Tournament Notes
Weekly Notes
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (12-18, 5-11 WAC)
Bakersfield went 0-1 last week, dropping its regular season finale, 64-55, at Utah Valley ... Issiah Grayson led Bakersfield with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 3-of-6 from three-point range while Ahmed added 14 points and eight rebounds while shooting 6-of-11 from the field ... CSUB shot 22-of-55 in the game while holding Utah Valley to just 8-of-25 from the field but couldn’t keep them from scoring with the one-sided free-throw numbers ... the Roadrunners take the No. 6 seed into this week’s WAC Tournament and will face third-seeded Chicago State on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT
Chicago State Cougars (13-18, 8-8 WAC)
Chicago State wrapped up regular season play last week, going 1-1 at home ... the Cougars dropped a 79-76 decision to Idaho before defeating Seattle U, 67-53 ... Matt Ross scored a career high 25 points in the setback to Idaho, and also had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Seattle U ... Chicago State earned the No. 3 seed at this week’s tournament ... it is the highest seed by a Division I team in Illinois in their respective conference tournament this season ... Chicago State’s 13 wins are the fourth most in a season since the Cougars entered NCAA Division I in 1984-85 ... only 1985-86 (22-6), 2008-09 (19-13) and 1984-85 (16-11) have featured more than 12 wins ... the Cougars were independent each of those seasons ... Chicago State will take on No. 6 Bakersfield on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Grand Canyon Antelopes (15-14, 10-6 WAC)
Grand Canyon went 1-1 last week on the road to finish its first season of WAC play ... the ‘Lopes dropped an 81-57 decision at NM State before winning 79-78 in overtime at Texas-Pan American ... Killian Larson earned his 19th and 20th double-doubles of the season, including a 29-point, 16 rebound effort on Saturday in a win over UTPA ... he had 17 rebounds in a loss at NM State on Thursday ... GCU claimed sole possession of third place in the WAC regular season standings ... the team is now eligible for a berth in the CBI or CIT, which will be determined next weekend.
Idaho Vandals (14-17, 7-9 WAC)
Idaho has won four out of its last five games heading into the WAC tournament ... the Vandals won a pair of road games last week, defeating Chicago State 79-76 and at Kansas City 87-80 ... Connor Hill buried 13 3-pointers during the week to bring his season total to 95, just four shy of Idaho’s single-season record ... he went 7-for-9 from 3 in a win at Chicago State then hit 6-of-10 attempts in a win at UMKC in the season finale ... the Vandals will have a rematch against Kansas City less than a week after playing them in the regular season finale ... the Vandals and ‘Roos split the regular season series, with each team winning on the road ... Idaho takes the No. 5 seed into this week’s WAC Tournament and will face No. 4 Kansas City on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
Kansas City Kangaroos (10-19, 7-9 WAC)
Kansas City went 1-1 at home last week ... the ‘Roos defeated Seattle U 82-73 before falling to Idaho, 87-80, in its regular season finale ... Martez Harrison led the ‘Roos with 20 points against Idaho in a loss, while filling the stat sheet with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals against Seattle in a win ... Harrison ranks No. 7 in the nation among freshman in scoring at 17.1 ppg, and leads WAC freshmen ... his current points per game total is first among freshmen in UMKC history as well ... Kansas City earned the league’s No. 4 seed at the upcoming WAC Touranment in Las Vegas ... the ‘Roos will face No. 5 Idaho on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
New Mexico State Aggies (23-9, 12-4 WAC)
New Mexico State defeated Grand Canyon 81-57 in the team’s only game last week ... the win wrapped up regular season play for the Aggies, who finish second place in the WAC with a 12-4 record ... Sim Bhullar posted his third consecutive double-double against the ‘Lopes, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds while adding five assists and two blocks ... the 22 points Bhullar scored that night was a season best ... he averaged 15.0 points and 12.7 rebounds while playing 32.7 minutes per game in the past three games ... on the year, he is averaging 9.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while he has tallied 91 blocks to break the single-season record at NM State ... Bhullar was named to the WAC All-Defensive team on Sunday, as voted on by the leagues’ coaches ... the Aggies take the No. 2 seed into this week’s tournament.
Seattle U Redhawks (13-16, 5-11 WAC)
Seattle U ended the regular season with losses to Kansas City (82-73) and Chicago State (67-53) to finish in a tie for seventh place in the WAC standings ... against Kansas City, Jarell Flora led the Redhawks with 19 points, while Manny Chibuogwu contributed 12 points and six rebounds off the bench ... Flora again led Seattle U in scoring in the regular season finale against Chicago State, scoring 22 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals ... Isiah Umipig was voted Second Team All-WAC as well as to the WAC All-Newcomer Team ... as a team, the Redhawks set a new school record for most made three-pointers (217) and most three-point field goal attempts (636) in a single season, led by Umipig’s 101 three-pointers, the first player in Seattle U history to hit at least 100 three-pointers in a single season ... Seattle U is the No. 7 seed in the WAC Tournament and will face No. 2 New Mexico State on Thursday.
