blog entry. The Cache Valley Daily has posted 25 game photos.

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Montana came into Moscow and escaped with a one point victory -- Vandal athletics has the report. The Helena Independent offers this.

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Dayton Morinaga reports that senior backcourter Hiram Thompson is still hurting. Jeff Portnoy looks at the UH season to date along with an eye on what is coming. Brian McInnis @ Court Sense also writes about Thompson plus Gib Arnold's thoughts on taking his team throughout the state.

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Boise State hosts Texas Pan American this evening -- Nick Jezierny is on that.

Ethan Conley on tonight's LA TECH - UT Arlington game

Ethan Conley writes about the the matchup tonight between the Bulldogs and Texas Arlington.

Hoopniks article on the WAC November signees

The Hoopniks site has collected all the November WAC basketball signees  -- head here.

Saturday morning's WAC potpourri

Dayton Morinaga has the details of Hawaii's ultimate team victory over Chicago State -- a game report and much more, just chock full of informational nuggets,

Brian McInnis was also there plus also posts the box score.

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Brandon Russell offers Nevada - Arizona State game photos at Silver and Blue Sports while Mark Littlefield serves up the game report.

Chris Gabel reports on the matchup for the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Joe Santoro/Nevada Appeal is here.

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Boise State let a double-digit second half lead dissipate and the Broncos eventually fell to Utah in Salt Lake City -- Nick Jezierny reports as does the Deseret New's Mike Sorenson.

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Jason Groves previews the New Mexico State - Pacific meeting tonight in Las Cruces -- that should be a terrific game.

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Fresno State hosts the Bison of North Dakota State which will actually be a good test for the Bulldogs.

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Utah State is in Orem for a challenge from Utah Valley -- Kraig Williams previews the game as does Shawn Harrison.  Brockeith Pane and Pooh Williams are back in good graces with Stew Morrill and will be back in the starting lineup.

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 San Jose State is in the Emerald City to face Seattle -- here's a pre-game look.

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We don't understand why this doesn't happen more.

Friday night WAC

Jason Groves reports that New Mexico State has received a verbal commit.

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Dayton Morinaga tells us it's 'no ocean for you' for the UH basketballers who are now ensconced on Maui for a matchup. PTW speculates the Chicago Staters will probably hold a fullout practice on the golden sands of Ka’anapali Beach or at the very least the coaches will be holding an all hands meeting amidst the bikinis. We're undecided but such would qualify as either a mortal or a venial sin NOT to do so.

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Boise State came mighty close on the road but fell by two, 86-84, against the Runnin' Utes. Daequon Montreal totaled 28 points in 34 minutes of play and Reggie Arnold added 16 but didn't shoot particularly (5-15) well. Freshman frontcourter Ryan Watkins came close to a double-double with 10/8 in 23 minutes.

The Broncos had a 48-40 lead at the half.

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In the second half, host Nevada doubled its point total achieved in the initial 20 minutes but fell just short against Arizona State 78-75. A quartet of Wolf Packers scored in double figures: Malik Story with 19, Deonte Burton turning in 18 plus Olek Czyz and Dario Hunt providing 10 apiece. Czyz shot 3-4 overall, 1-1 from long distance and 3-7 from the foul line in his first game.

A fascinating article on mid-major (or lower) recruiting

It's not necessarily WAC-related but read on if you wish to gain some degree of insight into the college basketball recruiting process for the non-Dukes:

Recruiting an emotional, physical roller coaster for UNCW coaches
Brian Mull
Star News
December 4, 2010

On a steamy morning in mid-July, UNC-Wilmington men's basketball coach Buzz Peterson and his staff met in the office of assistant Jamie Kachmarik.

Like practically every other Division I coach in the country, the four men entrusted with rescuing the Seahawks from CAA oblivion had spent the 10 previous days on the road. They sat on hard bleachers in hot gyms for up to 14 hours a day evaluating high school seniors-to-be playing in games that often deteriorated into rec-center pickup ball, sans skins.

