WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (12-15, 5-8 WAC)
Bakersfield won a season-best three-straight WAC games with its victory at Kansas City on Thursday night before having that streak snapped on Saturday at Chicago State ... the Roadrunners shot at or above 50 percent for both games but also allowed over 50 percent to Chicago State in Saturday’s loss ... sophomore center Aly Ahmed also recorded a career-high 19 points on Thursdays win over UMKC while also pulling down nine rebounds falling one rebound shy of his third double-double this season ... Ahmed had eight points on Saturday at Chicago State ... Bakersfield has won four of their last six games and will play two of their final WAC regular-season games at home this week ... Bakersfield hosts Texas-Pan American and New Mexico State this week.
Chicago State Cougars (11-16, 6-6 WAC)
Chicago State went 0-2 last week, falling 79-70 to Utah Valley before dropping a 73-68 decision to Bakersfield ... at Utah Valley, junior Clarke Rosenberg led the Cougars with 20 points and six rebounds ... Quinton Pippen added 17 points, while Matt Ross totaled 12 points ... in the setback to Bakersfield, Ross tied a career high with 13 rebounds ... senior Eddie Denard led the Cougars in scoring with 14 points ... senior Nate Duhon provided 12 points off the bench ... Pippen is shooting free throws at a 89.5 percent (34-of-38) clip in WAC games, best in the conference ... he also leads the WAC in conference play in steals with 2.1 per contest ... the Cougars have already matched last year’s win total of 11 ... Chicago State visits Seattle U on Thursday before playing at Grand Canyon on Saturday.
Grand Canyon Antelopes (13-12, 8-4 WAC)
Grand Canyon went 1-1 last week ... the team took a 74-73 win at Seattle U before falling 83-77 at Idaho ... at Seattle U, Jerome Garrison, who finished with 18 points, made one of two free throws with 12.6 seconds left that gave GCU a 74-73 lead ... SU had one final chance but Garrison blocked the driving layup by D’Vonne Pickett and Sam Daly rebounded the ball and was able to run out the clock to seal the victory ... in the loss at Idaho, Daniel Alexander finished with a career-high 22 points and hit six threes in the game ... Killian Larson scored 14 and grabbed 20 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season ... Garrison finished with 26 points on 10-22 shooting ... Grand Canyon will now return home for its final two home games of the regular season. GCU will host Kansas City on Feb. 27 and Chicago State on March 1. Both games will tip at GCU Arena at 7 p.m.
Idaho Vandals (12-16, 5-8 WAC)
Idaho went a perfect 2-0 last week ... the Vandals stepped out of conference to defeat Cal State Northridge 96-89 before taking down Grand Canyon 83-77 ... in the win over Northridge, Connor Hill finished with 28 points, one shy of his career-high, and one shy of Mike Hall’s school-record nine 3-pointers in a game ... Stephen Madison quietly scored 21 points and added eight rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block ... in the win over Grand Canyon, Madison scored his number, 34 points, on senior night ... Madison was an efficient 12-for-15 from the field and 9-for-10 at the free throw line and added six rebounds, two assists and a block ... freshman Sekou Wiggs finished with 16 points for Idaho, senior Glen Dean had 10 and senior Joe Kammerer added five rebounds ... Idaho visits Seattle U on March 1 then wraps up the regular season at Chicago State on March 6 and Kansas City on March 8.
Kansas City Kangaroos (8-18, 5-8 WAC)
Kansas City went 1-1 last week at home ... the team dropped a 74-69 decision to Bakersfield before defeating WAC leader Utah Valley 74-56 on Saturday ... against Bakersfield, Martez Harrison finished with a crazy stat line for UMKC, earning his first career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, to go with seven assists and three steals ... Isaac Kreuer also set a career-best with 11 points, while Trinity Hall and Nelson Kirksey finished with 13 and 12, respectively ... in the win over UVU, Harrison, the eighth-leading freshman scorer in the nation, had the hot hand in the first half, coming off the bench to score 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting ... Harrison finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals, all UMKC highs, while Kirksey was the only other in double figures ... UMNKC plays its final road game of the regular season at Grand Canyon on Thursday.
New Mexico State Aggies (21-8, 10-3 WAC)
New Mexico State defeated Texas-Pan American 78-61 at home last week in the team’s long contest of the week ... Daniel Mullings scored a team-high 18 points shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line ... sophomore center Sim Bhullar was too much for the Broncs in the middle as he added 15 points going 7-of-8 from the field and the Aggies as a team posted 36 points in the paint ... NM State finished the game shooting 68 percent as a team, after shooting 80 percent in the second half ... the Aggies dished out 18 assists with Mullings leading that category dropping six dimes, while junior KC Ross-Miller added five assists ... the Aggies head to Orem, Utah to take on co-WAC leader Utah Valley on Feb. 27 ... the team then heads to Bakersfield to take on the Roadrunners on Saturday.
Seattle U Redhawks (12-13, 4-8 WAC)
In a game that featured 15 lead changes and 18 ties, Seattle University could not convert on its final offensive possession, as Grand Canyon held on for a 74-73 victory last Thursday, Feb. 20, at KeyArena ... Isiah Umipig notched his fourth 30-point game of the season, collecting 30 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including 6-of-11 from behind the three-point line, and 8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line ... D’Vonne Pickett Jr. made his first appearance in the starting lineup this season and finished with eight points and five assists, while Jack Crook also scored eight points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds ... despite the loss, Seattle U is still alive for as high as the third seed in the WAC Tournament ... the Redhawks conclude the home portion of the 2013-14 regular season with games against Chicago State (Feb. 27) and Idaho (March 1) at KeyArena.
