WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (4-1, 0-0 WAC)
Bakersfield improved to 4-1 on the season for the second time under head coach Rod Barnes ... Bakersfield went a perfect 2-0 last week, defeating Nevada 74-66 and Idaho State 71-69 at home ... Javonte Maynor did not score in the win over Nevada but bounced back with seven threes against Idaho State ... Bakersfield went 4-0 in their home stand following their season-opening loss at Washington State ... two players (Zach Lamb and Javonte Maynor) didn’t score against Nevada but scored 31 of the team’s 71 points in the win over Idaho State ... CSUB matched its best start at the Division I level at 4-1 ... eight of Bakersfield’s next nine games are on the road ... Bakersfield’s win over Nevada was the first win for Bakersfield over a Mountain West opponent ... CSUB now travels to Fresno to play in the Fresno State classic, where it will take on Northern Arizona, Fresno State and Drake.
Chicago State Cougars (2-4, 0-0 WAC)
Chicago State went 0-2 last week with a 79-75 setback at Alabama State and a 77-53 loss at Illinois ... in the loss at Alabama State, Quinton Pippen finished with career highs in points (21) and assists (8) ... at Illinois, Clarke Rosenberg finished with 16 points ... Matt Ross added 13 points ... both had three 3-pointers ... Rosenberg has recorded double-digit points in five of the Cougars’ six games ... Chicago State plays one game this week, with Missouri Valley Conference member Southern Illinois coming to the Jones Convocation Center on Saturday (Nov. 30) ... it will be SIU’s first visit to Chicago State’s campus since the Salukis defeated the Cougars 74-61 on Dec. 4, 2010 ... the Cougars’ seven days off before the SIU contest matches their longest stretch of off days this season ... CSU’s freshmen have played 144 minutes this season. Last season a freshman didn’t play a single minute for the Cougars.
Grand Canyon Antelopes (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
Grand Canyon went 2-1 at the Global Sports Showcase in Salt Lake City, Utah last week ... the ‘Lopes dropped a 79-54 decision to host Utah before winning two straight over Savannah State (72-71) and Lamar (78-69) ... in the loss at Utah, Demetrius Walker was the leading scorer for the ‘Lopes, scoring 16 on 5-for-16 shooting ... Larson and Justin Foreman each had six rebounds ... Killian Larson sank two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to give Grand Canyon a 72-71 victory over Savannah State ... the win was the first for GCU over a Division I opponent in its first year of transition from Division II ... Larson finished with his third double-double of the season with 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds ... in the win over Lamar, Grand Canyon received career-best scoring efforts from Jerome Garrison and Blake Davis, who had 22 and 15 respectively ... GCU hosts San Diego Christian on Friday.
Idaho Vandals (3-3, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-2 last week at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Portland ... the Vandals opened play with an 88-74 setback to host Portland ... the team then defeated North Texas 87-76 and then fell 65-60 to Columbia ... Stephen Madison Madison averaged 17 points and 5.3 rebound in three games at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Portland on the week ... the senior became the 14th player in Idaho history to score 1,000 career points on Nov. 21 against Portland ... he scored a season-high 25 points in Idaho’s win against North Texas on 10-of-21 shooting ... for the week, Madison connected on 14-of-16 free throws, a 87.5 percent clip ... Connor Hill moved into solo-fourth on Idaho’s career 3-pointers made list with 146. He is well within reach of Idaho’s career record of 168 held by Orlando Lightfoot ... Idaho plays Boise State on Wednesday before traveling to play UC Davis on Saturday.
Kansas City Kangaroos (1-4, 0-0 WAC)
Kansas City played just one game last week, defeating UT-Martin 79-67 on the road ... Fred Chatmon was named the WAC’s Player of the Week after he tallied his first double-double of the season and fifth of his career on Wednesday at UT-Martin ... it was also his second consecutive outing with 20-plus points, the first such streak in his career ... the .750 field goal percentage for Chatmon in the game is a season high in the WAC this season ... the ‘Roos also dropped a 110-51 decision at No. 17 Iowa State on Monday night ... this week, UMKC hosts Milwaukee on Saturday.
