Dec. 11, 2006
LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior Wendell White was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week, marking his first career weekly honor and the first for a UNLV player since the 2004-05 season.
White, a 6-6 guard from Los Angeles, Calif., led UNLV to two non-conference road victories last week and extended UNLV's win streak to three games.
The week started for the Runnin' Rebels on Tuesday with a 61-58 win at Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors were 37-5 in its previous 42 non-conference home games dating back to 2001 before falling to the Rebels.
White scored a game-high 20 points and recorded a game-high-tying 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and the third of his career against the Rainbow Warriors. Eleven of his points and seven of his rebounds came in the first half as UNLV won at Hawaii for the first time since 1983. For the game, White was 8-of-19 from the field, 4-of-5 from the free throw line and grabbed a team-season-high eight offensive rebounds.
On Saturday, UNLV recorded perhaps its biggest non-conference win since 1991 as it defeated No. 20 Nevada, Reno on the road 58-49. The win marked the first road win over a ranked non-conference opponent by UNLV since winning at No. 2 Arkansas on Feb. 10, 1991 and snapped a three-game losing streak against the Wolf Pack. It was also UNLV's first win over a ranked team since defeating No. 19 Utah at the Thomas & Mack Center on Feb. 5, 2000 and was its first win over a ranked team in its last 15 games against ranked foes.
White led UNLV in scoring against the Wolf Pack, scoring all 12 of his points in the first half, leading UNLV to a 17-point halftime margin. The Runnin' Rebels led 39-22 at the break. UNLV increased its advantage to 21 points early in the second half. White also grabbed six first-half rebounds. For the game, White was one rebound shy of a double-double as he collected a team-high nine boards to go with his 12 points. He also had three assists and a steal.
For the week, White averaged a double-double with 16.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg. White leads UNLV in scoring and rebounding this season with 15.1 ppg and 6.7 rpg.
UNLV will be back in action this Sunday, Dec. 17 as it hosts the Duel in the Desert, a three-day event with a doubleheader each day starting at 5 p.m. Games will also take place on Monday, Dec. 16 and Tuesday, Dec. 17. Other teams involved are Norfolk State, South Florida and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