Unlike 95 percent of their peers though, the new UNCW staff had to restock more than half its roster. They entered the July recruiting period with a lone verbal commitment and a half-dozen scholarships to hand out.

The Seahawks' coaches were in need of every essential – skill, speed, guards, big men.

Peterson and assistants Kachmarik and Matt McMahon arrived at UNCW in April from Southern Conference member Appalachian State. However, players of a higher talent level would be required to return the Seahawks to elite status in the CAA. The Southern had an average RPI of 19.6 (out of 31 Division I conferences) over the past five seasons. The CAA had an average RPI of 12.4 in that same period and three member programs won an NCAA tournament game.

The coaches were already evaluating potential Seahawks through a specific lens. They sought fundamentally sound, skilled players possessing a high basketball IQ, 3-point shooters, prospects with wide wingspans and the versatility to play multiple positions. All of these qualities must be inside a coachable package that includes high character and sound academics.

This was non-negotiable...

Go here for the remainder.

A Camerson Forte update

Adam Gorney of Rivals is reporting (sub required) that wing Cameron Forte (offered by Fresno State, among others) is headed to prep school in order to elevate his level of offers. He is a 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6 Arizona high school senior.

Here is a March 2010 feature on Forte.

Here is Anthony Ray in an October 2010 article on the young man:

Cameron Forte 6-6 SR SF McClintock HS - 2011
Forte played as well as we have seen him play in a showcase event, as he played with a purpose and played to win in each game. He played with a very good motor and made strong plays throughout the event, ranking among the event's top individual scorers in the tournament. Still need to focus much more on the defensive end of the floor, as he could be a much better defender. Has the ability to become as good as he wants to become with continued hard work on his overall skillsets. Has a bright future and should put up tremendous numbers this high school season.

More WAC basketball on television

From Jason Erickson, WAC Director of Media Relations:

The WAC Sports Network (WSN) today announced its first-ever broadcast schedule and talent line up for men’s basketball, marking its debut for the sport since launching two months ago.

The WSN – a product of the Western Athletic Conference and its multimedia rights partner, Learfield Sports – will broadcast 12 evening basketball games from January 3 through March 5, 2011.

Here is the station/channel affiliate list. 

Additionally, the five-member broadcast team appointed for the 2011 schedule comprises Rich Cellini, Guy Haberman and Dave Harbison as play-by-play announcers, with Dave Bollwinkel and Bob Donewald serving as color commentators. Haberman and Harbison were members of WSN’s football broadcasting team, as well.

“We received such positive feedback from our member schools and their communities with our football rollout, that we’re definitely pleased to now introduce WSN for basketball,” said WAC Commissioner Karl Benson.

The WSN will allow for WAC basketball games to be produced and distributed to media outlets in the respective school markets. Learfield Sports’ locally based WAC Sports Properties team has oversight of WSN through Learfield Sports’ extensive conference partnership. The company represents the WAC, as well as seven member schools: Boise State, Fresno State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, San Jose State and Utah State. For more about its history and collegiate portfolio, visit learfieldsports.com.

The complete basketball game schedule and broadcasters’ line-up

Jan. 3      Nevada at Fresno State (8:00 p.m. PT)                 Cellini/Bollwinkel

Jan. 8      Fresno State at New Mexico State (7:00 p.m. MT)       Haberman/Donewald

Jan. 15     Nevada at Boise State (7:00 p.m. MT)                  Harbison/Donewald

Jan. 22     Boise State at Idaho (7:00 p.m. PT)                   Harbison/Bollwinkel

Jan. 27     Fresno State at Nevada (7:30 p.m. PT)                 Haberman/Donewald

Jan. 29     Fresno State at San Jose State (7:00 p.m. PT)         Cellini/Donewald

Feb. 10     Fresno State at Boise State (7:00 p.m. MT)            Cellini/Bollwinkel

