WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (7-8, 0-1 WAC)
The Roadrunners dropped their WAC opener 82-74 Saturday night to visiting Utah Valley after allowing a 10-2 run midway through the second half and giving up over 54 percent shooting from the field ... Stefon Johnson and Issiah Grayson led Bakersfield with 15 points apiece ... it was the first conference game for the Roadrunners since 2007--a stretch of 190 games ... Bakersfield was without guard Zach Lamb who continues to suffer from an ankle injury which has limited his playing time as of late ... Bakersfield will host Grand Canyon on Thursday night ... Bakersfield and Grand Canyon were both conference mates at the Division II level in the CCAA ... it will be the first meeting between CSUB and Grand Canyon since 2006, which was the last time the Antelopes played in Bakersfield.
Chicago State Cougars (6-9, 1-0 WAC)
Senior Matt Ross put back basket with 3.2 seconds remaining lifted Chicago State to a 57-55 victory over Idaho on Saturday in Moscow ... the win gives the Cougars their first WAC victory in program history ... Idaho’s only lead of the game came on the first basket of the game at 2-0 ... senior Quinton Pippen drained a deep 3-pointer from the top of the arc at the buzzer of the first half to put the Cougars up 38-28 at the break ... Chicago State scored the first four points of the second half, including two on a turn around jumper by Pippen, to build a 14-point lead ... the Cougars were led by Pippen’s game-high 18 points ... the senior made his first six shots of the game ... Pippen finished with four 3-pointers to bring his career total at CSU to 103 as he is now tied for seventh all-time in career 3-pointers at Chicago State with Tony Weeden (2003-05) ... CSU lost 98-62 to Green Bay on Tuesday night.
Grand Canyon Antelopes (6-9, 1-1 WAC)
Grand Canyon opened league play with a 1-1 record last week at home ... the ‘Lopes defeated Texas-Pan American 91-85 before falling 84-62 to New Mexico State ... against UTPA, Jerome Garrison had a career-night, scoring 24 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field ... Killian Larson continued to add to his double-double total for the season (11), collecting a game-high 26 points and 12 points ... Daniel Alexander matched his career-best with 18 points, including five three-pointers ... versus NM State, Garrison established a new career-high for the second consecutive game, this time with 25 points ... Alexander and Sam Daly also scored in double-figures for GCU, adding 11 points and 10 points, respectively ... Daly’s point total marked a new career-high for the freshman ... GCU travels to play Bakersfield on Thursday and Utah Valley on Saturday.
Idaho Vandals (6-10, 0-2 WAC)
Idaho opened WAC play with a pair of home losses last week ... the Vandals dropped an 80-74 decision to Kansas City before falling 57-55 to Chicago State ... against UMKC, senior Stephen Madison had his fourth double-double of the season, a 20 point, 10 rebound performance after going 6-of-11 from the field and 7-of-10 at the free throw line ... he added three assists and a steal in the game ... senior Glen Dean tallied 19 points, four rebounds and four assists ... in the loss to Chicago State, Madison led the team with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists, going 6-for-11 from the field ...Connor Hill broke out of somewhat of a shooting slump, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooing including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Junior Bira Seck added 10 points and six rebounds ... Idaho travels to play Texas-Pan American on Thursday before playing at New Mexico State on Saturday.
Kansas City Kangaroos (5-9, 2-0 WAC)
Kansas City opened WAC play with a perfect 2-0 record this past week .. it marks the first time since 2007 that the Kangaroos have opened league play with a perfect 2-0 record, and was the first time since 2005 that the team has opened conference play with a 2-0 road record ... the ‘Roos opened league play with an 80-74 win at Idaho on Thursday ... at Idaho, Nelson Kirksey led the ‘Roos with 20 points, the second time in his career with 20-plus points, while Martez Harrison had 18 and Williams had 14 ... in a 95-84 win over Seattle U on Saturday, Frank Williams led the way with 14 points in the period, going 4-of-6 from three-point land, while Kirksey and Harrison each had eight ... UMKC continues WAC play this week when the team hosts Chicago State on Saturday.
New Mexico State Aggies (12-5, 1-0 WAC)
Senior guard Kevin Aronis scored a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead New Mexico State to an 84-62 win over Grand Canyon University in GCU Arena on Saturday ... Aronis tied a career-high with six 3-pointers made as he went 6-of-8 from the behind the 3-point line ... the Aggies as a team shot 47.4 percent from behind the arc hitting 9-of-19 ... junior guard Daniel Mullings added 15 points, while junior guard DK Eldridge marked his second double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds ... sophomore Sim Bhullar did not play in the game this evening as he is resting a bruised foot and is on a day-to-day basis and could be ready by the time the NM State plays Seattle U on Thursday ... the Aggies head back to Las Cruces and play Seattle U in the Pan American Center, Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. (MT) ... the game is scheduled to be televised on AggieVision, Altitude 2, ESPN Full Court and ESPN3.
