WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE RECEIVES 13 SEED, WILL FACE NO. 4 SAN DIEGO STATE IN SPOKANE
The 2014 Western Athletic Conference Tournament Champion New Mexico State men’s basketball team takes on No. 4 San Diego State in Spokane, Wash, Thursday, March 20. The Aggies, who enter the tournament as a No. 13 seed, finished with a 26-9 overall record and an automatic bid for winning the conference tournament. This is the third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, while making the ‘Big Dance’ for the 21st time in program history. Head Coach Marvin Menzies has been a part of four tournament appearances. NM State takes on SDSU, who is ranked 8/7, making its school record fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, while coming up with a 29-4 overall record and 16-2 Mountain West Conference record. The Aggies are led by WAC Player of the Year, Daniel Mullings and WAC Tournament MVP Sim Bhullar. Mullings is averaging 16.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and has tallied 64 steals this season. Bhullar is posting 10.3 points and 7.9 boards per contest while coming up with 99 blocks this season.
UTAH VALLEY TRAVELS TO PLAY CAL IN FIRST-EVER NIT APPEARANCE
Utah Valley is set to make its first NIT appearance on Wednesday when it travels to Berkeley, Calif. to face California of the Pac-12. The game will tip at 7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. MT and air on ESPN3. The Wolverines (20-11) are seeded No. 7 in their region -- SMU is the No. 1 seed -- with the Golden Bears (19-13) the second seed. By virtue of its WAC regular season title, the Wolverines (20-11) received the automatic bid to the tournament in just their first season as members of the WAC. It’s also the first season in UVU’s brief NCAA DI era that the Wolverines have competed in a league that holds automatic berths to the NCAA and NIT Tournaments. It will be the second time that Utah Valley has appeared in a postseason tournament at the Division I level. The Wolverines played Weber State in the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
GRAND CANYON TO HOST PACIFIC IN FIRST ROUND OF COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT
Grand Canyon has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and has been tapped to host a first-round game on Wednesday, March 19 against University of the Pacific. Due to the current construction of Grand Canyon University Arena, the first-round CIT game will be played at Antelope Gymnasium at 7 p.m. The game is slated to be broadcast live in Phoenix on Cox7 or streamed online at www.collegeinsider.com. The ‘Lopes, who finished their inaugural run through the Western Athletic Conference with a 15-14 overall record and 10-6 in-conference mark, will join the University of Nebraska-Omaha as the second transitioning school to ever receive a bid to play in the tournament. Pacific went 15-15 overall this season, including a 6-12 mark in West Coast Conference play. The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament is a single-elimination tournament, consisting of five rounds, all games played on on-campus sites, which will be determined by seeding.
NEW MEXICO STATE WINS THIRD STRAIGHT WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
New Mexico State won the 2014 Western Athletic Conference title after defeating Idaho 77-55 in the finals of the WAC Tournament, Saturday, March 15 in the Orleans Arena to three-peat as conference champions. The Aggies are now 5-1 all-time in WAC Championship games and will head to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and for the 21st time in school history. The 2014 WAC Title marks the eighth league tournament title in school history as the Aggie head into the tournament with a 26-9 overall record. Junior guard Daniel Mullings led all scorers with 18 points while also adding four assists, eight rebounds and two steals to lead the Aggies to victory, while sophomore Sim Bhullar, who was named tournament MVP for the second straight year, added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 2-of-3 from the free throw line to go along with nine rebounds, three assists and a block. He finished the tournament averaging 14.0 points per game while grabbing 10.3 rebounds per game and shooting 62.5 percent.
All-Tournament Team
Issiah Grayson, Bakersfield
Holton Hunsaker, Utah Valley
Stephen Madison, Idaho
Daniel Mullings, New Mexico State
MVP: Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State
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.
WAC 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.
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
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-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
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
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 TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners (12-18, 5-11 WAC)
Bakersfield went 1-1 at the WAC Tournament to wrap up its 2013-14 season ... the ‘Runners defeated No. 3 Chicago State 68-62 before falling to eventual champion New Mexico State 69-63 in the semifinals ... Issiah Grayson made 14-of-15 free throw attempts and led all scorers with 29 points in the win over Chicago State ... Aly Ahmed had 15 points and Stefon Johnson helped with 12 ... in the loss to New Mexico State, Grayson scored 33 points to lead all players in the game ... Brandon Barnes was also in double figures with 11 points ... Grayson was named to the WAC’s all-tournament team for his play over the two games.
Chicago State Cougars (13-18, 8-8 WAC)
A late dry spell over the game’s final 10 minutes ended up being the difference in No. 3 seed Chicago State’s 68-62 loss to No. 6 seed Bakersfield on Thursday (March 13) evening in the 2014 Western Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at the Orleans Arena ... Nate Duhon led the Cougars with 19 points and eight rebounds. Junior Clarke Rosenberg finished with 14 points. Gray added nine points on three 3-pointers ... Chicago State shot 21-of-59 (35.6 percent) for the game, while Bakersfield finished 18-of-46 (39.1 percent) from the floor ... the game was the first time this year the Cougars limited an opponent to sub 40 percent shooting and lost ... the Cougars end the 2013-14 season 13-19.