Feb. 12     Fresno State at Utah State (7:00 p.m. MT)             Harbison/Bollwinkel

Feb. 12     Nevada at San Jose State (7:00 p.m. PT)               Haberman/Donewald

Feb. 26     Boise State at Nevada (7:30 p.m. PT                   Haberman/Donewald

March 3     Fresno State at Idaho (7:00 p.m. PT)                  Cellini/Bollwinkel

March 5     Nevada at New Mexico State (7:00 p.m. MT)             Harbison/Donewald

WSN’s basketball broadcast team

Rich Cellini – PBP Announcer

Cellini joined Sports USA in 2005 as a play-by-play announcer and sideline reporter.  Last season, he was the voice of the radio network's "College Football Game of the Week."  His broadcasting resume includes play-by-play coverage of college football for Fox Sports Net, ABC Sports and CSTV.  He also has covered NFL Europe and worked for NFL on Fox as a sideline reporter.  In addition to his on-air work, Cellini is a professor in the Master's Program in Sport Management at the University of San Francisco, teaching in the areas of Leadership and Critical Thinking. He is a Fresno State graduate and has called Nevada basketball games since 2004.

Guy Haberman – PBP Announcer

As host of The Guy Haberman Show on 1430 ESPN in Fresno, Calif., Haberman is in his third year broadcasting on 790 ESPN for the Fresno Grizzlies, AAA affiliate for MLB’s San Francisco Giants.  A native of Davis, Calif., Haberman also is the voice of Fresno State women’s basketball and softball, served as a sideline reporter for Fresno State football on the Bulldog Sports Network in 2009 and was pre- and post-game color commentator for the 2010 WAC Softball Tournament.

Dave Harbison – PBP Announcer

Since 2005, Harbison has done on-air work for Fox Sports Houston, including the last three years as part of the broadcast team for "Astros Live".  He also served 15 years with Sporting News Radio as a reporter, talk show host, update anchor and pre/post-game host.  Harbison has prior experience as sports director for KILT-FM (Houston, Texas); host and anchor for WTEM (Washington, D.C.) and as sports director for WTKA/WAAM (Ann Arbor, Mich.), where he was play-by-play announcer for Michigan and Eastern Michigan University athletics.  Vanderbilt, Tulane and Texas Southern are other collegiate programs where he has done play-by-play work.

Dave Bollwinkel – Color Commentator

Having served 25 years in college basketball, Bollwinkel spent nine of those as head coach for both Saint Mary’s College and Cal Poly University.  During his coaching tenure, he served as an assistant for the California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Dayton, Colorado State and San Jose State programs.  Additionally, he has been a college basketball color analyst for Fox SportsNet, Comcast SportsNet and The Mountain Network.  Currently he also scouts for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and is a professional speaker.

Bob Donewald – Color Commentator

Former head basketball coach for Illinois State University from 1978-1989, Donewald led the Redbirds to appearances in the NIT and NCAA tournaments and guided them to a victory in the 1984 Missouri Valley Conference championship, the year he won MVC Coach of the Year.  Prior to ISU, he served five years as assistant basketball coach for Indiana, which went on to win the Big Ten Conference three of those years and the NCAA title in 1976.  Donewald also served as head basketball coach for Western Michigan University, from 1989 – 2000, leading the team to numerous accomplishments in the NIT and NCAA tournaments and the 1998 Mid-American Conference Championship title.  Since 2001, Donewald has been a basketball consultant and television color analyst.

Friday's a.m. WAC report

Sam Wasson checks in with the game writeup of New Mexico State's thrashing of Pandhandle State. Sam also offers video of the destruction, plus game photos at this link.

Jason Groves was there and provides this.

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Benji Taylor traded the top job at a school in Chi Town for an assistant role in Honolulu -- anyone not call that a plus? Read Brian McInnis' article and decide for yourself.

Here's Dayton Morinaga on UH's game tonight versus Chicago State.

