WAC NOTES
LOUISIANA TECH’S APPLEBY NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech’s Raheem Appleby has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 19-25.
Appleby, a sophomore guard from Jacksonville, Ark. (Jacksonville HS), led the Bulldogs to a 3-0 record last week. Appleby scored 21 points and dished out three assists in a 67-63 win over Southeast Missouri State. With the score tied at 58, Appleby scored nine of LA Tech’s last 13 points to secure the victory against SEMO. He then scored a career-high 30 points with two rebounds and a steal in a 71-63 win over Chattanooga to help his team to a perfect 3-0 record at the CBE Hall of Fame Classic. Appleby wrapped up the week with an 18-point performance in a 68-52 win over Louisiana-Monroe.
On the week, Appleby averaged 23.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the field and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the free throw line.
Other nominees included: New Mexico State senior forward Bandja Sy averaged 13.0 points in a pair of wins last week … San Jose State junior forward Chris Cunningham had 19 points and 18 rebounds in a win over UC Santa Cruz … Seattle U junior Clarence Trent scored 17 points in a 58-49 win over Pacific Lutheran … UT Arlington senior center Jordan Reves had 14 points and 12 rebounds in a 65-58 win at Samford … UTSA senior guard Kannon Burrage scored 22 points at Brigham Young … Texas State senior forward Matt Staff averaged 13.7 points over three games last week … Utah State junior center Jarred Shaw posted a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double in a win over Weber.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2013 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 12-16 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and will include all ten WAC teams. Ticket information and tournament format will be available soon at www.wacsports.com.
WEEK THREE RECAP
Five WAC teams went without a loss last week. New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech each went 2-0, while UT Arlington, Utah State and Seattle U each went 1-0. San Jose State and Idaho each split a pair of games, while Texas State went 1-2. UTSA and Denver went 0-1. Louisiana Tech’s Raheem Appleby led the league in scoring last week, averaging 23.0 points per game over his three games. San Jose State’s Chris Cunningham led the league in rebounding last week with 18 boards in his single game. Idaho’s Stephen Madison dished out a league-high 11 assists last week, while SJSU’s James Kinney and UTSA’s Jordan Sims collected four steals each on the week.
LA TECH GOES PERFECT 3-0 AT CBE HALL OF FAME CLASSIC
Louisiana Tech picked up two wins last week at the CBE Hall of Fame Classic to up its record to a perfect 3-0 at the classic. The Bulldogs defeated Troy 70-46, Southeast Missouri State 67-63 and classic host Chattanooga 71-63 to make it a clean sweep at the event in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
WAC TEAMS/PLAYERS AMONG NATIONAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
As of Nov. 25, teams from the WAC rank in the top-10 in three team statistical categories and three individual categories. UT Arlington holds the highest team mark as it ranks first nationally in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to a 31.8 percentage. Seattle U ranks second nationally in steals per game at 14.0. Utah State ranks seventh in the nation in rebound margin at 13.8, while New Mexico State ranks 10th in rebound margin at 12.3. Individually, San Jose State’s D.J. Brown is tied for first in the nation in free throw percentage with a 100 percent clip. UT Arlington’s Jordan Reves ranks fourth in rebounds per game at 12.0, while San Jose State’s Chris Cunningham ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage with a 68.8 percent clip.
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Denver Pioneers (1-3, 0-0 WAC)
Denver dropped a 60-53 decision at home to Colorado State last week in the team’s lone contest of the week ... the Pioneers now travel to meet Southern Miss on Tuesday and Stanford on Sunday ... DU is 2-7 all-time against the Cardinal, including a 0-4 mark in Palo Alto, and has lost the last four meetings since a 77-74 win in Denver in 1972 ... Brett Olson is leading the WAC in three-pointers made (3.25 per game) and minutes played (37.75 per game) ... the Pioneers are leading the WAC in free throw percentage (.734) ... seven of Denver’s first nine opponents played in the postseason last year, including Iona, California, Colorado State and Southern Mississippi (four of the first five opponents), which were in the 2012 NCAA Tourn. ... Stanford (NIT) and Mercer (CIT) both won their respective tournaments, while Wyoming reached the CBI quarterfinals ... those seven teams won an average of 24 games last season.
Idaho Vandals (1-3, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-1 last week ... the Vandals defeated Green Bay 72-62 at home before falling 73-58 at New Mexico ... in the win over Green Bay, junior guard Stephen Madison led Idaho with 19 points and a career-high seven assists, along with four rebounds ... senior center Kyle Barone earned the 11th double-double of his career and his first of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting, while sophomore guard Connor Hill hit four of his six shots for 12 points ... in the loss at New Mexico, sophomore guard Connor Hill scored a career-high 20 points after going 6-of-12 from 3-point range ... Idaho returns to the Palouse this week and will renew the oldest active rivalry west of the Mississippi River on Wednesday, Nov. 28, when the Vandal men play at Washington State ... the border rivalry has been played every year since the 1905-06 season.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-1, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech went 3-0 last week with wins over Southeast Missouri State, Chattanooga and Louisiana-Monroe ... Raheem Appleby matched his career-high of 30 points in a single game versus Chattanooga ... Appleby matched his career-high in field goal attempts in a single game with 22 versus SEMO ... Appleby wrapped up play for the week with 18 points in the won over ULM ... shooting guard Cordarius Johnson matched his career-high for points in a single game with 23 versus UL-Monroe ... Johnson’s five three-pointers was also a career-high and are the most by a Bulldog this season ... with the win over UL-Monroe, the Bulldogs extended their home non-conference winning streak to 22 games ... when holding their opponent to under 60 points for the game under coach White, the Bulldogs are a perfect 10-0.
