WAC Notebook
The Skinny
The WAC no longer has an undefeated tenant in the league house following Hawaii’s loss on January 19th. Ironically, the Rainbow Warriors lost to the only other team in the league that had not yet won a divisional contest, San Jose State. Hawaii has since rebounded from the 57-53 loss to defeat both Rice and Tulsa to maintain atop the standings. Tulsa, Fresno State, and Louisiana Tech are all on the proverbial heels of the Warriors, and with another loss, Hawaii could find itself sharing the division lead.
Homesick
WAC newcomer Louisiana Tech went into Selland Arena last Saturday night and defeated Fresno State, 71-64. The loss broke Fresno State’s 25-game home winning streak (which was mentioned in last week’s Notebook), the fourth longest in the nation. Gerrod Henderson led Louisiana Tech with 20 points while three other players scored in double figures: Antonio Meeking (14), Marco Cole (13) and Michael Wilder (11). Henderson and Cole each had double-doubles with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Shoot Out the Lights
Tulsa’s Dante Swanson leads the nation in three-point shooting. The junior guard has made 53.9 percent (48-of-89) of his three-pointers, the second highest in WAC history. The current record is 56.3 percent set by Colorado State’s Joel Tribelhorn during the 1988-89 season.
Player of the Week
Hawaii senior guard Mike McIntyre came off the bench in two games and averaged 21.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in a pair of road victories for Hawaii. Coming into the two games, he was averaging 8.8 points on the season, but McIntyre scored 20 points at Rice while shooting 4 of 7 from three-point range. He followed that performance up with a career-high 22 points at Tulsa, and made 6 of 8 from downtown. For the week, he shot .609 (14-23) from the field and .667 (10-15) from three-point range.
Other nominees included Abe Jackson (Boise State), Antonio Meeking (Louisiana Tech), Michael Harris (Rice), Quinton Ross (SMU), and Brian Stewart (UTEP).
Rankings
No teams in the WAC are currently ranked in the top 25 of the AP and USA Today-ESPN polls, but Hawaii is receiving votes in both.
