UH’s Gibson, Smith double up on All-WAC honors
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » Matt Gibson has a couple more All-Western Athletic Conference honors to bookend his Hawaii career.
The senior guard was named to the All-WAC second team and the all-defensive team yesterday to go with his all-newcomer team selection following his sophomore year in 2005.
Senior forward Tanya Smith was the only Rainbow Wahine honored, mirroring Gibson's honors when named second team and the all-defensive team. Smith led the WAC in rebounding with 11.8 per game and blocked shots with 51.
Gibson leads Hawaii in scoring with 17 points per game and has a streak of 22 straight games scoring in double figures. He averages five assists per game, good for third in the WAC, and his 1.9 steals per game leads the conference.
"It's an honor, it's nice to be recognized," Gibson said.
"We don't vote for our own players, so it's being voted on what the other coaches see," UH coach Bob Nash said. "So that's a tribute to him that he's put in the hard work and people recognize it."
Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll was named Player of the Year. Joining Carroll on the first team were Boise State forward Reggie Larry, Fresno State guard Kevin Bell, Nevada guard Marcelus Kemp and New Mexico State forward Justin Hawkins. Boise State's Greg Graham won Coach of the Year honors.
The Wahine begin WAC tournament play on Wednesday against host New Mexico State at 2 p.m. Hawaii time. The UH men face Boise State in a quarterfinal game at 8 a.m. on Thursday.
Men's field
1. Utah State (23-9, 12-4)
Coach: Stew Morrill
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 9, consecutive seasons with at least 23 wins.
Aggies notes: The Aggies reached the WAC tournament final the last two years, losing to the host team both times. Utah State won its final five games after dropping three straight in the middle of the WAC season. WAC Player of the Year Jaycee Carroll averaged a league-high 22.7 ppg while shooting 53 percent from the field and hitting 102 3-pointers.
2. Nevada (20-10, 12-4)
Coach: Mark Fox
WAC titles: 2004, 2006
Key figure: 4, straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Wolf Pack notes: Nevada has won or shared the regular season title each of the last five years. Marcelus Kemp (20.1 ppg) is one of the league's premier scorers and has made the all-tournament team the last two years. Center JaVale McGee averages 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds, but made his greatest impact on defense with 82 blocks.
3. New Mexico State (19-13, 12-4)
Coach: Marvin Menzies
WAC title: 2007
Key figure: 6, Aggies regulars averaging double-figure scoring.
Aggies notes: Perhaps the hottest team entering the tournament, the defending champs won eight of their last nine since losing by 23 at Hawaii on Jan. 31. F Justin Hawkins (17.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg) is coming off a 37-point performance against Hawaii, the highest total in the WAC this season. G Fred Peete has 48 assists to just 13 turnovers over the last seven games.
4. Boise State (22-8, 12-4)
Coach: Greg Graham
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 50.9, team shooting percentage.
Broncos notes: Boise State was the first team to clinch a share of the regular-season title, but slipped all the way to the fourth seed after a home loss to Utah State last Thursday. Boise State's inside combo of Reggie Larry (18.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg) and Matt Nelson (15.8, 7.4) is intact again with Nelson's return from a foot injury. F Tyler Tiedeman trails only Carroll in 3-point shooting at 49.7 percent.
5. Hawaii (11-18, 7-9)
Coach: Bob Nash
WAC titles: 1994, 2001, 2002
Key figure: 2003, the last time UH won a quarterfinal game.
Rainbow Warriors notes: The Rainbows stumbled down the stretch to drop their final six games of the regular season. Defense and rebounding have been the 'Bows sore spots during the streak, giving up 81.2 ppg over that span. Matt Gibson (17 ppg, 5.0 apg) has played through a knee injury to lead the 'Bows. Riley Luettgerodt scored a career-high 26 points in Saturday's loss to NMSU.
6. Idaho (8-20, 5-11)
Coach: George Pfeifer
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 8, matches Idaho's win total of the previous two years.
Vandals notes: Road wins over Hawaii and San Jose State pushed Idaho to its highest finish in three years of WAC membership. A power forward last year, point guard Jordan Brooks (12.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.8 apg) does most of his work driving to the basket or working in the post. F Michael Crowell and G Mike Hall are dangerous 3-point shooters.
