Monday morning and the WAC

Courtesy of Dayton Morinaga and with some teammate assistance, Bill Amis captured the sights and sounds resulting from a Rainbow Warrior victory.

Jeff Portnoy looks backwards and forwards at UH hoops.

+++++

Mark Rauh has posted his Nevada - Irvine game photos at Silver and Blue Sports.

Chris Murray's Wolf Pack week in review is up.

+++++

Jason Groves also looks in the rear view mirror and then ahead.

+++++

Shawn Harrison writes about the four better halves of the Aggies and no, he isn't  describing a quartet of the top 20 minutes of play for USU.

Games tonight and more

Hawaii is shorthanded as the Rainbow Warriors invade the O.C. to face Irvine tonight. Word is the Irvine roster has undergone quite the facelift and a lot of authentic housewives are expected to be in attendance. Dayton Morinaga/Honolulu Advertiser has his preview as does Brian McInnis/Honolulu Star Bulletin likewise.

Shawn Harrison/Herald Journal previews the not-to-be Marquis of Queenberry matchup between Utah State and BYU, as does Jared Eborn/Deseret News. Three words of advice: bring your earplugs. Of course, The Refraction-ers aren't missing this opportunity.

Travis Mason-Bushman video previews Idaho's venture to Cal State Northridge.

Chris Murray/Reno Gazette-Journal has a ton of material on the professional futures of Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson. Go here and here and here.

The WAC falls twice

Damn. Utah State came might close but Utah ultimately pulled out a one-point victory.

USU, Utah Utes basketball: Aggies' dry spell proves costly
USU goes scoreless for five minutes, sees 7-point lead vanish
Jared Eborn
Deseret News
November 18, 2009

With 12 minutes and 54 seconds to play, Utah State's Nate Bendall hit an 18-foot jumper from the top of the key to give the Aggies a 47-40 lead.

All was right for Utah State and the crowd of 9,699 at the Huntsman center was mostly quiet.

"We were up seven," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said, "and then we go five minutes without scoring."

And just like that, the Utes put the 'Runnin' back in their name and rattled off an 11-0 rally to take the lead and eventually a 68-67 win...

Go here for the remainder.

and

The Ags run out of time
Shawn Harrison
Herald Journal
November 19, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY — It was how an in-state game should go.

Neither team enjoyed a big advantage. There were nine lead changes and the game was tied on seven other occasions. In the end, it was a one-point game.

That being said, the Aggie men’s basketball team came up on the short end of the final score and were left with an empty feeling. Utah held off Utah State Wednesday night at the Huntsman Center, 68-67, in front of 9,699 fans.

“This hurts, it hurts a lot,” said Aggie forward Tai Wesley, who had 14 points and eight rebounds. “... Losing to an in-state rival, it really hurts. If it would have been a blow out, it wouldn’t have hurt as much. We were up by seven at one point.” Aggies, on the other hand, got just 12 points on possessions created by Utah's 10 turnovers...

Go here for the remainder.

Plus, Tony Jones/Salt Lake City Tribune has some thoughts about the game.

+++++

Nevada's expected bugaboo came to the fore last night:

Wolf Pack Basketball: Pack slips up against UNLV
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
November 19, 2009

LAS VEGAS -- If Nevada's game against UNLV on Wednesday night was limited to five players per roster, the Wolf Pack would have walked out of the Thomas & Mack Center the victors.

But it wasn't, and Nevada left Las Vegas with the bitter taste of a 88-75 defeat to its archrival in front of 13,113 fans -- the Pack's fourth straight loss in the series.

After leading by five at halftime, the Wolf Pack went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to take a 54-42 lead, its largest of the game. Then what happened?

"I thought our guys got tired," Wolf Pack coach David Carter said. "They have a very, very deep team. We got tired and our defense got soft and they did a really good job of changing their on-ball screens and we just didn't handle it."

Go here for the remainder.

Plus, Chris Murray has more here.