Seattle U Redhawks (8-6, 0-1 WAC)
Seattle University could not extend its home winning streak, losing to UC Santa Barbara (86-70) and Kansas City (95-84) over the past week ... in both games, the Redhawks fell behind early by double digits and could not complete a comeback in either contest ... Monday against UCSB, Isiah Umipig scored 24 points and Emerson Murray added a career-high 20 points ... however, the Redhawks shot a season-low 33.3 percent from the field, making only five field goals in the first half ... Saturday against UMKC, Umipig once again led the Redhawks with 24 points and four steals, while Murray notched his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, plus he dished out six assists ... Seattle U won the rebounding battle, 40-33, including 21 offensive boards that led to 23 second chance points ... Seattle U hits the road next week to face NM State (Thursday, Jan. 9) and Texas-Pan American (Saturday, Jan. 11).
Texas-Pan American Broncs (4-12, 0-1 WAC)
Texas-Pan American went 0-2 last week ... the Broncs dropped a 91-85 decision at Grand Canyon in the team’s first-ever WAC game ... the team then fell 63-46 at Texas A&M ... at GCU, the Broncs hit a season-high 34 shots, tied for the fourth most in a game by a WAC team this season ... four Broncs reached double-figures in scoring for the third time this season and first time since Nov. 15 against Tennessee Tech ... the Broncs are now 2-1 when four players reach double-figures in scoring ... Javorn Farrell scored a career-high tying, season-high and team-high tying 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The nine baskets tied his career-high. He also had three rebounds, four assists and a game-high tying three steals ... at Texas A&M, senior Justin Leathers hit a career-high four three-pointers for a team-high 13 points with team-high tying seven rebounds ... UTPA hosts Idaho and Seattle U this week.
Utah Valley Wolverines (7-7, 1-0 WAC)
In the first ever WAC game for both schools, Utah Valley had a big second half to win at Bakersfield, 82-74, on Jan. 4 ... first-team All-WAC preseason pick Ben Aird scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, matching his career high in scoring ... Zach Nelson contributed 22 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks and hit 9-of-12 from the field ... the Wolverines shot 64.3 percent in the second half, outscoring the Roadrunners 52-40 in the half ... Holton Hunsaker had 12 points and seven assists for UVU ... the Wolverines play just once this week, hosting Grand Canyon in the first-ever WAC game at the UCCU Center.
WAC NOTES
UTAH VALLEY’S AIRD NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley’s Ben Aird has been named Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 30-Jan. 5.
Aird, a senior center from Bountiful, Utah (Bountiful HS), matched a career high with 26 points in an 82-74 road win at Bakersfield in UVU’s first-ever WAC contest. Aird pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Aird connected on 9-of-15 shots from the field (60.0 percent), 1-of-2 shots from beyond the arc (50.0 percent) and 7-of-9 free throws (78.0 percent). He also recorded one block, one steal and dished out four assists.
Other nominees included: Chicago State senior guard/forward Quinton Pippen scored 18 points in a win at Idaho … Grand Canyon junior guard Jerome Garrison averaged 21.0 points over three games … Idaho senior forward Stephen Madison averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds over two games … Kansas City senior forward Nelson Kirksey averaged 22.5 points in a pair of road wins … New Mexico State senior guard Kevin Aronis scored a career-high 20 points in a win at Grand Canyon … Seattle U junior guard Emerson Murray averaged 15.0 points in two games at home … Texas-Pan American junior guard Shaquille Boga averaged 17.0 points over two games.
ROAD TEAMS DOMINATE IN WAC’S FIRST WEEK OF PLAY
After WAC teams dominated at home during non-conference play this season, compiling a 35-15 non-conference home mark, road teams dominated in the WAC’s first week of conference play. Road teams went 5-1 in the six WAC games played last week. Kansas City went a perfect 2-0 on the road to open conference play last week for the first time since 2005, defeating Idaho and Seattle U. New Mexico State won at Grand Canyon, Utah Valley defeated Bakersfield in California, and Chicago State won at Idaho.
NEW MEXICO STATE MOVES UP TWO SPOTS TO NO. 10 IN MID-MAJOR POLL
The Aggies moved up two spots to No. 10 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. The Aggies received 473 points and are sandwiched between North Dakota State at No. 9 and Saint Mary’s at No. 11.
NEW MEXICO STATE LEADS THE NATION AT FREE THROW LINE, BHULLAR SEVENTH IN BLOCKS
New Mexico State ranks first in the nation with 341 made free throws this season. The Aggies also rank second in the nation with 490 free throw attempts. NM State is shooting 69.6 percent from the free throw line. New Mexico State also ranks sixth nationally with 99 team blocks. Individually, NM State’s Sim Bhullar holds the highest individual national ranking in the WAC as he ranks seventh nationally with 53 blocks. Seattle U’s Isiah Umipig ranks 10th in the nation in three-point field goal attempts (120).
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®.