WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (8-12, 1-5 WAC)
Bakersfield dropped its third straight WAC game and its fourth overall at home Saturday night with Kansas City posting a 70-69 win over the ‘Runners ... the script was similar to that of Thursday’s loss against Chicago St. and the previous loss the week prior at Idaho where the ‘Runners struggled to make key baskets and turned the ball over at critical moments in the second half ... all five of Bakersfield’s WAC losses have been close, losing by an average of 4.6 points ... Issiah Grayson continues to set the pace for the Roadrunners scoring 28 on Thursday against Chicago State while scoring 16 on Saturday against UMKC ... the redshirt senior guard is now averaging 18.8 ppg in WAC play ... sophomore center Aly Ahmed recorded his first double-double as a Roadrunner with 12 points and 11 rebounds against the ‘Roos ... this week, Bakersfield plays at NM State on Thursday and at UTPA on Saturday.
Chicago State Cougars (9-11, 4-2 WAC)
Chicago State went 1-1 last week, defeating Bakersfield 71-63 before falling at Utah Valley 62-55 ... in the win at CSUB, Quinton Pippen finished with 14 points and seven rebounds ... Matt Ross also had 14 points while senior Corey Gray pitched in 10 points in the victory ... at UVU, Clarke Rosenberg scored a game-high 19 points and had a career-high five steals ... the Cougars committed just nine turnovers at Bakersfield and Utah Valley last weekend ... the nine turnovers tied a season low ... in WAC play, the Cougars are averaging a WAC-best 9.5 steals per game ... in league play, Pippen is leading the WAC in made threes (21) ... the Cougars host Grand Canyon on Thursday ... the meeting with the ‘Lopes will be the first-ever matchup between the two teams.
Grand Canyon Antelopes (9-10, 4-2 WAC)
Grand Canyon went a perfect 2-0 at home last week ... the ‘Lopes defeated Idaho 86-73 before taking down Seattle U 71-63 ... in the win over Idaho, Jerome Garrison (30 points) and Blake Davis (19 points) both set career-high for scoring in the game, as Garrison also collected his fifth 20-point game of the season ... Killian Larson added 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for his 12th double-double in 18 games ... in the victory over Seattle U, Garrison recorded his sixth 20-point game as he led both teams with 24 points and was a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe ... Daniel Alexander collected 16 points and a career-best five blocks, while Blake Davis and Killian Larson each had 10 points ... Larson also pulled down 14 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season ... Grand Canyon travels to play Chicago State and Kansas City this week.
Idaho Vandals (8-13, 2-5 WAC)
Idaho dropped an 86-73 decision at Grand Canyon in the team’s lone contest of the week ... a 20-3 Grand Canyon run midway through the second half was too much for the Vandals to overcome ... Idaho shot just 33.3 percent from the field in the first half, but trailed by just three, 40-37, at the break ... he Vandals used a 7-0 run early in the second half to briefly take a 45-43 lead, but GCU answered with its 20-3 run to take control of the game with a 63-48 advantage with less than 11 minutes to play ... four Idaho players scored in double figures, led by Stephen Madison who hit his average with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists ... Madison went 13-for-13 at the free throw line, the third best single-game free throw performance in Idaho history. However, Madison was just 2-of-10 from the field ... the Vandals will be at home for their next three contests beginning Feb. 1 against Seattle U.
Kansas City Kangaroos (7-12, 4-3 WAC)
Kansas City went 1-1 on the road last week ... the ‘Roos dropped a 66-48 decision at Utah Valley before defeating Bakersfield 70-69 ... in the loss at UVU, Martez Harrison led the ‘Roos with 15 points, but went 4-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-11 from the line, while Caleb Johnson had a career-best 10 points ... Fred Chatmon led the ‘Roos on the glass with eight ... at CSUB, Frank Williams hit a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left to give Kansas City an improbable comeback win ... Harrison drove into the middle and kicked the ball to Williams in the corner for the open game-winner ... Harrison led the way for UMKC with 19 points, five rebounds and three steals with only one turnover, to go with a career-high six rebounds and nearly 40 minutes played ... the ‘Roos will face SE Missouri State on Wednesday in their last non-conference game of the season in Cape Girardeau.
New Mexico State Aggies (15-7, 4-2 WAC)
New Mexico State defeated Texas-Pan American 90-78 at home in the team’s lone game of the week ... Daniel Mullings had a career-night as he went over the 30-point mark for the first time in his Aggie career ... NM State’s leading scorer finished with 32 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 13-of-15 from the free-throw line ... not to be outdone, center Tshilidzi Nephawe also marked a career-high ... the Aggie big man finished with a game-high 15 rebounds, the most he’s had in a game while at NM State ... Nephawe also scored 14 points for a team-leading sixth double-double ... a couple of other Aggies also contributed with double-figure points ... Renaldo Dixon put in 15 points while junior guard DK Eldridge added another 14 ... NMSU continues its three-game home stand against Bakersfield on Thursday, Jan. 30, and Utah Valley on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Seattle U Redhawks (9-10, 1-5 WAC)
Seattle U fell to Grand Canyon in its only game of the past week, 71-63 ... the Redhawks fell behind by 18 points three minutes into the second half before rallying to within four thanks to the play of the bench players, which outscored the Antelope bench 32-2 ... William Powell led the way with nine points, while D’Vonne Pickett Jr. earned seven points and four assists and Manny Chibuogwu contributed six points and six rebounds ... Seattle U pulled down 21 offensive rebounds as part of a 46-37 rebounding edge and scored 20 points off Grand Canyon turnovers ... however, the shots from both the field and the free throw line would not fall when the game was close ... nobody reached double figures in scoring for Seattle U, the first time that has happened in a game since the team scored just 43 points at Virginia Nov. 17, 2012 ... the Redhawks will face Idaho in Moscow, Idaho Saturday, Feb. 1.