New Mexico State Aggies (6-1, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State went 2-0 last week ... the Aggies defeated Northern Colorado 67-63 at home ... the team then defeated UTEP 77-68 in El Paso, completing a season 2-0 sweep over the Miners for the first time since 2006 ... in the win over UNC, Daniel Mullings led NM State in scoring, finishing with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting ... he also finished tied for the Aggie rebound lead with seven total rebounds ... Sim Bhullar also had seven rebounds and also finished in double-digit points with 10, all in the first half ... at UTEP, K.C. Ross-Miller helped the Aggies to the win over rival UTEP with a career-high 26 points while going 3-of-4 from behind the three point arc ... Ross-Mullings added three steals ... NM State also picked up a 79-56 win over Bethune-Cookman on Monday night ... the Aggies continue play this week at home against Prairie View A&M on Wednesday.
Seattle U Redhawks (3-2, 0-0 WAC)
Seattle U fell victim to the offensive efficiency of Boise State, as the Broncos committed only six turnovers in last Tuesday’s 86-68 victory over the Redhawks at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho ... Jarell Flora hit a career-high six three-pointers as he led the Redhawks with 21 points ... Jack Crook notched his first career double-double with a career-high 10 points along with 10 rebounds, while Isiah Umipig also scored 10 points to go along with eight assists ... Deshaun Sunderhaus came off the bench and contributed 11 points and five rebounds ... Seattle U defeated UC Riverside 69-68 Monday night in a regionally-televised contest ... the Redhawks now travel across the state to face Eastern Washington on Friday.
Texas-Pan American Broncs (3-4, 0-0 WAC)
Texas-Pan American defeated UTSA 70-55 on the road in the team’s lone contest of the week ... freshman LJ McIntosh hit five three-pointers while scoring a game-high 17 points to lead the Broncs past the Roadrunners ... McIntosh, who had played 17 minutes in parts of four of the Broncs’ (3-4) first six games, played a career-high 21 minutes while going 5-for-9 from the field, including 5-for-8 from behind the arc plus 2-for-2 from the line with one rebound and two assists ... three other Broncs reached double-figures in scoring, led by sophomore Shaquille Hines, who scored 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting with a game-high nine rebounds ... Javorn Farrell scored 11 points with four rebounds, six assists, one block and one steal ... junior Shaquille Boga scored 11 points with three rebounds and two assists ... the Broncs are back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they visit Lamar.
Utah Valley Wolverines (2-3, 0-0 WAC)
Utah Valley went 0-2 last week ... the Wolverines dropped a 69-54 decision to 17th-ranked Oregon before falling 58-53 at Pepperdine ... the game at Oregon was UVU’s second straight game against a ranked opponent ... UVU trailed by just four at the half at Oregon ... Utah Valley is in the midst of five consecutive road games which concludes with a two-game trip following Thanksgiving at Tennesee Tech and South Dakota ... Zach Nelson leads UVU this season with 11.2 points while Ben Aird’s 6.8 rebounds top the team ... when Utah Valley returns home for games on Dec. 7 (St. Katherine) and Dec. 11 (Weber State) it will be the team’s first home contests in nearly a calendar month.
WAC NOTES
KANSAS CITY’S CHATMON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kansas City’s Fred Chatmon has been named Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 18-24.
Chatmon, a senior forward/center from Cleveland, Ohio (Garfield Heights HS), tallied his first double-double of the season and fifth of his career in a 79-67 win at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Chatmon scored 20 points, connecting on 9-of-12 shots from the field. Chatmon’s .750 field goal percentage is the WAC’s best individual single-game shooting performance of the season. He also pulled down 12 rebounds, tallied three blocks, dished out two assists and registered a steal in the win. Chatmon has now scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
Other nominees included: Bakersfield junior guard Javonte Maynor scored 21 points in a win over Idaho State … Grand Canyon junior guard Jerome Garrison recorded three double-digit scoring games as GCU went 2-1 at a tournament in Salt Lake … Idaho senior forward Stephen Madison averaged 17.0 points over three games … New Mexico State junior guard K.C. Ross-Miller scored a career-high 26 points in a win at UTEP … Seattle U junior guard Jarell Flora scored 21 points at Boise State … Texas-Pan American freshman guard LJ McIntosh scored 17 points in a win at UTSA … Utah Valley freshman forward Zach Nelson averaged 12.0 points in a pair of road games.