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A win in Salt lake City would make some joyful noise for both Boise State hoops and WAC basketball. Nick Jezierny writes about the next 11 days for Leon Rice's charges.

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Chris Murray located a feature on Luke Babbitt -- we never would have thought confidence, or lack thereof, would ever bedevil the former Wolf Packer.

Two Thursday p.m. items

The Panhandle State squad came to Las Cruces tonight and got the spare change beat out of it 78-46. Shooting 25% overall and 7-21 from the foul line won't win many games. Gordo Castillo was back for 16 minutes and, best of all, neither Troy Gillenwater nor Hamidu Rahman were needed to secure the win.

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Arizona State comes to Reno Friday evening and maybe Olek Czyz will play one half for the Wolf Pack and the other 20 minutes for the Sun Devils. What? Read Chris Murray's article. Chris also offers his keys to the game and a prediction.

Thursday morning's WAC basketball rollout

Rafter 17 has posted on the (Scout) Bronco Country Taco Bell Arena message board that wing Igor Hadziomerovic has aligned himself with Boise State hoops. Nothing yet on Igor's Twitter account.

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Shawn Harrison serves up some analysis on the state of USU hoops.

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Dayton Morinaga/Warrior Insider introduces readers to Dom Brumfield, offering print, video and a photo.

Brian McInnis writes that Hawaii is headed to Maui to face Chicago State -- PTW is guessing that qualifies as a road, check that, ocean trip. For the record: Maui residents will enjoy temps from 79-85 degrees as highs today -- Chicagoans will bask in highs around 30 degrees. Brian also offers another edition of his Court Sense blog.

Jeff Portnoy also has posted a new blog entry and will be having CofC Coach Bobby Cremins (formerly of Georgia Tech) plus Notre Dame's Mike Brey as his radio show guests tonight.

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Jason Groves has a clever opener in his latest New Mexico State basketball article -- check it out. He also provides an introduction to Aggie freshman Christian Kabongo.

A pair of WAC p.m. items

Sam Wasson at Bleed Crimson serves up an interview with Coach Marvin Menzies. Sam also has a column that, among other things, details the whereabouts of Jonathan Gibson and Jahmar Young.

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Olek Czyz takes the court for the Wolf Pack on Friday -- Chris Murray provides the background.

Wednesday a.m. and the WAC

From Bulldog athletics comes this game report of LA TECH's win over Houston Baptist. 

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What's up with the BlueAggies basketball forum (no activity since early November)? Has it been deserted?

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Check out the Daily Bronco StatSheet WAC Players of the Week.

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The mothers of Douglas Kurtz and Vander Joaquim might not like the headline of Dayton Morinaga's latest but it's all good.

Tuesday's p.m. edition

Louisiana Tech rumbled past Houston Baptist 80-57 tonight. It was 43-35 after the first 20 minutes. Olu Ashaolu put up a 21/13 double-double. It's game on versus the Cape Canaveral Calvinists next...just kidding for the uber literal.

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Playing off of the above, Chris Murray writes about the overall league ranking at this point -- it isn't pretty. Some opportunity for improvement awaits but each game will have the WAC team as an underdog.

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Jason Groves blogs about Wendell McKines' will-he-or-won't-he status, plus includes a note on Hamidu Rahman.

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Per Steve Cleveland on his radio show, sophomore Jerry Brown will redshirt this season.

A Corey Stern update

There has been some chatter on the whereabouts and status of former Idaho player Corey Stern so here's what we located:

In 11 games at Howard College in Texas, Stern is averaging 6.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He is shooting 46% (28-61) overall, 2-7 on three-point attempts and 10-22 on free throws.  

Tuesday and the world of WAC hoops

Sam Wasson reports on New Mexico State's manhandling of Arkansas Pine Bluff. Sam also has game photos at his Bleed Crimson site.

Jason Groves provides an extensive report on how less became more.

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Both Dayton Morinaga and Brian McInnis are all about the return of Bill Amis.