New Mexico State Aggies (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
NM State downed Louisiana, 79-57, with five players in double figures, Nov. 23 in Las Cruces ... Bandja Sy had a season-high 16 points ... Sy was 6-of-8 from the field including 2-for-2 from the 3-point line ... he blocked four of the nine shots, which was a season-best showing ... senior forward Tyrone Watson and junior guard Kevin Aronis both scored 12 points, which was a personal-best for Aronis ... junior center Tshilidzi Nephawe posted his second double-double of the year with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds ... the Aggies beat Northern New Mexico, 67-37, in the conclusion of the 2K Sports Classic, Nov. 21 in Las Cruces ... the Aggies utilized a size advantage and scored 44 points in the paint ... junior forward Renaldo Dixon scored a season-high 12 points, and Sy was also in double-figures with 10 points ... this was the first time since Jan. 4, 1988 that NMSU held an opponent to under 40 points.
San Jose State Spartans (2-3, 0-0 WAC)
San Jose State went a perfect 1-0 last week with a 94-54 win over UC Santa Cruz ... Chris Cunningham led the Spartans with 19 points in his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 18 rebounds … Cunningham shot 90 percent from the field in 31 minutes played and dished out a season-best four assists ... the Spartans set an Event Center record for blocks in a game with nine against UC Santa Cruz ... six players had at least one block, led by Alex Brown and Jaleel Williams with two blocks each ... the Spartans held their own against 10th-ranked Kansas on Monday night, falling 70-57 ... James Kinney put on a second-half show with 19 of his game-high 30 points scored in the second half ... San Jose State returns home and is back in action, December 1, at Montana State.
Seattle U Redhawks (2-1, 0-0 WAC)
Seattle University overcame its struggles on the offensive end of the floor, using defense and rebounding to hold off Pacific Lutheran, 58-49, Wednesday night at KeyArena ... Clarence Trent was the only player to reach double figures in scoring for the Redhawks, finishing with 17 points ... Deshaun Sunderhaus and Sterling Carter each finished with nine points and seven rebounds ... the win extended Seattle U’s home winning streak to 10 games ... after playing all 13 active players in each of the first two games, head coach Cameron Dollar kept the rotation at nine players Wednesday, with all nine earning at least 15 minutes on the floor ... after taking Thanksgiving Day off, Seattle U will practice for four straight days before traveling next Tuesday for a contest against Stanford University Wednesday, Nov. 28 ... the game will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network Bay Area as well as online at www.pac-12.com.
UT Arlington Mavericks (2-1, 0-0 WAC)
UT Arlington took control with a 20-1 first-half run and downed Samford 65-58 Saturday night at the Pete Hanna Center in the team’s lone contest of the week ... the Mavericks improved to 2-1 on the season, with both wins coming on the road ... senior forward Kevin Butler paced UTA with 15 points in his first start this season ... senior center Jordan Reves added 14 points and 12 rebounds ... sophomore guard Jamel Outler had 11 points off the bench, nine coming in the second half ... Butler was the beneficiary of a lot of good looks, scoring all 11 of his first-half points during the 20-1 surge ... Shaquille White-Miller knocked down his first 3-pointer of the season during the run left UTA up 30-17 ... The Mavericks are back at it Wednesday at North Texas before games at Texas (Dec. 1) and UT Pan American (Dec. 3).
UTSA Roadrunners (3-2, 0-0 WAC)
UTSA is off to a 3-2 or better start through the first five games for the fourth straight season … the Roadrunners, who will play 10 of their first 11 games away from home, are in the midst of a six-game road stretch that will last from Nov. 21-Dec. 21 and take them to four different time zones … UTSA leads the WAC in 3-pointers per game with 7.8 and has reached double digits twice this season with 11 against Morgan State and a season-best 12 in the Old Dominion victory … UTSA’s backcourt duo of seniors Kannon Burrage and Michael Hale III rank third (18.0) and fifth (16.2), respectively, in scoring in the WAC, making the Roadrunners the only team with two players in the top five … junior forward Jeromie Hill ranks eighth in school history with 467 career rebounds and his 6.6 average also stands eighth … head coach Brooks Thompson needs one victory to reach 100 for his UTSA career
Texas State Bobcats (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
Texas State finished seventh at the Great Alaska Shootout, after going 1-2 in the tournament ...the Bobcats dropped a 73-64 decision to Charlotte in the week’s first contest ... the team then dropped a 78-63 decision to Loyola Marymount before wrapping up play in Alaska with an 81-69 win over UC Riverside ... Matt Staff led the Bobcats with 13.7 ppg and 3.3 rebounds per game ... he was also named the player of the game in the Bobcats’ 81-69 win over UC Riverside ... Texas State averaged 69.3 ppg during the tournament and 9.7 steals ... the Bobcats sit at an overall record of 3-3, as they enter a three-game home stand ... the Bobcats are 2-1 at home, as they welcome Utah on Friday, Nov. 30.
Utah State Aggies (3-1, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State made a season-low one three-pointer Saturday night, but the Aggies continued their streak of making a three-pointer in a game, doing so for the 203rd-straight game ... the last time USU did not make a three-pointer in a game was on Dec. 16, 2006 in Provo as BYU defeated the Aggies, 75-62 ... USU had season-highs for blocks (7) and free throws attempted (32), while besides the one three-pointer made, the Aggies also attempted a season-low five three-pointers ... the Aggies have had four or more blocked shots in all four games this season, including three games with five or more, having four against Saint Mary’s ... next up for the Aggies will be a Wednesday matchup at Santa Clara.