MWC Men's Basketball Weekly Release No. 13
Jan. 28, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
WEEK 10 RECAP
BYU (15-5, 4-1) and UNLV (15-4, 4-1) are tied atop the Mountain West Conference
standings after posting perfect 2-0 marks last week. The Cougars knocked San Diego
State (14-5, 4-2) from the ranks of the MWC unbeaten with a 59-56 victory, then followed
that up with an 83-66 win over New Mexico (16-5, 3-3). UNLV earned a 78-71 triumph
over Wyoming (7-11, 1-5), then edged SDSU (72-69) to halt the Aztecs' 10-game MWC
home win streak. The Aztecs' two losses dropped them into third place, while Air Force
(11-7, 3-2) and TCU (11-7, 3-2) are tied for fourth following the Falcons' 75-69 win over
Colorado State (6-13, 0-5) and the Horned Frogs' 74-58 loss to Utah. (11-7, 2-3). New
Mexico picked up a 77-67 win over Utah and now sits in sixth place, while the Utes are
in seventh. Wyoming and CSU round out the standings in eighth and ninth, respectively,
after the Cowboys defeated the Rams (73-58) to end their five-game losing streak.
MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (JAN. 28)
JOHNNIE BRYANT, SR., G, UTAH (OAKLAND, CALIF.)
Utah senior guard Johnnie Bryant earns his first career MWC weekly honor after
leading the Utes to a 1-1 record in conference play last week, recording back-to-back 20-
point performances off the bench. In an overtime loss at New Mexico (67-77), the
Oakland, Calif., native scored a season-high 25 points, on 8-of-11 shooting from the field,
and grabbed a season-best five rebounds in 41 minutes of action. He scored 16 of his
points in the second half, including 14 of Utah's 35 points in the first 11:25 of the second
stanza, giving the Utes a nine-point lead after trailing by ten at the half. In Utah's win
over TCU (74-58), Bryant set a new Utah single-game record with eight three-pointers on
the way to scoring 24 points. In 27 minutes of action, he also pulled down four rebounds
and dished out an assist vs. the Horned Frogs. On the week, Bryant averaged 24.5 points
and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 61.5 percent (16-for-26) from the field and
61.9 percent (13-for-21) from three-point range.
WEEK 11 PREVIEW
Six of the league's eight MWC contests will be televised in Week 11, all on The Mtn.-
MountainWest Sports Network. On Tuesday, Colorado State hosts San Diego State in a 7
p.m. MT match-up on The Mtn., while Wednesday's slate features a UNLV-TCU (6:30 p.m.
CT) and Wyoming-Utah (8 p.m. MT) doubleheader on The Mtn. Also taking place on
Wednesday is a BYU-Air Force meeting at the Academy. On Saturday, BYU visits
Wyoming at 2 p.m. MT to kick off a tripleheader on The Mtn., followed by Air Force at
TCU (5:30 p.m. CT) and New Mexico at UNLV (7 p.m. PT). Also on the slate that day is
Utah at Colorado State (7 p.m. MT).
MWC ON TELEVISION
The 2007-08 MWC men's basketball package features a minimum of 100 games on national
and regional television, including 27 to be broadcast nationally with 19 on CSTV and seven
on VERSUS. Sixty-three of the 72 conference match-ups, and seven of eight MWC
Championship contests are included in the television package. Seventy-five games will be
shown on The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network, and two of the 100 televised contests
will feature simulcasts on The Mtn. and CSTV.
MWC SUPPORTS COACHES VS. CANCER
MWC coaches and officials will join their counterparts across the country this weekend in
support of the Coaches vs. Cancer coalition between the National Association of Basketball
Coaches (NABC) and American Cancer Society®, designed to raise awareness about the
fight against cancer and the importance that nutrition and physical activity plays in
reducing people's risk of the disease. On Saturday, Feb. 2, MWC coaching staffs will don
sneakers as part of their game-day attire for the Suits and Sneakers promotion, while MWC
game officials will use blue whistles in the "Calling for a Cure" promotion.
NEWCOMERS HAVING AN IMPACT
Several MWC newcomers are making their mark this season as five junior college
transfers (Colorado State's Marcus Walker and Willis Gardner, San Diego State's Ryan
Amoroso and TCU's Henry Salter and John Ortiz) and two freshmen (SDSU's Billy
White and BYU's Chris Collinsworth) find themselves ranked among the Conference's
scoring and/or rebounding leaders. Walker leads the league in scoring (18.0 ppg), while
Gardner is 17th (11.9 ppg). Salter ranks eighth and 13th in scoring (14.9 ppg) and
rebounding (5.4 rpg), respectively, while Ortiz is 12th with a 5.4 rebounding average.
Amoroso, the 2007-08 MWC Preseason Newcomer of the Year, is ranked eighth in
rebounding (6.0 rpg), while White is 10th (5.7 rpg) and Collinsworth is 17th with 5.2
rebounds per game.
MWC SCORING LEADERS
Nine of the 10 leading scorers in the MWC are juniors, led by Colorado State's Marcus
Walker (18.0 ppg). Overall, the junior class accounts for 13 of the league's top 20 scoring
averages. Air Force's Tim Anderson (5th/15.1 ppg) is the top-ranked senior, while BYU's
Jonathan Tavernari (14th/13.1 ppg) is the only sophomore of the group. In addition, San
Diego State's Billy White is contributing 8.5 points as the top freshman scorer.
STRONG OUT OF THE GATES
Mountain West teams have a combined 92-19 record in contests in which they hold a
halftime lead this season. New Mexico boasts a 14-2 overall record when holding the
advantage at intermission. In conference play, Air Force (3-0), BYU (3-0), TCU (1-0) and
UNLV (3-0) are all undefeated when taking a lead into the locker room.
HOME VS. ROAD IN THE MWC
Home teams boast a 17-7 record in MWC play thus far in 2007-08, with Air Force (2-0),
BYU (3-0), TCU (2-0) and UNLV (2-0) each currently sporting undefeated marks vs.
league opponents in their home venues. For each of the previous eight years, the MWC
regular-season champion has won no fewer than six of its league outings at home.
For each of the last six years, the MWC regular-season champion has finished with no
fewer than five road victories against conference competition. Only twice in the history
of the Mountain West has a team claimed a share of the regular-season crown with a
losing record in road games (Utah, 1999-00, 3-4; BYU and Utah, 2000-01, 3-4 each). UNLV
shared the 1999-00 crown with the Utes but had a 4-3 record in MWC road games.
MWC IRONMEN
Three Mountain West players are averaging 35 minutes or more a game this season.
Wyoming guards Brad Jones and Brandon Ewing, the league's top two ironmen a year
ago, are making a bid to repeat the effort in 2007-08 as Ewing leads the MWC with an
average of 38.12 minutes played, while Jones is third (35.69 mpg). Air Force's Tim
Anderson ranks second, averaging 35.83 minutes on the court.