That's it, at least for now.

New Mexico State destroys Arkansas Pine Bluff

Try 83-49. Yes, APB came into the game winless but the host Aggies were without Troy Gillenwater, Gordo Castillo and had Hamidu Rahman re-injure himself.

Jason Groves offers some blog entries covering the game.

Tai Wesley named WAC POY

Per Jason Erickson, the WAC Director of Media Relations:

Utah State's Tai Wesley has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 6-12. The honor marks the third career WAC Player of the Week award for Wesley.

Wesley, a senior forward from Provo, Utah (Provo HS), led Utah State to a pair of home wins last week against Long Beach State (81-53) and Cal State Bakersfield (77-58). Against the 49ers, Wesley posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with a season-high six assists. Against the Roadrunners, he recorded another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with three assists.

On the week, Wesley averaged 16.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He shot 63.2 percent (12-of-19) from the field and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the free throw line.

Other nominees: 

* Boise State senior guard La'Shard Anderson

* Fresno State junior guard/forward Tim Steed

* Hawai'i junior guard Zane Johnson

* Idaho senior guard Shawn Henderson

* Louisiana Tech senior guard DeAndre Brown

* Nevada junior forward Dario Hun

* New Mexico State freshman guard Christian Kabongo

Monday's a.m. WAC basketball report

Here's a Boise State - Drake game report from the Des Moines newspaper.

The Daily Bronco provides a numbers-oriented recap.

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From the Eastern Washington athletics site comes this game report of San Jose State's home victory.

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As Shawn Harrison notes, Nate Bendall scored 13 points and nabbed 14 rebounds in the USU win over Bakersfield -- all in 26 minutes. Plus, Utah State's 'D' handcuffed the top three Roadrunner scorers.

Utah State athletics features a video interview of backcourter Brian Green who certainly has achieved more than many coaches expected, and good for him.

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Brian McInnis/Court Sense has an entry on the status of froward Bill Amis.

Dayton Morinaga informs us that Hawaii provides its players with a pre-game meal -- some teams do pre, some do post, not sure why one is chosen over the other.

San Jose State gets by Eastern Washington

In a rematch from one month ago in Cheney, WA (which the Spartan won 67-60), San Jose State University used Justin Graham's jumper with six seconds remaining to top Eastern Washington 70-69.

Adrian Oliver led with 29 points.

Here is the game report from SJSU athletics.

Boise State doesn't like the Drake

Jerry Seinfeld said "sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason" and quite often true when college basketball teams climb aboard a bus or train as Des Moines-based Drake managed a 72-69 victory over visiting Boise State today.

BSU allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 53% while nailing 38% of its attempts. Robert Arnold went 0-7 from long distance and La'Shard Anderson also was empty from three at 0-5. Leon Rice's squad put up 14 more shots than Drake and out-boarded the hosts by 11.

The Broncos led 29-27 at the half.

Sunday's WAC-aroo

Utah State topped Cal State Bakersfield with what Aggies fans hope are a change of fortune in Tyler Newbold's shooting prowess this season. Kraig Williams, Shawn Harrison and Tony Jones all contribute game reports. It's worth noting that Stew Morrill made some starting lineup changes. Craig Peterson of the Cache Valley Daily offers up 41 game photos here with Weston Mangum's story on the game..

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In a rematch, New Mexico State fell again to in-state rival New Mexico, plus Troy Gillenwater injured an ankle. Jason Groves is here. Sam Wasson offers his Bleed Crimson game report here. The good new is that Hamidu Rahman got back on the court. Jason also posted a blog entry here.

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It's near impossible to find Waves in Fresno (maybe one of the nearby lakes?) and the Bulldogs dispensed visiting Pepperdine back to the Pacific Coast with a loss -- Daniel Lyght reports.

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Louisiana Tech fell on the road to intra-state rival McNeese State -- LT athletics reports.

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Per Idaho athletics, Seattle took down visiting Idaho by beating the Vandals in most of the statistical categories.

