Thomas Stays Busy Stacking the Dishes

Four years removed from a high school career marked by high scoring, Nevada Las Vegas point guard Dedan Thomas is better known these days for spreading the wealth. He ranks second in the Big West Conference with 7.2 assists per game while he has de-emphasized shooting.

Thomas, a 6-foot senior, averages 9.2 points per game, lowest among starters and sixth highest on the team.

As a three-year starter at Taft High, Thomas averaged 19.4 points and nine assists an outing. Playing one season at Antelope Valley College, he averaged 12.4 points and 9.5 assists.

But his defense, ballhandling and leadership as the Rebel team captain have become more crucial to a once-powerful program that has edged toward mediocrity since the NCAA placed it on a three-year probation last fall.

The Rebels are 10-10, 6-6 in conference play. Thomas is shooting only 34.8% from the field (38.3% from three-point range) and 59.1% from the free-throw line.

Thomas, however, has had two double-doubles this season: 11 points and 11 assists against Eastern Kentucky and 16 points and 10 assists against Utah State.

He also ranks fifth among the school’s career assist leaders and sixth among steal leaders.

The latest disappointment for UNLV was a 66-65 defeat at New Mexico State on Monday in which former Antelope Valley College standout D.J. Jackson (11 points) nailed two three-point shots in the second half and iced the game with a free throw in the final moments.

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A recent ankle sprain hasn’t slowed Oregon’s Sara Wilson (Hart).

She has maintained her Pacific 10 Conference scoring average of 14.6 points per game and leads the conference in shooting percentage (56.8%).

Wilson, a senior majoring in psychology, also maintains a 3.41 grade-point average and has been named to the GTE Academic All-District 8 team, qualifying her for academic All-American status.

She was one of five female basketball players chosen out of Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Alaska, British Columbia, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Utah.

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Calvin Curry (Ventura College), who was named player of the year last season by the California Community College Basketball Coaches Assn. after averaging 21.8 points, is starting to find his shooting range at Oklahoma.

The 6-foot-7 junior averages 13.1 points for the Sooners but has scored 64 in his past two games.

Curry, who is nicknamed “Radar” because he likes to shoot from long distances, made six of 12 three-point shots and finished with a Division I personal-high 31 last week against Colorado.

He topped that with 33 in a 115-111 victory over Nebraska on Monday. Curry made 13 of 22 three-point attempts and added 19 rebounds in the two games.

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New Orleans guard Tony Madison (Antelope Valley College) started cold but his shooting has warmed up the past five games, in which he hit 20 of 34 shots from the field (58.8%) and 10 of 21 from beyond the three-point stripe (47.6%). Madison, who averages 11.9 points, is an 84.1% free-throw shooter, which ranks him 35th in that category among Division I guards. . . .

Chris Loll (Thousand Oaks), a 6-4 junior forward playing on an Air Force team that has nobody taller than 6-8 in its starting lineup, leads the Falcons in assists and rebounds with 2.8 and 6.6 per game. He is tied for second in scoring at 11.7 per game. He leads Air Force in free-throw percentage at 84.6%, second-highest in school history.

He had a Western Athletic Conference career-high 19 points and seven assists against Texas El Paso on Jan. 10. . . .

UC Santa Barbara sophomore Lauren Goldstine (Westlake) averages 6.1 points per game off the bench. . . . Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Suzanne Carey (Santa Paula) averages 7.6 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds. She leads the team with 22 blocked shots and is second with 22 steals. . . .

A backup at Washington, junior forward Trent Cornelius (Cleveland) had six points and four rebounds coming off the bench against Cal. . . . Arizona junior guard Jacinda Sweet (North Hollywood) averages nine points, 3.9 rebounds and three assists per game. . . . Senior forward Reggie Bell (Canyons) and junior forward Rasaan Hall (Crespi) average 19.6 and 11.3 points per game at Quincy University. . . . Adam Jacobsen (Crescenta Valley) of University of the Pacific averages 9.3 points and has made 23 of 49 three-point attempts (46.9%). He has broken the school record for most three-point field goals in a season and became one of only two UOP freshmen to reach 20 points in a game by posting 23 against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 12.