NEW MEXICO STATE RECEIVING VOTES IN USA TODAY COACHES TOP-25 POLL
The Aggies received votes in the latest USA Today Coaches Top-25 poll that was released on Monday. NM State received seven votes, which would rank them 39th if the poll extended.
WAC RPI STAYS STEADY AT 14
As of Nov. 25, the WAC’s RPI is 14 according to WarrenNolan.com, which updates the RPI on a realtime basis. The WAC is currently sandwiched between the Mid American Conference at No. 13 and the Colonial Conference at No. 15. New Mexico State holds the WAC’s highest team RPI at 35.
NEW MEXICO STATE RANKS SECOND NATIONALLY AT FREE THROW LINE
New Mexico State ranks second in the nation with 223 free throw attempts this season. Morehead State leads the nation with 235 attempted free throws. The Aggies also rank sixth nationally with 151 made free throws. NM State is shooting 67.7 percent from the free throw line.
AGGIES STRETCH HOME WINNING STREAK TO 14 GAMES
New Mexico State stretched its home court winning streak to 14 games with a win over Bethune-Cookman on Monday night. The Aggies have not lost a game at home since falling 68-63 to in-state rival New Mexico on Dec. 19, 2012. The streak ranks as one of the top 15 streaks in the nation.
HOME SWEET HOME
The WAC holds a 18-3 record in games played at home this season, an 85.7 winning percentage at home. Seven of the WAC’s nine teams are undefeated at home this season. Bakersfield is a perfect 4-0 in its friendly confines, while New Mexico State and Seattle U are each 3-0. Idaho, Utah Valley and Chicago State are each 2-0, while Grand Canyon is a perfect 1-0. New Mexico State has won 14-straight games at home, one of the best marks in the country. Bakersfield has won seven straight games at the Icardo Center.
UVU’S HUNSAKER NAMED ONE OF 30 CANDIDATES FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD®
Utah Valley University senior Holton Hunsaker has been named one of 30 candidates for the men’s basketball Senior CLASS Award® for the 2013-14 season.To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Hunsaker is coming off of a season in which he was named the Great West Conference’s Male Scholar Athlete of the Year, to the I-AAA Athletic Director’s All-Academic Team, to the Capital One Academic All-District Team, to the Great West All-Academic Team and first-team All-Great West Conference. He is the only male athlete from the WAC to be a named a candidate. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Men’s Final Four®.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
WAC teams have several key non-conference matchups this season, including 20 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. The complete list is below.
Games vs. ‘13 NCAA Tournament Teams
Nov. 8 Chicago State at Indiana, L 72-100
Nov. 11 Kansas City at Creighton, L 70-96
Nov. 11 UNC A&T at Utah Valley, W 78-71
Nov. 12 Utah Valley at Oklahoma St., L 40-93
Nov. 13 Idaho at Oklahoma, L 65-85
Nov. 19 Seattle U at Boise State, L 68-86
Nov. 19 Utah Valley at Oregon, L 54-69
Nov. 22 Chicago State at Illinois, L 53-77
Nov. 25 Kansas City at Iowa State, L 51-110
Nov. 30 New Mexico State at Colorado State
Dec. 4 Kansas City at Louisville
Dec. 4 New Mexico at New Mexico State
Dec. 7 New Mexico State at Gonzaga
Dec. 11 New Mexico State at Arizona
Dec. 17 New Mexico State at New Mexico
Dec. 23 Chicago State at Cincinnati
Dec. 23 Grand Canyon at New Mexico
Dec. 28 Montana at Idaho
Dec. 28 South Dakota State at Kansas City
Dec. 30 Chicago State at Creight