Texas-Pan American Broncs (9-22, 5-11 WAC)
Texas-Pan American went 0-1 last week to close out regular season play, falling 79-78 in overtime at home to Grand Canyon ... a season-high five Broncs reached double-figures in scoring, led by Shaquille Hines, who scored 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, plus a career-high 7-of-9 from the free throw line with 10 rebounds for his third double-double ... junior Shaquille Boga scored 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting, includng a pair of threes ... Hurley Johnson scored a career-high 14 points ... Justin Leathers scored 11 points and Josh Cleveland had 10 ... the Broncs take the No. 8 seed into this week’s WAC Tournament ... UTPA will take on top-seeded Utah Valley on Thursday at noon.
Utah Valley Wolverines (19-10, 13-3 WAC)
Utah Valley clinched the 2013-14 WAC championship outright following a 64-55 win over Bakersfield on Friday night in Orem, Utah ... the Wolverines got 16 points from Holton Hunsaker with Mitch Bruneel scoring seven of his 14 points during a decisive 9-0 run late ... Bruneel hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:34 to go and followed with a layup and later a game-sealing dunk with 28 seconds left ... the regular season title gives the Wolverines the WAC title in their first season in the league and is the third regular season crown in the last four seasons including a pair of Great West Conference championships ... Utah Valley’s league championship is the 28th time a team from the state of Utah has won the WAC regular season.
WAC NOTES
UTAH VALLEY CLINCHES WAC REGULAR SEASON TITLE, EARNS TOP SEED AT TOURNAMENT
Utah Valley clinched the 2013-14 WAC championship outright following a 64-55 win over Bakersfield on Friday night in Orem, Utah. The Wolverines got 16 points from Holton Hunsaker with Mitch Bruneel scoring seven of his 14 points during a decisive 9-0 run late. Bruneel hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:34 to go and followed with a layup and later a game-sealing dunk with 28 seconds left. The regular season title gives the Wolverines the WAC title in their first season in the league and is the third regular season crown in the last four seasons including a pair of Great West Conference championships. Utah Valley’s league championship is the 28th time a team from the state of Utah has won the WAC regular season.
POSTSEASON HONORS ANNOUNCED
The Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball postseason award winners as selected by the league’s nine head coaches were announced today.
All-WAC First Team
Killian Larson, Sr., C, Grand Canyon
Stephen Madison, Sr., F, Idaho
Daniel Mullings, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Ben Aird, Sr., C, Utah Valley
Holton Hunsaker, Sr., G, Utah Valley
All-WAC Second Team
Issiah Grayson, Sr., G, Bakersfield
Quinton Pippen, Sr., G/F, Chicago State
Jerome Garrison, Jr., G, Grand Canyon
Tshilidzi Nephawe, Jr., C, New Mexico State
Isiah Umipig, Jr., G, Seattle U
All-Newcomer Team
Daniel Alexander, Jr., F, Grand Canyon
Martez Harrison, Fr., G, Kansas City
DK Eldridge, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Isiah Umipig, Jr., G, Seattle U
Zach Nelson, Fr., F, Utah Valley
All-Defensive Team
Aly Ahmed, So., C, Bakersfield
Jerome Garrison, Jr., G, Grand Canyon
Sim Bhullar, So., C, New Mexico State
Daniel Mullings, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Mitch Bruneel, Jr., F, Utah Valley
Player of the Year: Daniel Mullings, Jr., G, New Mexico State
Freshman of the Year: Martez Harrison, Fr., G, Kansas City
Don Haskins Coach of the Year: Dick Hunsaker, Utah Valley
VEGAS READY TO HOST WAC TOURNMAENT
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.
IDAHO’S HILL RECEIVES FINAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Idaho’s Connor Hill has been named Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week for March 3-9. Hill, a junior guard from Post Falls, Idaho (Post Falls HS), made 13 three-point field goals over two games last week to bring his season total to 95, just four shy of Idaho’s single-season record. He went 7-for-9 from three in a 79-76 win at Chicago State, and then hit 6-of-10 threes in an 87-80 win at Kansas City. Hill scored 27 points, two shy of his career high, at Chicago State and then followed that up with 24 points in the win at UMKC. He also had a career-high three steals at Chicago State. Over the two games, Hill averaged 25.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the field and knocked down 68.4 percent (13-of-19) of his shots from beyond the arc.
Other nominees included: Chicago State senior forward Matt Ross scored a career-high 25 points against Idaho … Grand Canyon senior center Killian Larson had a two double-doubles … Kansas City senior forward Nelson Kirksey scored 20 points against Idaho … New Mexico State sophomore center Sim Bhullar scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in a win over Grand Canyon … Seattle U junior guard Jarell Flora averaged 20.5 points over two games … Texas-Pan American sophomore forward Shaquille Hines tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime loss … Utah Valley junior forward Mitch Bruneel scored 14 points in a win over Bakersfield.
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.