Texas-Pan American Broncs (8-20, 4-9 WAC)
Texas-Pan American dropped a 78-61 decision at home to New Mexico State in the team’s lone contest of the week ... Javorn Farrell led three Broncs in double-figures scoring with 19 points ... Shaquille Hines scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting with five rebounds (four offensive) ... Lauri Toivonen tied his career-high with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including his first-career three, plus 2-of-2 from the line ... the Broncs shot a season-best 93.8 percent (15-for-16) from the foul line ... the Broncs are back in action on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. when they visit Bakersfield ... the team then travels to Orem, Utah to take on Utah Valley on Saturday.
Utah Valley Wolverines (16-10, 10-3 WAC)
Utah Valley fell into a tie with New Mexico State at 10-3 in WAC play after splitting games on its Midwest road trip last week ... the Wolverines defeated Chicago State, 79-70, on Thursday before getting knocked off at Kansas City on Saturday, 74-56 ... UVU and NM State will face off in a game that could decide the WAC regular season champion on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. MT at the UCCU Center ... against Chicago State, four players reached double figures led by 18 from Holton Hunsaker, who hit all 10 of his attempts from the foul line ... in the loss at UMKC, Hunsaker led UVU with 17 points with Hayes Garrity scoring 16 off the bench. Utah Valley will play its final three regular season games at home; following the NM State game on Thursday, Texas-Pan American will be in town on Saturday with the season finale on Friday, March 7 against Bakersfield.
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. 17-23. The honor marks his fifth WAC player of the week award of the season.
Madison, a senior forward from Portland, Ore. (Jefferson HS), led Idaho to a pair of wins last week, averaging 27.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 68.0 percent from the field. The two wins put Idaho in position to earn as high as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming WAC tournament.
Madison celebrated his senior day with 34 points on 12-of-15 shooting (80.0 percent) while making 9-of-10 free throws, leading the Vandals to an 83-77 win over Grand Canyon. It was his third 30-plus point outing of the season. Madison’s 34 points Saturday leave him with 1,495 in his career and he is now in position to become Idaho’s fourth 1,500 point scorer and could finish as high as second in Idaho’s career points list. His 12 made field goals against GCU are the fourth most by a WAC player in a game this season, while his 34 points also rank fourth behind his 42 and 35 point performances earlier this season.
Madison scored 21 points with eight rebounds and four assists in a 96-88 non-conference win over Cal State Northridge earlier in the week. He shot 50 percent (5-of-10) from the field and hit 10-of-13 free throws in the game. He also recorded an assist and a block in the win.
Other nominees included: Bakersfield senior guard Issiah Grayson averaged 17.5 points as CSUB went 1-1 on the road ... Chicago State junior guard Clarke Rosenberg … Grand Canyon junior guard Jerome Garrison … Kansas City freshman guard Martez Harrison … New Mexico State junior guard Daniel Mullings … Seattle U guard Isiah Umipig … Texas-Pan American graduate guard Javorn Farrell … Utah Valley freshman forward Zach Nelson.
MADISON WINS WAC-RECORD FIFTH WEEKLY HONOR OF THE SEASON, LONE PLAYER IN THE NATION TO LEAD HIS TEAM IN SIX STATISTICAL CATEGORIES
Idaho senior forward Stephen Madison became the first player in WAC history to earn five WAC Player of the Week honors. Madison breaks the previous record of four honors, held by Nevada’s Nick Fazekas and Louisiana Tech’s Paul Millsap, both of whom earned four during the 2005-06 season. Madison is the only player in the country to lead his team in scoring (19.8 ppg.), rebounding (7.7 rpg.), field goal percentage (.484), steals (0.96 spg.), assists (65), and minutes played (34.64).
NEW MEXICO STATE RANKED NO. 10 IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR POLL, UTAH VALLEY AMONG OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
After defeating Texas-Pan American 78-61 on the road last week, New Mexico State jumps up one spot to No. 10 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. The Aggies received 477 points and are sandwiched between Indiana State at No. 9 and Mercer at No. 11. Utah Valley is receiving one point in the poll.
WAC REGULAR SEASON TITLE ON THE LINE THURSDAY
In what will be the closest thing you can get to a regular season championship game, Utah Valley and New Mexico State, both with 10-3 WAC records, will play on Thursday in Orem, Utah. The winner will take a game advantage with only two game remaining for each team.
UVU’S HUNSAKER NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
Senior Holton Hunsaker received an unprecedented honor for the Utah Valley University men’s basketball program when he was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I second team on Thursday. He is the first men’s basketball player at UVU and just the second Wolverine athlete to be named Academic All-America®. Baseball’s Billy Burgess was named to the third team in 2012. Hunsaker is also the first men’s basketball player from a Division I program in Utah to be named Academic All-America since Hanno Mottola of Utah in 1999.
WAC TOURNAMENT SET FOR MARCH 12-15 AT ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS
The 2014 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the fourth year in a row. This year’s tournament includes eight men’s and eight women’s teams and will be held Wednesday-Saturday, March 12-15. (Due to Grand Canyon’s transition from Division II to Division I, it is ineligible for the NCAA and WAC postseason tournaments). Ticket information is available at www.WACSports.com.