7. Fresno State (13-18, 5-11)
Coach: Steve Cleveland
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 24.3, 3-point attempts per game.
Bulldogs notes: G Kevin Bell, one of the WAC's top playmakers, has had to pick up the scoring slack for the shorthanded Bulldogs. His quickness off the dribble allows Bell (18.5 ppg) to get to the rim or dish to teammates in racking up 5.9 assists per game. G Eddie Miller has hit a league high 110 3-pointers. This is Fresno State's first sub-.500 WAC season since 1994-95.
8. San Jose State (12-18, 4-12)
Coach: George Nessman
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 1, wins in WAC tournament.
Spartans notes: SJSU lost its final five games of the regular season to fall into the first-round game. F Tim Pierce and G Justin Graham lead the Spartans with 11.3 ppg. Graham looked to be a contender for Freshman of the Year until a broken elbow early in the WAC season forced him to miss five games.
9. Louisiana Tech (6-23, 3-13)
Coach: Kerry Rupp
WAC titles: none
Key figure: minus-11.3, LaTech's scoring margin.
Bulldogs notes: After struggling throughout Rupp's first season, the Bulldogs ended the season by winning their last two games, beating Hawaii and SJSU 87-83 on Saturday in a preview of Tuesday's first-round game. G Kyle Gibson is the lone Bulldog averaging double-figure scoring at 16.6 ppg.
Women's field
1. Fresno State (19-10, 14-2)
Coach: Adrian Wiggins
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 6, straight losses to start the season.
Bulldogs notes: Fresno State got off to a deceptively slow start to the season with a tough slate of nonconference foes. Once WAC play began, FSU stunned defending champion Boise State and rolled to six straight wins. WAC Player of the Year Tierre Wilson led the way with 15.7 points and 3.38 assists per game in taking the team to its first share of a regular-season title.
2. Boise State (22-6, 14-2)
Coach: Gordy Presnell
WAC titles: 2007
Key figure: 14, consecutive wins entering tournament.
Broncos notes: Last year's WAC tourney champ enters this week on fire. After dropping their first two conference games to Fresno State and New Mexico State, BSU rolled in going unbeaten the rest of the way, including a 13-0 overall mark at home. The Broncos were tops in scoring average (73.9) and free-throw percentage (70.5), headed up by WAC scoring champ Tasha Harris (16.3 ppg).
3. New Mexico State (21-8, 11-5)
Coach: Darin Spence
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 2, tournament title game appearances in two previous WAC seasons.
Aggies notes: NMSU was the seventh seed in each of the last two years and advanced to the championship game both times. The best defensive team in the WAC (62.7 ppg, 36.1 percent shooting allowed) rallied in the final seconds for a one-point win at Hawaii on Saturday. Forward Sherell Neal (14.3 ppg, 10.1 ppg) was one of three players in the WAC to average a double-double.
4. Nevada (18-11, 9-7)
Coach: Kim Gervasoni
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 12.8, steals per game.
Wolf Pack notes: Nevada forced the most turnovers in the WAC (plus-6.1 margin) with 91 more steals than anyone else in conference. All-WAC guard Dellena Criner (16.1 ppg) is second in conference in scoring, third in free-throw percentage (77.6) and third in steals (2.34).
5. Louisiana Tech (15-14, 9-7)
Coach: Chris Long
WAC titles: 2002, '03, '04, '06
Key figure: 25, number of NCAA tournaments participated (of possible 26).
Lady Techsters notes: Despite losing all five starters from last year, LaTech attempts to get back to the NCAA postseason after missing out for the first time ever last year. All-WAC performer JoKeirra Sneed averaged team highs of 15.8 points and 10.3 rebounds for the top board-gathering team in the WAC.
6. Hawaii (12-17, 6-10)
Coach: Jim Bolla
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 23.9, turnovers per game.
