Men's Basketball Weekly Release No. 17
Race for league crown enters home stretch
Feb. 25, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
WEEK 16 RECAP
With two weeks left to play in the regular-season schedule, the race for the 2007-08 Mountain West Conference crown is heating up as just 1.5 games separate the top three teams in the standings. BYU (21-6, 10-2) remained in first after splitting its two league tilts in Week 16 action, defeating Utah (67-59) and falling to San Diego State (69-65). UNLV (20-6, 9-3) trails in second following a 73-65 win at Wyoming, while New Mexico (22-6, 9-4) picked up road wins at Air Force (68-51) and Utah (72-71) to retain its third-place slot. Fourth-place San Diego State (18-9, 8-5) also went 2-0 last week, adding a 79-68 win to its triumph over the Cougars. Utah (15-10, 6-6) remains in fifth following its two losses, while Air Force (14-12, 6-7) held on to the No. 6 slot, bouncing back from its setback to New Mexico with a 61-59 victory at Colorado State. TCU (13-12, 5-7) beat CSU (66-64) in its lone outing of the week and remains in seventh place, while Wyoming (10-16, 3-10) and Colorado State (6-20, 0-12) round out the standings in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (FEB. 25)
BILLY WHITE, FR., F, SAN DIEGO STATE (LAS VEGAS, NEVADA)
White, a Las Vegas, Nev., native, led the Aztecs to wins at Wyoming (79-68) and at home against league-leading BYU (69-65) last week, averaging a double-double and shooting close to 74 percent from the field. At Wyoming, he collected his second career double-double, scoring a game-high 19 points and adding a career-high and game-high 12 rebounds in 32 minutes of action. White scored 17 of his 19 points after intermission, shooting 6-of-7 from the field and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. For the game, he connected on 7-of-8 field goals, while adding two assists and one steal. Against BYU, White scored 15 points and collected game-highs in rebounds (eight) and blocked shots (a career-best four), and a game-high tying three steals and two assists. He connected on 7-of-11 shot attempts vs. the Cougars. For the week, White averaged 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per game, while shooting 73.7 percent from the field (14-for-19) and 75 percent from the free throw line (6-for-8).
WEEK 17 PREVIEW
Week 17 action includes several key matchups as the race for the MWC crown heads into the home stretch. On Tuesday, the top four teams in the standings square off as fourth-place San Diego State visits second-place UNLV in a nationally-televised outing on CSTV (7 p.m. PT) and third-place New Mexico hosts league-leader and No. 25 BYU in an 8 p.m. MT contest on The Mtn. Wednesday's action pits Wyoming at Colorado State (6:30 p.m. MT) and Utah at TCU (7 p.m. CT), with the Wyoming-CSU contest being aired on The Mtn. Saturday's slate will feature a tripleheader on The Mtn., beginning with Utah at Wyoming (2 p.m. MT) and followed by TCU at UNLV (4 p.m. PT) and Colorado State at San Diego State (7 p.m. PT). Also taking the court on Saturday will be Air Force and BYU (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.
20 WINS=POSTSEASON
No. 25 BYU (21-6), New Mexico (22-6) and UNLV (20-6) have all reached the 20-win benchmark in 2007-08. Additionally, San Diego State (18-9) is on the threshhold of hitting the 20-win plateau. In the previous eight years of the Mountain West, all 25 MWC teams that have had 20 or more wins prior to "Selection Sunday" have been invited to the postseason. In 2007, BYU (25-9) and UNLV (30-7) each received invitations to the NCAA Tournament, while Air Force (26-9) and San Diego State (22-11) particpated in the NIT. Overall, the MWC has had 31 postseaon bids since 2000.
HOME VS. ROAD IN THE MWC
Over the previous eight years in the Mountain West, home teams have won 63 percent or more of the games in league competition. Thus far in 2007-08, home teams hold a 34-22 (.607) advantage in MWC play.
No. 25 BYU (6-0) and UNLV (5-0) are the only teams who remain undefeated vs. league opponents in their home venues this season. 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 at least five road wins vs. conference opponents. Currently, No. 25 BYU (4-2), New Mexico (4-3), San Diego State (3-3) and UNLV (4-3) each have .500 or better records in road MWC contests.
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.
NEWCOMERS HAVING AN IMPACT
Several MWC newcomers are making their mark this season as four junior college transfers (Colorado State's Marcus Walker, San Diego State's Ryan Amoroso and TCU's Henry Salter and John Ortiz) and four freshmen (SDSU's Billy White, BYU's Chris Collinsworth, New Mexico's Dairese Gary and Wyoming's Mikhail Linskens) find themselves ranked among Conference leaders in several key statistical categories. Walker leads the MWC in scoring (18.1 ppg). Salter ranks 13th and 16th in scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.0 rpg), respectively, while Ortiz is 13th with a 5.1 average on the glass. Amoroso, the 2007-08 MWC Preseason Newcomer of the Year, is fifth in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and 19th in scoring (10.7 ppg). White (5.9 rpg) and Collinsworth (4.9 rpg) are eighth and 17th, respectively, in rebounding, with White also ranking fifth in steals (1.5 spg). Gary is eighth in assists (3.4 apg) and tied for sixth in steals (1.5 spg), while Linskens is seventh in blocked shots (1.1 bpg).
MWC SCORING LEADERS
The six leading scorers in the MWC are juniors, led by Colorado State's Marcus Walker (18.1 ppg). Overall, the junior class accounts for 13 of the league's top 20 scoring averages. New Mexico's J.R. Giddens (7th/15.1 ppg) is the top-ranked senior, while BYU's Jonathan Tavernari (12th/13.4 ppg) is the only sophomore of the group. In addition, San Diego State's Billy White is contributing 8.8 points as the top freshman scorer.
UNLV'S KRUGER CAPTURES 400TH VICTORY
UNLV Head Coach Lon Kruger reached a notable milestone with the Runnin' Rebels Feb. 19 victory over Colorado State, collecting his 400th career win as a collegiate head coach. Among active NCAA Division I coaches, Kruger is the 32nd individual to register 400 victories, currently boasting a 402-273 (.596) record over a 22-year collegiate career that has included stops at Texas-Pan American (1982-86), Kansas State (1986-90), Florida (1990-96), Illinois (1996-00) and UNLV. At each of those institutions, Kruger has produced at least one 20-win season within four years of his arrival, racking up 10 NCAA Tournament appearances in the process. Kruger is one of just five coaches to take four different schools to the NCAA Tournament (Jim Harrick, Eddie Sutton, Lefty Driesell and Rick Pitino) and one of only three to lead four different teams to NCAA tourney wins (Harrick, Sutton).
