UMKC’S HARRISON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Missouri-Kansas City sophomore guard Martez Harrison has been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 10-16. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Kansas City, Mo., native finished with 26 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in a road win at Missouri to open the season. Harrison scored 19 of his 26 points in the second period, helping UMKC defeat the Tigers for the first time in school history. The victory was the Kangaroos’ first over a BCS school since 2003. Harrison hit 15-of-16 from the free throw line, while as a team the ‘Roos were 23-of-29 (79.3 percent). It was the highest free throw percentage in a game for UMKC in the Kareem Richardson era. Harrison’s 15 makes were a career-high and the highest for a ‘Roo from the line since 1994 when Tony Dumas hit 18. The 26 points were the third-most in Harrison’s career, as well. Harrison now sits tied for sixth all-time at UMKC with 19 consecutive games with at least 10 points.
Other nominees included: Bakersfield’s Aly Ahmed averaged 22 points, including a career-high 26 points vs. High Point, to go along with eight rebounds and four assists in a pair of losses ... Clarke Rosenberg of Chicago State averaged 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals in a pair of road losses ... Grand Canyon’s Royce Woolridge finished with 15 points, including 4-for-4 from three-point range, in a loss at No. 1 Kentucky ... Daniel Mullings of New Mexico State posted team highs of 14 points and six rebounds in a loss at No. 11 Wichita State ... Seattle U’s Isiah Umipig finished with 23 points on 61.5 percent shooting, seven three-pointers and three rebounds in a loss to Texas State ... Janari Joesaar of Texas-Pan American finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in a win over Wayland Baptist ... Utah Valley’s Marcel Davis finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists in a season-opening win over South Dakota.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Texas-Pan American leads the WAC in scoring (75.5), scoring margin (4.5), field goal percentage (46.3), field goal percentage defense (36.2), rebounding (43.5), blocks (8.0), assists (14.5) and assist-turnover ratio (0.97). Seattle U is tops in scoring defense (62.0), three-point field goal percentage (50.0), rebounding defense (26.0) and three-pointers per game (9.0). Bakersfield leads the WAC in free throw percentage (82.3) and rebounding margin (7.3), while Grand Canyon is tops in three-point field goal percentage defense (20.7). Missouri-Kansas City leads the WAC in turnover margin (1.5), while the ‘Roos are tied with Chicago State for the lead in steals (7.5).
Individually, UMKC’s Martez Harrison leads the WAC in scoring (23.5), while UTPA’s Janari Joesaar is tops in rebounding (15.5), blocks (3.5) and defensive rebounds (11.0). Isiah Umipig of Seattle U leads the WAC in three-point percentage (77.8) and three-pointers per game (7.0), while Quron Davis of Chicago State is tops in field goal percentage (85.7). Seattle U’s Jack Crook leads the league in assists (5.0), while Marcel Davis of Utah Valley is tops in steals (3.5). Three players – Kevin Franceschi of UMKC, Tyrell Corbin of Bakersfield, Daniel Alexander of Grand Canyon, Deshaun Sunderhaus of Seattle U and Shaquille Boga of UTPA – all have perfect free throw shooting percentages. Utah Valley’s Jaden Jackson is tops in assist/turnover ratio (7.00), Kevin Mays of Bakersfield leads the league in offensive rebounds (4.67), while Clarke Rosenberg of Chicago State is tops in minutes per game (36.5).
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY BEATS MISSOURI FOR FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Missouri-Kansas City opened the season with a 69-61 win at Missouri, the program’s first-ever win over the Tigers in school history (1-3). The victory was also the ‘Roos first over a BCS school since a 2003 victory against Kansas State.
BAKERSFIELD HAS PROGRAM’S LONGEST GAME
Bakersfield opened the season with a 100-99 quadruple overtime loss to High Point in the first game of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. It was the first time the ‘Runners played a quadruple overtime game, making it their longest contest since Feb. 11, 1989 at Cal State LA.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN OFF TO 2-0 START FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2007-08 SEASON
After wins over Wayland Baptist and UTSA, Texas-Pan American is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2007-08. The Broncs host Texas A&M Kingsville on Friday.
WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2015 WAC Basketball Tournament returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the fifth year in a row. The tournament will be held March 11-14, and will include all seven eligible men’s and women’s teams.
