TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN’S JOESAAR NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Texas-Pan American sophomore forward Janari Joesaar has been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 8-14. This is his second WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and of his career.
The Tartu, Estonia, native finished with a career-high 29 points on 64 percent shooting to go with six rebounds (five offensive), two assists and two blocks in a win over Lamar last week. Playing a career-high 38 minutes, Joesaar scored the Broncs’ first 10 points in the game. After Lamar took its only lead, 22-21, he scored five-straight points to give UTPA the lead back for good. It was Joesaar’s fifth game with 20 or more points this season.
Other nominees included: Chicago State’s Trayvon Palmer finished with 10 points on 66.7 percent shooting and five rebounds in the Cougars’ only game last week ... Martez Harrison of Missouri-Kansas City averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals as the Kangaroos went 1-1 last week ... New Mexico State’s Ian Baker finished with 15 points on 75 percent shooting, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in a loss at Oral Roberts ... Deshaun Sunderhaus of Seattle U finished with 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, five rebounds and four assists in a win over San Jose State ... Utah Valley’s Mitch Bruneel averaged 7.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game over two games last week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Seattle U leads the WAC in scoring defense (62.6), three-point field goal percentage (39.2), rebounding (39.3), rebounding defense (30.3), rebounding margin (9.0), assists (15.8), assist-turnover ratio (1.18), defensive rebounds (26.4) and three-pointers per game (8.2). New Mexico State is tops in scoring (72.9), scoring margin (4.2), field goal percentage (44.9) and offensive rebounds (14.5), while Bakersfield leads the WAC in free throw percentage (73.5) and field goal percentage defense (39.3). Missouri-Kansas City is tops in steals (10.36) and turnover margin (4.18), while Grand Canyon is tops in three-point field goal percentage defense (28.3) and Texas-Pan American leads the league in blocks (4.33).
Individually, UTPA’s Janari Joesaar leads the WAC in scoring (19.8), defensive rebounds (6.22) and minutes per game (33.89), while Kevin Mays of Bakersfield leads the WAC in rebounding (9.7) and offensive rebounds (4.22). UMKC’s Martez Harrison is tops in assists (4.18) and steals (2.45), while teammate Shayok Shayok leads the WAC in field goal percentage (56.0). Seattle U’s Jarell Flora leads the league in free throw percentage (87.5), while teammate Isiah Umipig is tops in three-pointers per game (4.2). Remi Barry of New Mexico State leads the WAC in three-point percentage (71.4), while teammates Pascal Siakam and Ian Baker are tops in blocks (2.0) and assist-turnover ratio (1.67), respectively.
ROSENBERG SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
Chicago State senior Clarke Rosenberg became the ninth player in Cougar history to surpass 1,000 career points when he hit a layup with 10:52 remaining in the game at Southern Illinois on Dec. 14. With 1,001 points, Rosenberg ranks eighth all-time in career scoring at Chicago State.
SEATTLE U’S UMIPIG CLIMBING CAREER THREE-POINTERS MADE CHART
In just his second season with the program, Seattle U’s Isiah Umipig currently ranks fifth all-time on the Seattle U career three-pointers list with 148, 22 shy of second place. The senior currently ranks second in the nation in three-pointers per game (4.2) and third in three-pointers made (42).
UMKC’S HARRISON EXTENDS DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING STREAK TO 29 GAMES
Missouri-Kansas City sophomore guard Martez Harrison has reached double-digit scoring in all 11 games this season to extend his streak to 29 consecutive games, good for second place all-time at UMKC. He also has 13 career games with 20 or more points.
NEW MEXICO STATE EXTENDS HOME WIN STREAK TO 14 GAMES
With a win over UTEP on Dec. 6, New Mexico State extended its home winning streak to 14 games. The Aggies are now 33-2 at the Pan American Center since the start of the 2012-13 season and the streak is the third home court win streak of 11 games or more since the 2011-12 season.
BAKERSFIELD LOSING IN HEARTBREAKING FASHION
Bakersfield has lost four games this season by two points or less, including three in a row by a total of five points – 63-61 to Fresno State, 59-58 to UC Riverside and 68-66 to South Dakota. The Roadrunners also have one six-point loss and two seven-point losses this season.
NM STATE’S MULLINGS MOVES INTO NINTH PLACE IN PROGRAM HISTORY IN SCORING
New Mexico State senior Daniel Mullings moved into ninth place on the NM State career scoring list on Nov. 26 and became the ninth Aggie to score 1,500 points at Wyoming on Nov. 29. Mullings, who is sidelined with a broken finger, has 1,512 career points, nine shy of eighth place and 350 away from the record of 1,862 held by Eric Channing (1998-02).