WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (7-9, 0-2 WAC)
The Roadrunners dropped their second WAC contest in as many weeks falling 66-63 at home to Grand Canyon on Thursday night ... the Roadrunners led by as many as 12 in the game and had an 11-point lead with just over 15 minutes remaining in the second half when they allowed a 15-0 Grand Canyon run while going scoreless over a 7:20 stretch ... Bakersfield tied the game twice more only to allow a pair of 7-0 runs from GCU while losing their second conference game in as many tries ... the Roadrunners were led by Issiah Grayson with his 19 points on 5-10 from the field ... the ‘Runners who entered as one of the best shooting teams in the WAC managed just 25 percent shooting in the second half from the field and 17 percent from three-point range while shooting a season-low 20 percent from beyond the arc in the contest ... CSUB now heads out on their first WAC road trip at Seattle and Idaho.
Chicago State Cougars (7-9, 2-0 WAC)
Chicago State went 1-1 last week ... the Cougars took a 98-62 non-conference loss at home to Green Bay before rebounding to defeat Kansas City 68-66 on the road ... with the win over UMKC, Chicago State improves to a perfect 2-0 in WAC play ... the 2-0 start is CSU’s best start in conference play since the 2004-05 season ... both of Chicago State’s two WAC wins have come thanks to buzzer beaters in the final seconds ... the Cougars are now 4-1 in games decided by five points or less this season ... Matt Ross led the Cougars with 18 points in the loss to Green Bay ... Quinton Pippen led the Cougars with 23 points, including the buzzer beater to win the game at Kansas City ... the 23 points mark a career high for Pippen, who now owns 106 career threes (7th all-time at CSU) ... Chicago State hosts New Mexico State on Thursday before welcoming Texas-Pan American on Saturday.
Grand Canyon Antelopes (7-10, 2-2 WAC)
Grand Canyon split a pair of WAC games last week ... the Antelopes opened the week with a 66-63 win at Bakersfield ... the team then dropped a 65-58 decision at Utah Valley ... the win at Bakersfield marked Grand Canyons first true road victory of the season ... Killian Larson scored a team-high 13 points and recorded nine rebounds in the win at Bakersfield ... Sam Daly made his first start of the season and scored 12 points and added five assists ... at Utah Valley, Jerome Garrison led the ‘Lopes with 18 points ... Daly scored 12 points, while Daniel Alexander added 15 ... Larson had 10 rebounds ... despite the loss to the Wolverines, GCU out-rebounded UVU 42-34 in the game ... GCU will now get a short break until they welcome Idaho to GCU Arena for a 7 p.m. contest on Jan. 23 ... the game will be televised on Cox7 and can also be heard live on KKNT 960 AM.
Idaho Vandals (7-11, 1-3 WAC)
Idaho went 1-1 last week ... the Vandals picked up an 86-85 double-overtime win at Texas-Pan American before falling 78-54 at league leader New Mexico State ... Perrion Callandret’s buzzer-beating baseline layup gave Idaho the thrilling 86-85 double-overtime victory over Texas-Pan American on Thursday night ... Connor Hill led all scorers with 28 points on 7-of-15 from 3-point range, while Stephen Madison recorded 19 points, 14 rebounds and four assists before fouling out and Glen Dean added 13 points and four assists ... Hill’s seven 3-pointers bring his Idaho career record up to 180 made 3s ... at NM State, Mike Scott led the Vandals with 12 points ... Bira Seck finished with nine points and nine rebounds, coming up just shy of his third double-double of the season ... The Vandals return to Moscow for five out of their next games, beginning Jan. 16 against Utah Valley.
Kansas City Kangaroos (5-10, 2-1 WAC)
Kansas City dropped its only game of the week, a 68-66 buzzer-beating loss at home to Chicago State ... Pippen hit the runner in the lane with 1.7 seconds left on Saturday night ... Nelson Kirksey nearly tied it for the ‘Roos at the buzzer with a 15-footer off a long pass, but it rolled off the rim ... Fred Chatmon finished with a double-double, his second of the season and sixth of his career as he tallied 11 points and a season-high 15 rebounds ... Kirksey led the ‘Roos with 17 points, while Martez Harrison and Frank Williams each had 14 ... Harrison led the team with five assists ... Kansas City will host Texas-Pan American on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. at Municipal ... the contest will be televised on KSMO in Kansas City and simulcast on ESPN3.
New Mexico State Aggies (14-5, 3-0 WAC)
New Mexico State went a perfect 2-0 at home last week ... the Aggies defeated Seattle U 96-87 before taking down Idaho 78-54 ... starting his second-consecutive game in place of injured center Sim Bhullar, senior forward Renaldo Dixon marked a career-high 18 points to pace the New Mexico State over Seattle U ... Dixon went 4-of-7 from the field and sank 10-of-12 free throws for his 18 points ... junior guard DK Eldridge joined Dixon with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting to lead NM State ... Daniel Mullings, finished with 13 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season ... with Bhullar missing his third-straight game, junior Tshilidzi Nephawe took control of the paint area, finishing with 11 points and led NM State with 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots ... Nephawe marked his fourth double-double of the season ... the Aggies will now travel to Chicago State and Kansas City this week.