ESPNU TO TELEVISE WAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
ESPN will once again broadcast the WAC men’s and women’s tournament championship games from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on March 14. The women’s game will be broadcast on ESPNU at 1 p.m. (PT). The men’s championship game will also be broadcast by ESPNU at 8 p.m. (PT).
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the five first team All-WAC players in 2013-14, just one returns for the 2014-15 season in Preseason Player of the Year Daniel Mullings of New Mexico State. Three of the five second team honorees return, including Jerome Garrison of Grand Canyon, Tshilidzi Nephawe of New Mexico State and Seattle U’s Isiah Umipig.
Four of the five All-Defensive Team honorees from last year return, including Mullings, Garrison, Aly Ahmed of Bakersfield and Utah Valley’s Mitch Bruneel.
All five of the All-Newcomer Team honorees from a year ago return – Umipig, Daniel Alexander of Grand Canyon, Martez Harrison of UMKC, DK Eldridge of New Mexico State and Zach Nelson of Utah Valley.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS (0-3, 0-0 WAC)
Bakersfield went 0-3 at the Rainbow Classic, falling 100-99 in quadruple overtime to High Point, losing 72-65 to the host Rainbows and falling 56-49 to Arkansas-Pine Bluff in their final game ... A turnover with nine seconds remaining proved to be the back-breaker against High Point in the longest in program history ... Aly Ahmed had a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Kevin Mays added 13 points and 17 rebounds against High Point ... Against Hawai‘i, Ahmed had 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Jaylin Airington scored 14 points ... Against UAPB, the Roadrunners used a 13-0 run over a nine-minute stretch to cut the lead to four, but didn’t get any closer ... Javonte Maynor scored a game-high 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 5-of-9 from three-point range, while Mays added 15 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season ... The Roadrunners play at No. 16 San Diego State on Thursday, then host Delaware on Sunday.
CHICAGO STATE COUGARS (0-2, 0-0 WAC)
Chicago State opened the season with an 86-50 loss to Arizona State last Friday, then fell 84-66 at Creighton on Sunday ... Against the Sun Devils, Clarke Rosenberg had 20 points ... Chicago State shot 32 percent from the field, 15 percent from three-point range and 57 percent from the free throw line, compared to the 61 percent from the floor, 44 percent from downtown and 56 percent from the charity stripe of the Sun Devils ... Arizona State also out-rebounded the Cougars, 34-31 ... Against Creighton, Rosenberg led all players with 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds ... Anthony Glover added 18 points and Quron Davis finished with 10 ... Chicago State out-shot the Bluejays 45.5-44.8 percent from the field and 43.5-33.3 percent from three-point range, but was 6-of-10 from the free throw line while Creighton connected on 22-of-27 ... The Cougars host IU-Northwest on Tuesday, and Trinity Christian on Saturday.
GRAND CANYON ANTELOPES (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
Grand Canyon fell 85-45 at No. 1 Kentucky last Friday, then beat Montana State 61-45 on Monday ... The Antelopes shot just 31.3 percent (15-for-48) from the floor, compared to 48.6 percent (34-for-70) for the Wildcats ... Royce Woolridge led GCU with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting, making all four of his three-point attempts ... Daniel Alexander scored all 10 of his points in the second half and added four rebounds ... The 45 points allowed to Montana State marked the second-fewest for the squad under head coach Dan Majerle ... The Lopes limited the Bobcats to just 34.9 percent from the field (15-for-43) and forced 22 Montana State turnovers ... Ryan Majerle led all scorers with 13 points, while Woolridge added 11 and Alexander finished with 10 ... Woolridge also dished out eight assists and drained 9-of-11 free throw attempts on the night ... The Antelopes host UT Arlington on Thursday and Florida A&M on Friday.