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As expected, Nevada topped San Francisco State behind Dario Hunt's double-double -- here's Mark Littlefield of the Silver and Blue site. Chris Murray is here and also posted a game notes column here.

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Hawaii also took down HP (Hawaii Pacific, not Hewlett Packard -- Carly Fiorina did that). Dayton Morinaga has print, photos and video on the game, plus information about the status of Bill Amis. Brian Mcinnis is here plus added an entry at his Court Sense blog. Jeff Portnoy writes more about Hawaii and the Big West.

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Boise State faces Missouri Valley Conference member Drake this afternoon as Nick Jezierny reports. Will the Broncos love the Drake?

San Jose State hosts Eastern Washington in a rematch of one month ago.

Saturday's world of the WAC

San Jose State learned having the lead and momentum isn't always enough and fell at home to crosstown rival Santa Clara. Spartan athletics has the game report. Here is Jeff Faraudo of the Bayareanewsgroup.

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It's Hawaii Pacific at the Stan Sheriff Center tonight -- which team will display the most aloha spirit? Dayton Morinaga offers a pre-game article, including video.

Brian McInnis features the trio of UH freshman who are contributing to the building of a solid basketball foundation.

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LT athletics provides the details on the Bulldogs - McNeese State matchup as Coach Kerry Rupp's squad continues with the stretch of in-state rivalries.

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New Mexico State in in Albuquerque for the return game with New Mexico and Jason Groves tells us Hamidu Rahman's availability will be a game-time decision. Jason also profiles Gordo Castillo's final go-around at The Pit.He also blogs about the game here.

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Fresno State welcomes Pepperdine with the hopes that Garrett Johnson and Greg Smith lead the effort like they did in the victory against San Diego. It will be interesting to see to see if Keion Bell gets acrobatic for the Waves.

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Utah State welcomes Cal State Bakersfield, a squad that is certainly better this season but The Spectrum-ites are like not many other fan bases. Shawn Harrison pre-games the matchup and Kraig Williams does the same here.

The Bakersfield issue of The Refraction is on-line and complete with a cartoon featuring a touch of Latin, a 'dead' language along the lines of the Roadrunner chances of triumphing in Logan.

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Nevada is home and against San Francisco State so the Wolf Pack should easily make it a trifecta with a victory, thus ending the losing streak for David Carter's group. Chris Murray has the pre-game scoop.

Hawaii is an equal opportunity joiner

UH athletics is certainly willing to be conference sports specific.

Tony Jones has analysis on UH football linking up with the Mountain West Conference and where that leaves Utah State. Hawaii will be facing tougher gridiron competition but uniquely served up by Boise State and eventually the other WAC teams -- Fresno State and Nevada -- that are also moving over. Right now, it looks like San Diego State is the only staying-put MWC football member worth noting.

Jeff Portnoy isn't enamored of Big West Conference basketball and UH joining courts with it.

Friday's WAC news and notes

It's Adrian Oliver's week as the San Francisco Chronicle has also posted an article on the SJSU senior.

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Gotta love this recruiting reference line from Jason R. Chatraw and his Fanhouse piece on Leon Rice: "...on a fast track for rock star status with his preferred airline carrier..." -- with Rice saying it's going to take an all-out community effort for Bronco hoops to reach the status he believes is achievable.

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Pi’i Minns is sitting out this season at Hawaii but still receives a print and video feature from Dayton Morinaga.

Brian McInnis writes it's Hawaii Pacific up next for UH hoops on Saturday.

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AW Prince has a post up (sub required) on the status of Wolf Pack basketball. 

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Per Shawn Harrison, the alliterative senior duo of Williams and Wesley are credited with leading the Aggie way over Long Beach State.

Thursday p.m. edition

Per Dayton Morinaga, the road was a learning experience for the UH basketballers. PTW wonders when/if someone will coin the term "road sweet road"? We predict it won't be a college basketball coach.

