WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (9-14, 2-7 WAC)
The Roadrunners let a 20-point lead melt away in the final 24 minutes of action Saturday night at Grand Canyon ... after posting a shooting percentage of over 50 percent in the first half, Bakersfield was held to under 40 percent in the second half while also going 0-for-6 from three-point range while Grand Canyon converted over 50 percent in the second frame, including making several wide-open looks following Bakersfield miscues ... the Roadrunners have now led in every conference loss this season and are 2-3 on the road ... Bakersfield was led by Brandon Barnes’ 19 points ... it marks the first time in conference play that Issiah Grayson has not led the ‘Runners in scoring ... Grayson added 14 in the loss which was the second to Grand Canyon this season ... Bakersfield hosts Idaho and Seattle U on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Chicago State Cougars (10-12, 5-3 WAC)
Thanks to a 27-of-32 performance from the free throw line, Chicago State finished a season-series sweep of Kansas City by defeating the Roos 81-74 in the team’s lone contest of the week ... Quinton Pippen finished with a career-high 28 points on 7-of-10 shooting ... he made 5-of-6 3-point attempts and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line ... he also added two steals an assist and committed just one turnover ... Pippen was one of four Cougars in double-digits ... Clarke Rosenberg added 19 points, Nate Duhon scored 11 points and Eddie Denard provided 10 points ... the Cougars hit the road next week for a pair of WAC contests ... first up is UTPA on Thursday (Feb. 13) ... Chicago State will look to avenge an earlier season loss to the Broncs ... the Cougars will match last season’s win total with their next win.
Grand Canyon Antelopes (12-11, 7-3 WAC)
Grand Canyon split a pair of road games last week ... the ‘Lopes dropped a 79-68 decision to league-leader Utah Valley before defeating Bakersfield 79-70 on Saturday ... UVU snapped Grand Canyon’s four-game win streak last ... GCU was led by Killian Larson’s 24 points, while Jerome Garrison added 19 and Daniel Alexander had 15 ... the ‘Lopes shot 44.0 percent for the game (22-for-50), and used sharp shooting in the second half (14-for-26, 53.8 percent) to erase a nine-point halftime deficit ... GCU held the advantage in points in the paint, 24-20, but were outrebounded by the Wolverines, 29-25 ... in the win over CSUB, Garrison led the offensive efforts with 28 points, while Alexander matched his career-high with 18 points ... Larson recorded his 15th double-double of the year with 13 points and 13 rebounds ... GCU will have this week off and will return to WAC play on Feb. 20 at Seattle U.
Idaho Vandals (10-14, 4-6 WAC)
Idaho went a perfect 2-0 at home last week with wins over New Mexico State and Texas-Pan American ... Madison had back-to-back 20-point games this week as Idaho got its best win of the season, a 73-67 win over NM State and its second OT win of the season ,a 70-63 victory over UTPA ... Madison now has three consecutive 20-plus point games and 10 on the season ... he averaged a double-double on the week with 23.0 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from 3 ... his deep 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left in regulation against UTPA tied the game, which the Vandals eventually won in OT ... Madison climbed into fifth all-time on Idaho’s career scoring list, and he finishes the week with 1,380 career points ... Idaho travels to play Bakersfield on Thursday and Utah Valley on Saturday.
Kansas City Kangaroos (7-15, 4-5 WAC)
Chicago State answered a Kansas City run to tie it with eight minutes left, and then held off the ‘Roos for an 81-74 win and a season sweep Saturday at the Jones Center in UMKC’s lone contest of the week ... for the game, UMKC shot 48 percent, while CSU was at 44 percent ... the ‘Roos also had a 38-31 advantage on the boards, but 19 turnovers that led to 23 CSU points proved to be the difference, as Kansas City had 14 points off turnovers ... UMKC also hit 16-of-27 from the line, while CSU was 27-of-32 ... Martez Harrison was one point shy of his career-high with 27 points in the game ... Kansas City will head to New Mexico State on Thursday, before facing Texas-Pan American on Saturday afternoon.
New Mexico State Aggies (18-8, 7-3 WAC)
New Mexico State split a pair of road games last week ... the Aggies dropped a 73-67 decision at Idaho before defeating Seattle U 91-77 in Seattle ... in the loss at Idaho, Daniel Mullings put in 20 points hitting 9-of-18 shots while going 2-of-4 from the free throw line ... Sim Bhullar saw 26 minutes of action and went 4-of-5 from the field for eight points while grabbing seven board and blocking five shots ... in the win over Seattle U, Tshilidzi Nephawe posted a career-high 22 points ... five other Aggies scored in double figures with Mullings putting in 16, DK Eldridge scoring 15, and junior KC Ross-Miller adding 13 ... the Aggies return home and will attempt to get revenge on Kansas City, Thursday, Feb. 13 ... Chicago State visits NM State on Feb. 15.
