DENVER - Utah Valley senior forward Mitch Bruneel has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 5-11. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Boise, Idaho, native posted his first - and the team's first - double-double of the season in the WAC-opening win over Seattle U on Saturday. Bruneel finished with a career-high 27 points and matched his career high with 11 rebounds. He had 20 of his 27 points in the first half to help Utah Valley build a 38-14 halftime lead, going 7-of-8 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range. Bruneel, who entered the week averaging 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, shot 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the field and 100 percent (3-of-3) from the free throw line on the game.
Other nominees included: Chicago State's Josh Meier finished with 17 points on 67 percent shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and a block in a loss at Texas-Pan American ... DeWayne Russell of Grand Canyon finished with 24 points on 80 percent shooting, a career-high eight assists (and no turnovers), three rebounds and two steals in a win over Bakersfield ... New Mexico State's Remi Barry averaged 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in a pair of wins last week ... Shaquille Boga of Texas-Pan American averaged 23.0 points on 58.6 percent shooting, 2.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in a pair of wins last week.