Brian McInnis has garnered some player reaction to the two player departures. Our question: why should the leaving of Salter and Coleman hurt Hawaii's APR (unless one or both is underwater academically)? What's the thinking behind the regulations if just changing addresses at this point period is APR detrimental?

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Tony Jones/Aggieville has two new entries, one on Nate Bendall, the other about James Walker.

A feature on Adrian Oliver

Here's a  intriguing article on SJSU's Adrian Oliver:

San Jose State basketball: Adrian Oliver can deliver stats, but can he produce wins?
Mark Emmons
Mercury News
12/08/2010

There has never been a doubt about his scoring ability, his penchant for taking over games or his will to have the ball in hand as the clock winds down.

But when Adrian Oliver returned to San Jose State for his senior season, he knew there was a lingering question on the minds of NBA scouts:

Can he win?

Go here for the remainder.

A question about Jordan Coleman

Not based on anything read or heard but which Big West team does Jordan Coleman decide on? Or could one of the West Coast Conference southland teams come into play?

Thursday a.m. and the WAC happenings so far

It would have been easy for Boise State to call it a night as the Broncos were overwhelmed early on by host UNLV. But they hung in there, chipped away at the lead and eventually made it a game before falling 75-72.

Nick Jezierny offers the details. From the LV perspective: Ryan Greene/Las Vegas Sun and Matt Youmans/Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The Daily Bronco provides all sorts of numbers.

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Jason Groves looks at the core players for New Mexico State playing major minutes.

Sam Wasson/Bleed Crimson has posted video recapping the New Mexico game plus an interview with assistant Paul Weir.

Your Wednesday p.m. WAC edition

It seemed over early in Vegas as Boise State stumbled out of the gate but the score is now 54-44 with the Rebels on top and 12 minutes remaining.

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Dayton Morinaga has video and print on the UH two-for-one player 'exchange' of sorts.

Brian McInnis updates from this morning here.

Jeff Portnoy is here.

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Jason Groves has a further Wendell McKines update here. Maybe this is being cynical but it's hard to believe that Big Wen's plans will include another year in college, meaning minus a year of earning money overseas. Just sayin' but we've been wrong before.

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The Cache Valley Daily offers a USU - LB St. report AND has posted 46 game photos.

The WAC in mid-week

This was inevitable. Upon taking over, Gib Arnold had so many scholarships to fill that the numbers indicated some of the newcomers would be unhappy with playing time, experiencing homesickness or you name it during the season.

Two signees have decided to ply their trade elsewhere.

Brian McInnis @ Court Sense has the details, plus a hint about someone new. He also wrote this in the Star Advertiser.

Bill Amis performs as a travel guide on behalf of the Warrior Insider site.

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 Utah State had no trouble with visiting Long Beach State last night. Kraig Williams is here, Shawn Harrison here and Tony Jones here .

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Jason Pugh/Shreveport Times reports on LT's fall on the road to Northwestern State, with a great opening line: "The sum of the Northwestern State Demons was more than a sublime effort from Louisiana Tech’s DeAndre Brown..."

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The Fresno Bee provides the game report of the Bulldogs grabbing a road victory in San Diego with SignOnSanDiego proffering this.

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Nick Jezierny tells us Boise State will be getting a taste of life facing the upper crust of Mountain West Conference basketball tonight, and on the road.

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Chris Murray has a piece up on the thoughts and feelings of the Wolf Packers after seven consecutive losses. Not based on anything heard or read but Nevada is another team with a large number of newcomers and therefore 'eligible' to have a player or two unhappy with playing time. But 10 guys are currently on the court for double figure playing time which keeps kids happy. However, the soon-to-happen eligibility of Olek Czyz will eat into the PT of some of the frontcourters.

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Vandal Nation offers a photo gallery of Idaho matching up in the Travelers Basketball Classic from last weekend.

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Sam Wasson/Bleed Crimson has posted video of the New Mexico State - New Mexico game.