Seattle U Redhawks (9-7, 1-2 WAC)
Seattle Ulost to New Mexico State Thursday, 96-87, but then snapped its four-game losing streak with a wire-to-wire 64-46 victory over Texas-Pan American Saturday night ... in Thursday’s game at NM State, the Redhawks scored 59 second-half points, the most points in one half for Seattle U this season ... Emerson Murray earned his first collegiate start in the game against the Aggies ... D’Vonne Pickett Jr. played the entire second half, scoring 18 of his career-high 20 points after halftime ... Isiah Umipig collected 24 points and Deshaun Sunderhaus notched his sixth career double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds ... against the Broncs, Sunderhaus returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Nov. 13 and tallied 22 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots ... Umipig contributed 16 points, six rebounds, and seven assists ... SU hosts Bakersfield (Jan. 16) and Utah Valley (Jan. 19).
Texas-Pan American Broncs (4-14, 0-3 WAC)
Texas-Pan American went 0-2 in WAC play at home last week ... the Broncs dropped an 86-85 double-overtime decision to Idaho before taking a 64-46 setback to Seattle U ... against Idaho, four Broncs reached double-figures in scoring for the fourth time this season, led by Javorn Farrell, who scored a team-high 22 points while hitting a career-high 12 free throws, the most by a WAC player this season, in a career-high 14 attempts ... Shaquille Boga scored 19 points ... Shaquille Hines scored 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds ... Jamal Dantzler tied his season-high with 10 points ... in the loss to Seattle U, Farrell led the Broncs in scoring for the 10th time with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, plus 6-of-6 from the line, with three rebounds ... Hines narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds ... UTPA travels to play Kansas City and Chicago State this week.
Utah Valley Wolverines (8-7, 2-0 WAC)
In it’s first WAC home game, Utah Valley erased a five-point halftime deficit to defeat Grand Canyon, 65-58, on Jan. 11 in the team’s lone contest of the week ... the Wolverines got 21 points and a career high 15 rebounds from reigning WAC Player of the Week Ben Aird in the win ... Holton Hunsaker scored 15, hitting four 3-pointers and Mitch Bruneel added 12 points ... UVU limited the ‘Lopes to 26.9 percent from the field in the second half to outscore GCU 40-28 after the break ... in each of its WAC wins this year, Utah Valley has trailed at halftime before outscoring its opponent by 12 in the second half ... over the first two WAC games, Aird is averaging 23.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per game and shooting 58 percent from the field ... this week, Utah Valley travels to play Idaho on Thursday before playing at Seattle U on Sunday.
WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE’S MULLINGS NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State’s Daniel Mullings has been named Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 6-12.
Mullings, a junior guard from Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Laurier HS), led the Aggies to a pair of wins over Seattle U and Idaho last week. In a 96-87 win over Seattle U on Thursday, Mullings recorded his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. He also tied a career high with seven steals and dished out six assists. In NM State’s 78-54 win over Idaho, Mullings scored 16 points with six rebounds, two assists, one block and a steal.
For the week, Mullings averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.0 steals per game. He shot 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from the field, 60.0 percent (3-of-5) from the three-point line, and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the free throw line.
Other nominees included: Chicago State senior guard/forward Quinton Pippen scored 23 points, including the game winner at Kansas City … Grand Canyon freshman Sam Daly averaged 12.0 points in two games … Seattle U sophomore forward Deshaun Sunderhaus averaged 22.0 points and 12.5 rebounds over a pair of road games … Texas-Pan American senior guard Javorn Farrell averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds over his two games … Utah Valley senior guard Ben Aird recorded a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double in a win over Grand Canyon.
THREE UNDEFEATED TEAMS REMAIN AFTER TWO WEEKS OF WAC PLAY
Heading into the third week of WAC play this week, three teams remain undefeated in conference play. New Mexico State sits atop the league’s standings with a perfect 3-0 mark with wins over Grand Canyon, Seattle U and Idaho. Utah Valley and Chicago State are tied for the second spot in the standings with 2-0 marks. The Wolverines have wins over Bakersfield and Grand Canyon, while Chicago State has won both of its games on the road against Idaho and Kansas City.
NEW MEXICO STATE RANKED NO. 11 IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR POLL
Despite winning both of its games last week by an average of 19.0 points, New Mexico State fell one spot to No. 11 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. The Aggies received 445 points and are sandwiched between North Dakota State at No. 10 and Saint Mary’s at No. 12.
NEW MEXICO STATE LEADS THE NATION AT FREE THROW LINE, SEATTLE U’S UMIPIG NINTH IN THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS
New Mexico State ranks first in the nation with 390 made free throws this season. The Aggies also lead the nation with 559 free throw attempts. NM State is shooting 69.8 percent from the free throw line. New Mexico State also ranks seventh nationally with 112 team blocks and eighth nationally with 707 rebounds this season. Individually, Seattle U’s Isiah Umipig holds the highest national ranking in the WAC as he ranks ninth nationally with 136 three-point field goal attempts. NM State’s Sim Bhullar ranks 13th nationally with 53 blocks.
HOME SWEET HOME
The WAC holds a 35-15 record in non-conference games played at home this season, an 70.0 winning percentage at home. Grand Canyon went undefeated at home this season in non-league play with a 3-0 mark. Chicago State went 5-1 in its friendly confines. New Mexico State, Seattle U and Utah Valley each went 6-1 at home, while Bakersfield was impressive at 4-1. The road was not so nice to the WAC as the league’s teams hold a 13-47 non-league mark away from home.
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®.