Vuk Grounded Indefinitely

Chris Miles was in the Pacific Northwest this time last year, knocking on doors as a missionary.

Now, he’s got to shift gears quick. He needs to be more of an offensive force. get his legs back for rebounds and continue to be a defensive presence after news Monday sidelined Trent Plaisted’s main backup.

Vuk Ivanovic will be out indefinitely due to a foot injury suffered last week in practice. An MRI conducted Monday revealed a fracture in his left foot. The 6-foot-10 senior forward/center from Pancevo, Serbia, played in BYU’s first 15 games this season before sitting out Saturday’s win over Colorado State due to the injury. He has averaged 3.3 points and 2.4 rebounds off the bench for the Cougars this year while recording season highs of 10 points and nine rebounds.

Bits and bites from the MWC…

WEEK 10 PREVIEW_All eight MWC contests will be televised in Week 10 action, highlighted by three national broadcasts. On Tuesday, New Mexico puts its three-game road win streak on the line with a CSTV-televised outing at TCU (8 p.m. CT), while BYU visits UNLV in a match-up on The Mtn.-MountainWest Sports Network (8 p.m. PT). Wednesday features a doubleheader on The Mtn. with Air Force at Wyoming (6:30 p.m. MT) and Utah at San Diego State (8 p.m. PT). On Saturday, the BYU-Utah rivalry will play out on a national stage in Salt Lake City with a 2 p.m. MT tipoff on VERSUS, while San Diego State hosts Wyoming in a CSTVtelevised meeting at 8 p.m. PT. The day’s action also includes a doubleheader on The Mtn. with TCU at Colorado State (1:30 p.m. MT) and Air Force at New Mexico (4 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 SCORING LEADERS_The six leading scorers in the MWC are all juniors, led by Wyoming’s Brandon Ewing (17.3 ppg). Overall, the junior class accounts for 12 of the league’s top 20 scoring averages. Air Force’s Tim Anderson (7th/14.8 ppg) is the top-ranked senior scorer, while BYU’s Jonathan Tavernari heads up the sophomore class, ranking 10th with 14.3 points a game.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS_With one non-conference opponent (Cal State-Bakersfield at Wyoming, Feb. 6) remaining on the schedule, the Mountain West is on pace to record its ninth consecutive season with an overall winning percentage of 61 percent or greater in non-conference play. Last year, MWC teams combined to win a league-record 72.2 percent of their games outside of the conference. This season, MWC teams own a collective 82-41 (66.7%) mark against nonleague opponents.

STRONG OUT OF THE GATES_Mountain West teams have a combined 81-14 record in contests in which they hold a halftime lead this season. Utah (10-0) is the only MWC team to be undefeated when holding the advantage at intermission.

NEWCOMERS HAVING IMPACT_Several MWC newcomers are quickly 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 one freshman (SDSU’s Billy White) find themselves ranked among the Conference’s scoring and/or rebounding leaders heading into MWC action. Walker leads CSU and ranks second in the league in scoring (16.8 ppg), while Gardner is 15th (12.9 ppg). Salter is the Horned Frogs’ top scorer (15.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.9 rpg), ranking fifth and 10th in the league, respectively, while Ortiz is 13th with a 5.6 rebounding average. Amoroso, the 2007-08 MWC Preseason Newcomer of the Year, and White, the lone freshman among the Conference’s top glass cleaners, are ranked ninth (5.9 rpg) and 14th (5.6 rpg), respectively.

SIXTH-MAN SCORERS_Utah’s Johnnie Bryant heads up a quartet of MWC players who are embracing their role as the “sixth man” on their respective teams. The Utes’ second-leading scorer and only non-starter ranked among league leaders, Bryant is contributing 12.9 points a game while averaging 22.7 minutes off the bench. Air Force’s Andrew Henke (11.3 ppg), San Diego State’s Kelvin Davis (11.3 ppg) and New Mexico’s Jamaal Smith (10.1 ppg) also rank among the top three scorers on their respective teams, despite not being in the starting five.

Jonathan Tavernari should be included in this bunch since he’s been coming off the bench most of January. Tavernari averages 14.3 points a game and is the most productive sixth man in the league.

We’ll see if Rose starts JT Tuesday at UNLV.