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 ... Grand Canyon has accepted a bid to play in the CollegeInsider.com tournament, which will start on Thursday ... the ‘Lopes will host Pacific at 7 p.m. PT in the first round matchup ... the game will be broadcast live on Cox 7 in Phoenix ... the game will also be available live on CollegeInsider.com.
Idaho Vandals (14-17, 7-9 WAC)
Idaho made a run to the WAC Tournament title game this year ... the Vandals defeated Kansas City 73-70 in the quarterfinals and then advanced to the title game with a 74-69 win over No. 1 seed Utah Valley in the semifinals ... the Vandals fell in the championship game, 77-55, to New Mexico State ... in the win over UMKC in the first round, Stephen Madison scored 26 points and added a career-high 17 rebounds while hitting all 11 of his free throw attempts and three of his five 3-point attempts ... Glen Dean came off the bench and went 4-for-6 from 3-point range and added six assists ... in the win over Utah Valley, Madison scored 25 points for the Vandals and went 8-for-10 at the free throw line, often hearing M-V-P chants from the Vandal faithful when he touched the ball ... Madison again led the Vandals with 17 points and Mike Scott added 14 points for the Vandals ... Madison earned all-tournament team honors.
Kansas City Kangaroos (10-19, 7-9 WAC)
The UMKC men’s basketball squad cut the score to one with 1:23 remaining, but Idaho hit its free throws late and survived a 73-70 WAC Tournament quarterfinal game ... the opening period was what you would expect from the fourth and fifth seeds, with 10 lead changes and tight margins ... the ‘Roos largest lead was six, while the Vandals led by four ... Martez Harrison led the way for UMKC with 18 points and seven assists, while Kirksey tallied 15 points. Fred Chatmon had 12 points and seven boards in his final game as well. Madison had a monster game for the Vandals, tallying 26 points and 17 rebounds ... Kansas City finished its season with a better record than each of the last two seasons, and had its highest seed in the conference tournament since 2006.
New Mexico State Aggies (23-9, 12-4 WAC)
New Mexico State won the 2014 WAC title after defeating Idaho 77-55 in the finals of the WAC Tournament, Saturday, March 15 in the Orleans Arena to three-peat as conference champions ... the Aggies are now 5-1 all-time in WAC Championship games and will head to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and for the 21st time in school history ... the 2014 WAC Title marks the eighth league tournament title in school history as the Aggie head into the tournament with a 26-9 overall record ... NM State takes on No. 5 San Diego State in Spokane, Wash, Thursday, March 20 ... the Aggies, who enter the tournament as a No. 13 seed, finished with a 26-9 overall record and an automatic bid for winning the conference tournament ... it is the third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, while making the ‘Big Dance’ for the 21st time in program history. Head Coach Marvin Menzies has been a part of four tournament appearances.
Seattle U Redhawks (13-16, 5-11 WAC)
The Redhawks matched the New Mexico State Aggies point-for-point for most of the night, but the Aggies were able to pull away late in the second half and then hold off a furious Seattle U comeback to defeat the Redhawks, 70-68, in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament at the Orleans Arena ... Isiah Umipig hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to cut the Aggie lead to one at 68-67 ... NM State then made two free throws, and then New Mexico State fouled Pickett to prevent a three-point shot attempt ... Pickett made the first and intentionally missed the second, with the rebound falling into Powell’s hands, but his putback attempt went off the glass and off the rim, and Bhullar grabbed the rebound as time ran out ... Umipig led the Redhawks with 25 points, including all five of Seattle U’s three-pointers, while Crook notched his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Texas-Pan American Broncs (9-22, 5-11 WAC)
The eighth-seeded University of Texas-Pan American Broncs fell to the top-seeded Utah Valley University Wolverines 83-63 in the WAC Quarterfinals on Thursday at Orleans Arena ... Shaquille Boga led the Broncs with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc ... Hurley Johnson scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 from behind the arc ... Shaquille Hines scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting ... the Broncs shot 45.1 percent (23-for-51) for the game, including 31.6 percent (6-for-19) from behind the arc ... the Broncs wrap up the 2013-14 season with a 9-22 overall record and a 5-11 mark in WAC play.
Utah Valley Wolverines (19-10, 13-3 WAC)
Utah Valley went 1-1 at the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada ... the Wolverines defeated Texas-Pan American 83-63 in the quarterfinals ... Utah Valley set a new WAC Tournament record by shooting 70.5 percent from the field in the game against UTPA ... the previous record was 65.9 percent set by Wyoming in 1986 ... Holton Hunsaker finished with 24 points and Mitch Bruneel added 18 on a perfect 8-for-8 from the field for UVU in the win ... in the semifinal loss to Idaho, Bruneel had his second straight 18-point performance, hitting 7-of-10 from the field. Bruneel was a combined 15-for-18 in the Wolverines’ two tournament contests ... Hunsaker scored 15, Ben Aird added 14 and Zach Nelson pitched in 12. Aird had 11 of his points, and five of his eight rebounds, in the second half ... UVU now travels to play at California on Thursday in the team’s first-ever NIT appearance.