Rainbow Wahine notes: It was often a nightly struggle to see whether Hawaii's positives - rebounding, 3-point shooting, assists and defense - could outweigh the WAC-worst rate of giveaways on offense. The win against LaTech will currently suffice as their most impressive WAC victory of the season. All-WAC defender Tanya Smith led the conference with 19 double-doubles and blocks per game (1.76).
7. Utah State (9-19, 5-11)
Coach: Raegan Pebley
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 1, WAC win away from the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Aggies notes: The Aggies are backing into the tournament with three straight losses, including lowly Idaho on Saturday. A lack of physical players hurt as they had the worst rebounding margin (negative 5.8). There was no go-to scorer, either - Taylor Richards and Jenny Gross led the team with 10.1 and 10 points per game, respectively.
8. Idaho (4-24, 3-13)
Coach: Mike Divilbiss
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 13.7, average amount UI was outscored by.
Vandals notes: Idaho owned Utah State and split with SJSU, but struggled against everyone else. Katie Madison, the 2007 newcomer of the year, dropped off in production this season, 19.9 to 13.8 points per game. The Vandals were by far the most anemic offensive team in the WAC at 53.7 points per game.
9. San Jose State (2-27, 1-15)
Coach: Pam DeCosta
WAC titles: none
Key figure: 4, total number of wins over last two seasons.
Spartans notes: It was tough sledding for DeCosta in her first year. Brittany Imaku led the WAC in assists with 4.39 per game and Natalie White put up 16 points per game (third), but those were about the only bright spots. The downtrodden Spartans have lost 11 straight and face off with Idaho in the dreaded play-in game.
ALL-WAC TEams
Men
Selected by league coaches
First team
Reggie Larry, Boise State, F, Sr.
Kevin Bell, Fresno State, G, Sr.
Marcelus Kemp, Nevada, G, Sr.
Justin Hawkins, NMSU, F, Sr.
Jaycee Carroll, Utah State, G, Sr.
Second Team
Matt Nelson, Boise State, F, Sr.
Matt Gibson, Hawaii, G, Sr.
Jordan Brooks, Idaho, F, Jr.
JaVale McGee, Nevada, F, So.
Gary Wilkinson, Utah State, F, Jr.
All-Newcomer Team
Jordan Brooks, Idaho, F, Jr.
Armon Johnson, Nevada, G, Fr.
Herb Pope, NMSU, F, Fr.
C.J. Webster, San Jose St., C, So.
Gary Wilkinson, Utah State, F, Jr.
All-Defensive Team
Matt Bauscher, Boise St., G, Sr.
Matt Gibson, Hawai'i, G, Sr.
Lyndale Burelson, Nevada, G, Jr.
JaVale McGee, Nevada, F, So.
Fred Peete, NMSU, G, Sr.
Special honors
Player of the Year
» Jaycee Carroll, Utah State
Freshman of the Year
» Armon Johnson, Nevada
Coach of the Year
» Greg Graham, Boise State
WOMEN
First Team
Dellena Criner, Nevada, G, Jr.
Tasha Harris, Boise State, G, Jr.
Sherell Neal, NMSU, F, Sr.
JoKeirra Sneed, LaTech, F, Sr.
Tierre Wilson, Fresno St., G, Sr.
Second Team
Anikia Jawara, NMSU, F, Sr.
Katie Madison, Idaho, P, So
Jaleesa Ross, Fresno State, G, Fr.
Tanya Smith, Hawaii, F, Sr.
Jessica Thompson, Boise St., G, Jr.
All-Defensive Team
Dellena Criner, Nevada, G, Jr.
Cherlanda Franklin, Nevada, F, Jr.
Tasha Harris, Boise State, G, Jr.
Sherell Neal, NMSU, F, Sr.
Tanya Smith, Hawaii, Sr., F
All-Freshman Team
Hayley Munro, Fresno State
Yinka Olorunnife, Idaho
Jaleesa Ross, Fresno State
Madison Spence, NMSU
Tarkeisha Wysinger, LaTech
Special honors
Player of the Year
» Tierre Wilson, Fresno State
Defensive Player of the Year
» Dellena Criner, Nevada
Newcomer of the Year
» Jaleesa Ross, Fresno State
Coach of the Year
» Adrian Wiggins, Fresno State