UNLV’s McCaw named second-team All-Mountain West by media
UNLV sophomore guard Patrick McCaw was named to the media’s second-team All-Mountain West squad, which was announced Sunday.
Teammate Stephen Zimmerman Jr., a freshman forward, received honorable mention.
McCaw averages 13.9 points, and his 4.0-assist average is third in the conference. He also is first in the Mountain West with 2.5 steals per game and is tied with fellow Rebel Jerome Seagears for second with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0.
Zimmerman averages 10.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots.
The top honors went to Wyoming’s Josh Adams as Player of the Year, San Diego State’s Steve Fisher as Coach of the Year, New Mexico’s Elijah Brown as Newcomer of the Year, UNR’s Cameron Oliver as Freshman of the Year, San Diego State’s Skylar Spencer as Defensive Player of the Year, and UNR’s Tyron Criswell as Sixth Man of the Year.
Adams highlighted the first team and was joined by Brown, New Mexico’s Tim Williams, Fresno State’s Marvelle Harris and Boise State’s James Webb III.
The coaches release their team Tuesday.
* TOURNEY SCHEDULE — The conference tournament opens Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center with three first-round games — No. 8 seed Wyoming against No. 9 Utah State at 11 a.m., No. 7 UNLV against No. 10 Air Force at 1:30 p.m., and No. 6 Colorado State against No. 11 San Jose State at 4 p.m.
The quarterfinals are Thursday. No. 1 San Diego State meets the Wyoming-Utah State winner at noon. No. 4 New Mexico plays No. 5 UNR at 2:30 p.m. No. 2 Fresno State meets the UNLV-Air Force winner at 6 p.m. At 8:30 p.m., No. 3 Boise State faces Colorado State or San Jose State.
The semifinals will be at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Friday. The championship game, with the winner receiving the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, is at 3 p.m. Saturday.
* PITINO STAYING? — Rebels fans who want Rick Pitino to leave Louisville to take over UNLV shouldn’t get their hopes up.
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, who is close to Pitino, said the coach has decided to return to the Cardinals.
Louisville has been embroiled in a sex scandal, and there was speculation Pitino would decide to leave or would be forced out. But the school’s board of trustees chairman, Larry Benz, issued a statement Friday supporting Pitino.
“It made me feel a lot better, 80 percent better,” Pitino told ESPN.com. “He said he not only wants me to be the coach, but he wants me to be the coach for a long time. Those words make you feel good.”
Pitino’s name surfaced in connection with the UNLV job. Though there has been interest from UNLV’s side, it’s been uncertain how much there has been from Pitino.
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65