Feb. 12, 2007
LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior Joel Anthony was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Co-Player of the week, marking his first career weekly honor and the third for a UNLV player this year. BYU senior Keena Young was the other player honored this week.
Anthony, a 6-9 center from Montreal, Canada, led the Runnin' Rebels to home wins over TCU (82-67) and Wyoming (80-70) last week.
Anthony set the UNLV, Mountain West Conference and Thomas & Mack Center records for most blocks in a game with 13 on Wednesday in UNLV's victory over TCU. The previous UNLV record for an individual was Michael Johnson with nine blocks against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 28, 1979 and the previous MWC record was 12 by Wyoming's Justin Williams in last year's MWC Tournament against Utah on March 10, 2006. The previous TMC record was eight.
Anthony's total of 13 blocks in that game was one shy of the NCAA record of 14. Four players have recorded 14 blocks in a game in NCAA history. Anthony's 13 blocks ties him with Boston College's Sean Williams for most blocks in game in the nation this season. Against the Horned Frogs, Anthony blocked two shots on the same possession on three different occasions.
Anthony's game-high 11 rebounds against TCU was also a career high and marked his first career double-double (13 blocks, 11 rebounds). He also had eight points in the game, which made him one basket shy of recording UNLV's and the MWC's first triple-double since Mark Dickel's in 1999. He was 4-of-9 from the field and added two assists and a steal in 26 minutes off the bench for UNLV against the Horned Frogs.
On Saturday in UNLV's win over Wyoming, Anthony blocked six more shots, while adding nine points on 4-of-6 from the field with four rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench for the Runnin' Rebels.
For the week, Anthony recorded a staggering 19 blocks (9.5 per game), led the team in rebounding with 7.5 rpg, scored 8.5 ppg and shot 53.3 percent from the field.
Anthony now has 77 blocks on the season and 125 for his career. The 77 for the season ties him for second on the all-time seasonal blocked shot list at UNLV with George Ackles (1990-91). Keon Clark (1996-97) is No. 1 with 112. Anthony is now No. 7 on the all-time career blocked shot chart at UNLV. With his six blocks against Wyoming, he moved past Louis Amundson (2001-06), who had 120. Dalron Johnson (1999-03) is the all-time UNLV career leader in blocks with 194.
As a team, UNLV recorded 19 blocks vs. TCU on Wednesday, which is also a school and MWC record. The previous UNLV team record was 14 set twice (vs. Utah State on Feb. 1, 1990 and vs. Rutgers on Feb. 3, 1991). The previous MWC mark was 14, done twice by Wyoming (vs. Utah on March 10, 2006 and vs. Denver on Jan. 4, 2005).
UNLV has won seven of its last eight games overall and has won 12 in a row at home.
The other UNLV players to win the MWC Player of the Week award this year are sophomore Wink Adams (Jan. 29) and senior Wendell White (Dec. 11).
The Runnin' Rebels next play at San Diego State on Tuesday. The game will be played at 8 p.m. PST and will be televised live on the mtn. (Cox Digital 334 in Las Vegas).