Texas-Pan American Broncs (6-15, 2-4 WAC)
Texas-Pan American dropped a 90-78 decision at New Mexico State in the team’s lone contest of the week ... despite jumping out to a 17-5 lead over the first 3:48, the Broncs fell to the Aggies ... four Broncs reached double-figures in scoring for the sixth time this season, led by junior Shaquille Boga, who scored 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 2-of-4 from behind the arc, plus 7-of-8 from the line, with three rebounds, six assists and one steal ... sophomore Shaquille Hines scored 16 points with seven rebounds and two blocks ... graduate student Javorn Farrell scored 14 points with five rebounds, three assists and one steal ... senior Jusitn Leathers scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc, plus 2-of-2 from the line ... UTPA hosts Utah Valley on Thursday and Bakersfield on Saturday this week.
Utah Valley Wolverines (12-7, 6-0 WAC)
Utah Valley improved to 6-0 in the WAC with wins over Kansas City and Chicago State last week and will reach the halfway point in league play with games at Texas-Pan American and league-favorite New Mexico State this week ... the Wolverines have won seven straight overall entering Thursday’s game at UTPA ... the six-game WAC win streak to open the conference schedule can be largely attributed to the team defensive effort, with UVU allowing just 58.7 points per game so far ... over the last three games, the Wolverines have allowed just over 51 points per game ... the two contests this week are against the top two scoring teams in the WAC during conference games ... in last week’s win over Kansas City, the Wolverines used a 20-1 run in the second half to pull away from the ‘Roos ... in the win over CSU, it was a first half run that gave UVU a 14-point half time lead before UVU had to hold off the Cougars.
WAC NOTES
NM 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. 20-26.
Mullings, a junior guard from Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Laurier HS), scored a career-high 32 points in a 90-78 win over Texas-Pan American on Saturday, helping the Aggies break a two-game skid. Mullings went over the 30-point mark for the first time in his Aggie career and was NM State’s leading scorer on 9-of-15 shooting (60.0 percent) from the field and 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) from the free throw line. Mullings also had six rebounds, three steals, two blocks and one assist.
Mullings is averaging 17.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game this season. He is shooting 45.8 percent (120-of-262) from the field this year.
Other nominees included: Chicago State junior guard Clarke Rosenberg averaged 20.0 points over two games … Kansas City freshman guard Martez Harrison averaged 17.0 points as UMKC went 1-1 … Grand Canyon junior guard Jerome Garrison averaged 27.0 points to lead the ‘Lopes to a pair of wins … Texas-Pan American junior guard Shaquille Boga scored 19 points at NM State … Utah Valley freshman forward Zach Nelson averaged 12.0 rebounds and 8.5 points in two wins.
UTAH VALLEY UNDEFEATED AND IN FIRST PLACE AFTER FOUR WEEKS OF PLAY
Heading into the fifth week of WAC play this week, only one team remains undefeated in conference play. Utah Valley sits atop the league’s standings with a perfect 6-0 mark after winning a pair of home games last week over Kansas City and Chicago State. Three of Utah Valley’s six wins have been on the road. There is a three-way tie for second place between Chicago State, Grand Canyon and New Mexico State, who each hold 4-2 marks in league play.
NEW MEXICO STATE RANKED NO. 15 IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR POLL, UTAH VALLEY AMONG OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
After a 90-78 win over Texas-Pan American at home last week, New Mexico State moved up one spot to No. 15 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. The Aggies received 314 points and are sandwiched between Ohio at No. 14 and Akron at No. 16. Utah Valley received one vote in the poll for the first time this season.
NEW MEXICO STATE RANKS SECOND IN THE NATION AT FREE THROW LINE, SEATTLE U’S UMIPIG 11TH IN THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS
New Mexico State ranks second in the nation with 454 made free throws this season. The Aggies also rank third nationally with 657 free throw attempts. NM State is shooting 69.1 percent from the free throw line. New Mexico State also ranks eighth nationally with 130 team blocks. Individually, Seattle U’s Isiah Umipig holds the highest national ranking in the WAC as he ranks 11th nationally with 157 three-point field goal attempts. NM State’s Daniel Mullings ranks 18th in the nation with 46 steals, while teammate Sim Bhullar ranks 20th in the nation 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®.