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY KANGAROOS (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
Missouri-Kansas City defeated Missouri 69-61 last Friday, then fell 83-73 at Kansas State on Monday ... The victory over the Tigers was UMKC’s first ever ... Martez Harrison scored 19 of his 26 in the second period, hitting a career-high 15 free throws, the highest for a ‘Roo from the line since 1994 when Tony Dumas hit 18 ... Harrison was named WAC and College Sports Madness National Mid-Major Player of the Week ... The victory was the first over a BCS school since 2003 ... In the loss to the Wildcats, a 25-8 second half run by Kansas State proved to be the difference ... Harrison led the ‘Roos with 21 points, the second time in his career that he has posted 20 or more points in consecutive games ... Broderick Newbill added a career-high 11 points, while Shayok Shayok put up 10 points for the second straight game ... ... The ‘Roos host Missouri S&T on Wednesday, then travel to Little Rock, Ark., for the UALR Tournament this weekend, while they will face host UALR on Saturday and either Cal State Northridge or Samford on Sunday.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (0-2, 0-0 WAC)
The Aggies fell 71-54 at No. 11 Wichita State last Friday, then fell 83-71 at Saint Mary’s early Tuesday morning as part of the ESPN Tipoff Marathon ... In the loss to Wichita State, a 14-5 run midway through the first half gave the Shockers a lead they’d never relinquish ... The Aggies held Wichita State without a three-point field goal, snapping a streak of 267 games where the Shockers scored a triple, dating back to a Dec. 19, 2006 ... It was Wichita State’s 32nd straight regular season win and 26th straight home win ... Daniel Mullings led the Aggies with 14 points and six rebounds, while Remi Barry tallied nine points ... Against the Gaels, NM State trailed by 14 at the half and later by 21 early in the second before making a run to threaten the game in the final minutes ... Mullings again led the Aggies with 18 points and six rebounds and two steals, while Barry added 17 points and Ian Baker added 11 ... The Aggies host Northern Colorado on Wednesday, then play at UTEP on Saturday.
SEATTLE U REDHAWKS (0-1, 0-0 WAC)
Seattle U fell 62-53 to Texas State last Friday in their season opener ... Texas State toot advantage of Redhawk turnovers early in the second half to come from behind for the victory ... Isiah Umipig hit seven three-pointers as he led the Redhawks with 23 points, while Deshaun Sunderhaus contributed 10 points off the bench and Jarell Flora had nine points and six rebounds ... After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half (12-of-24), the Redhawks were held to 35.3 percent field goal shooting after halftime (6-of-17) ... Seattle U held a 12-point lead late in the first half, but committed 12 turnovers in the second half that led to 16 Bobcat points ... After setting a single-season school record with 106 three-pointers last season, Umipig moved closer to the career top 10 list with 113 three-pointers as a Redhawk, just five away from 10th place ... The Redhawks remain at home for three games in five nights, starting with Omaha on Wednesday, Washington on Friday and Montana on Sunday.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN BRONCS (2-0, 0-0 WAC)
UTPA defeated Wayland Baptist 88-80 last Friday, the edged UTSA 63-62 on Monday ... Five Broncs reached double-figure scoring against the Pioneers, the No. 21 team in the NAIA ... Janari Joesaar had a career-high 20 points to go with a 13 rebounds ... Shaquille Hines scored 15 points with four assists, while Moe McDonald scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, Shaun Noriega dropped 13 points and Andreas Bigum scored 11 points ... Joesaar posted his second-straight double-double against the Roadrunners, finishing with 17 points to go with career highs of 18 rebounds, four assists and six blocks ... Shaquille Boga added 16 points, Hines had 15 and Dan Kimasa had 10 points ... The Broncs are off to their first 2-0 start since 2007-08 ... The six blocks are tied for the seventh-most in a single game in program history and the highest total since Jan. 21, 2004 (six) ... The Broncs host Texas A&M Kingsville on Saturday.
UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
The Wolverines defeated South Dakota 60-52 in their season opener last Friday, then fell 75-50 at Eastern Washington on Monday ... Marcel Davis and Donte Williams each scored a game-high 16 points against USD, with Davis grabbing a career-high seven boards ... Mitch Bruneel nearly had a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Brenden Evans added 10 points ... Up by three points with just over two minutes to play, Davis made a driving layup while being fouled and made the free throw to help spark a 9-2 run to secure the win ... Against the Eagles, Zach Nelson had 12 points and Jaden Jackson added 10 ... Eastern Washington opened the game on a 15-2 run ... Utah Valley cut the lead to eight points late in the first half, but couldn’t get any closer as Eastern Washington used a 15-3 run in the second half to secure the win ... It was the first of seven straight road games for the Wolverines ... The Wolverines play at Southern Utah on Sunday.