John Phillips sees both sides of the issue, but he prefers one: Paint the scene as a hard-fought conference victory instead of a game his team nearly blew.

"It's really a situation where, I think, because we've been picked to win the league, sometimes the fans and the media assume that every game is going to be easy," said Phillips. "We don't feel that way."

	Freshman Anthony Price trying to help Tulsa deal with injuries to its starting backcourt of Dante Swanson and Antonio Reed.

Tulsa (8-3, 1-1 WAC) opened conference with a loss at Fresno State and then a 63-60 home win against Nevada, a game that saw Phillips' team go without a field goal the final 7:30, then watched the Wolf Pack nearly come all the way back from 17 down.

And yet, Tulsa fans need not panic. One week does not determine a conference champion and there is no reason to suggest the Golden Hurricane has slipped from its perch alongside Hawaii as WAC favorites.

But if the first few games of league play told us anything, it's that others have no intention of merely playing out the schedule.

"Everybody was saying we played badly (against Nevada), but looking at the film, we did some good things in the second half," said Phillips. "Nevada just started hitting some shots."

Phillips watched his team lose an 11-point lead in a defeat at Iowa on Dec. 28, a game that cost Tulsa its spot in the top 25. Earlier, the Golden Hurricane lost at home to Kansas by nine.

On Saturday, they play at Rice, arguably as talented a team as the conference knows.

And there is this: Tulsa guards Dante Swanson and Antonio Reed, two of the team's top five scorers, are nursing injuries.

"When your best players aren't 100 percent, it makes it difficult," said Phillips. "One indication I'm getting is that every (WAC) game is going to be a battle. I really believe whoever wins our conference could have four or five losses."

It's tough to consider any game overly significant yet, but all WAC eyes were on Boise State at Fresno State on Thursday, where a pair of first-year head coaches had their teams off to identical 2-0 conference starts. Fresno State won 61-54.

Few coaches in any league have done a better job than Greg Graham, the former Oregon assistant who has Boise State at 8-5 after the loss. Already, the Broncos have WAC wins against San Jose State and two-time defending conference tournament champ Hawaii, doing their best to execute Graham's run-until-you-drop system he brought from Oregon.

This, from a Boise State team many picked last in the 10-team league.

"We never really talk about winning and losing," said Graham. "Our goal from the beginning was to get better each practice. We wanted them to have a mindset of understanding our system and what we wanted from them in terms of running the floor and doing things different than they're used to.

"I've been very pleased with the guys. They may not agree with everything we are asking them to do, but they work hard and try."

Positive thoughts and results are also flowing from Fresno State, where former Oklahoma assistant Ray Lopes has led the Bulldogs to just their third 9-2 start in school history. Lopes has done a wonderful job getting players to accept and then flourish in roles.

Example: Hiram Fuller, the 6-foot-9 senior forward and conference player of the week after averaging 16.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in wins against Tulsa and Rice, is thriving in a reserve roll behind starters Noel Felix and Jonathan Woods.

"It wasn't easy for Hiram coming off the bench at first, but he has really settled in now and is playing hard,'' Lopes said before Thursday's pairing. "If we're prepared mentally, we have a pretty good basketball team. We're doing a lot of things here that are similar to what we did at Oklahoma. Defend and rebound. Give a maximum effort every day in practice. So far, the kids have bought into it.

"I feel a little lucky to be 9-2 and 2-0 in the WAC, but we're also excited about it. Our guys believe in themselves, and yet they know there's a long way to go. No question, Tulsa and Hawaii are still the teams to beat."

Already, Fresno and Boise have proved capable of that.

Games of the Week

UNLV at DePaul Saturday The Mountain West Conference lost out on some critical non-league opportunities this past week when BYU lost at Oklahoma State and San Diego State fell to Texas Tech. Now, the Rebels (10-2) hope to defeat a Blue Demons team that opened Conference USA play on Wednesday by losing at Cincinnati. Pepperdine at Gonzaga Sunday The West Coast Conference's top two teams meet in just the second league game of the season. The Waves, considering some of their health woes early, played well to be 8-5 at this point. The Zags are 9-5 and have to be considered the WCC favorite for their ability inside.

Streaking Cal
California has won 12 straight at home dating to last season and is 24-1 in Berkeley over the past two years after a surprisingly easy 88-72 victory over No. 10 Oregon on Thursday.

But slowly, surely, Ben Braun has a team that appears capable of a top three Pac-10 finish. The Bears are 9-2, with the losses coming to top 25 teams Georgia and Kansas.

One change has freshman Richard Midgley now starting at point guard over junior A.J. Diggs. Midgley got the nod against Stanford in a conference-opening victory, and responded with seven points and two assists despite early foul trouble. He is averaging 9.2 points and shooting 54 percent. Diggs, who spent his first two seasons in a reserve role, had three steals in 25 minutes against the Cardinal. He leads the Pac-10 with a 2.8 average.

"(Midgley) deserves to start," said Braun. "He has definitely earned it. It has been hard to keep him on the bench. He really gives us an edge, especially offensively. He is a really tough kid.

"And I think (Diggs) coming off the bench will be fine in that role."

There is also good news on the injury front. Senior guard Donte Smith, who underwent quadriceps surgery in September, has been cleared for contact and is expected to dress for games this week against the Oregon schools.

"It's good news and all we can ask for right now," said Braun. "We'll see how he practices throughout the week. He has to get some reps and run up and down the floor to get his conditioning back, but he should be ready to go pretty soon."

Smith, who can play both guard spots, has seen action in 74 career games, starting 14.

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