Seattle U Redhawks (11-11, 3-6 WAC)
Seattle U returned home and picked up its first KeyArena WAC victory of the season Thursday night with an 83-62 win over Texas-Pan American ... that completed the season sweep for the Redhawks over the Broncs, one in which Seattle U never trailed UTPA and neither game was tied other than 0-0 ... four players scored in double figures for the Redhawks, led by Isiah Umipig with 21 points and D’Vonne Pickett Jr. with 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists ... Shore Adenekan notched his first career double-double with 14 points and a season-high 11 rebounds ... Saturday, Seattle U ran into a hot-shooting New Mexico State team, losing to the Aggies 92-77 ... Umipig again led the way with 24 points, while Pickett finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists ... Seattle U hits the road to face WAC leader Utah Valley Thursday, Feb. 13, and Bakersfield Saturday, Feb. 15.
Texas-Pan American Broncs (6-19, 2-8 WAC)
Texas-Pan American went 0-2 last week ... the Broncs dropped an 83-62 decision at Seattle U before falling 70-63 in overtime at Idaho ... at SU, Jamal Dantzler made his second start of the season, grabbing a career-high tying five rebounds in 20 minutes ... Shaquille Boga led the Broncs with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 from downtown, plus 2-of-2 from the line, with four rebounds, three assists, one block and four steals ... Shaquille Hines scored 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting ... Javorn Farrell scored 14 points with six rebounds and three assists ... at Idaho, four Broncs reached double-figures in scoring for the eighth time this season, led by Boga and Hines, who scored 15 points with six rebounds each ... Boga added five assists while Hines had three ... UTPA hosts Chicago State on Thursday and Kansas City on Saturday.
Utah Valley Wolverines (14-8, 8-1 WAC)
Utah Valley played just once last week, picking up a big road win over Grand Canyon, 79-68, at a sold-out GCU Arena on Feb. 6 ... the win over the second-place Antelopes, coupled with New Mexico State’s loss at Idaho, gave UVU a two-game lead in the loss column in the WAC standings over both GCU and NM State ... Holton Hunsaker scored 29 points, a UVU season-high including 12 straight points for the Wolverines during a game-deciding run that ended with UVU in front by nine with 1:59 to go ... Keawe Enos scored 13 points in the return to his home state of (Mesa, AZ) and was 3-for-4 from the 3-point line. Dating back the last three games, Enos has made eight of his last nine attempts from the beyond the arc and leads the WAC and ranks fifth in the nation at 51.9 percent ... the Wolverines are home to host Seattle U and Idaho this week and will play five of their final seven regular season games at home.
WAC NOTES
IDAHO’S MADISON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Idaho’s Stephen Madison has been named Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 3-9.
Madison, a senior forward from Portland, Ore. (Jefferson HS), averaged 23.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in leading the Vandals to a pair of home wins. He shot 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field, 40 percent (4-of-10) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the free throw line over the two games.
In a 73-67 win over New Mexico State, Madison scored 24 points with eight rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block. In Idaho’s 70-63 overtime win against Texas-Pan American, Madison hit a deep three with nine seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game and send the contest into overtime. He tallied 22 points, 13 rebounds and two assists in the win over UTPA.
Madison is averaging 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks per game this season.
Other nominees included: Chicago State senior guard/forward Quinton Pippen scored 28 points in a win over UMKC … Grand Canyon junior guard Jerome Garrison scored 28 points in a win over Bakersfield … Kansas City freshman guard Martez Harrison scored 27 points in a loss to Chicago State … New Mexico State junior center Tshilidzi Nephawe scored 22 points in a road win at Seattle U … Seattle U junior guard Isiah Umipig averaged 22.5 points over two games … Texas-Pan American junior guard Shaquille Boga averaged 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in two games … Utah Valley senior guard Holton Hunsaker scored a season-high 29 points in a win at Grand Canyon.
UTAH VALLEY HOLDS ONE AND A HALF-GAME LEAD IN WAC STANDINGS
Heading into the seventh week of WAC play this week, Utah Valley now holds a one and half-game lead in the WAC standings. The Wolverines sit atop the league’s standings with an 8-1 mark after defeating Grand Canyon on the road last week. Five of Utah Valley’s eight wins have been on the road. There is a tie for second place between New Mexico State and Grand Canyon, who each hold 7-3 marks in league play. NM State split a pair of road games last week, falling to Idaho before defeating Seattle U. Grand Canyon dropped a 79-68 decision at home against Utah Valley before downing Bakersfield 79-70.
NEW MEXICO STATE RANKED NO. 13 IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR POLL, UTAH VALLEY AMONG OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
After splitting a pair of road games last week, New Mexico State dropped five spots to No. 13 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. The Aggies received 367 points and are sandwiched between Ohio at No. 12 and Manhattan at No. 14. Utah Valley is receiving four points in the poll.
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 ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
For the second year in a row, Utah Valley point guard Holton Hunsaker has been named to the Capital One Academic All-District 8 Men’s Basketball team and is now eligible for Academic All-America® Team.The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced the teams on Thursday. District 8 is represented by student athletes from schools in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Hunsaker is an accounting major and has a 3.88 cumulative GPA. His list of honors received during his career at UVU also include being named the 2012-13 Great West Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year and a two-time academic all-conference honoree. He will make it a three-time honor when the WAC announces its all-academic team following the school year. As a junior, he was also named to the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association Scholar Athlete Team as well as earning first-team All-Great West Conference. Over the summer, Hunsaker interned in Washington, D.C. for Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. On the court, he is leading Utah Valley with an average of 12.1 points per game and also leads the WAC with a 4.2 assist average.