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NM STATE'S SIAKAM NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State sophomore forward Pascal Siakam has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 9-15. This is his first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and the third of his career.
The Doula, Cameroon, native averaged 25.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks as the Aggies went 1-1 on the week. In a season-opening win over Houston Baptist, he finished with a career-high 28 points on 67 percent shooting and recorded his eighth career double-double as he added 11 rebounds to go with three blocks. Siakam followed it up with 23 points, eight boards and four blocks in a loss to New Mexico Sunday. After the first week of play, Siakam leads the WAC in scoring, blocked shots and minutes per game.
Other nominees included: Kevin Mays of CSU Bakersfield finished with 17 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal in a win over San Diego Christian ... Chicago State's Trayvon Palmer had 17 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals in a rout of Illinois Tech ... De'Andre Davis of Grand Canyon tallied 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in a win over Portland State ... Missouri-Kansas City's LaVell Boyd averaged 18.0 points on 81.3 percent shooting, 2.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds as the ‘Roos went 1-1 on the week ... Brendan Westendorf of Seattle U averaged 13.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals over two games ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Shaquille Hines finished with 18 points and six rebounds in a loss at Miami (Fla.) ... Konner Frey of Utah Valley averaged 18.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocks as the Wolverines went 1-1 on the week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
CSU Bakersfield leads the WAC in scoring margin (24.0), field goal percentage (59.7), field goal percentage defense (37.0), assists (29.0) and assist-turnover ratio (2.64), and is tied with NM State for the lead in blocks (5.0). Chicago State is tops in scoring (100.5), steals (17.5) and turnover margin (11.5). Grand Canyon leads the WAC in free throw percentage (82.5), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.0) and offensive rebounds (19.0), while NM State is tops in rebounding defense (31.0) and rebounding margin (9.5). Missouri-Kansas City leads the WAC in three-pointers per game (9.5) and is tied with Seattle U for the lead in scoring defense (67.5). The Redhawks are tops in rebounding (47.5), while UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (41.9) and Utah Valley is tops in defensive rebounds (35.5).
Individually, NM State's Pascal Siakam leads the WAC in scoring (25.5), blocked shots (3.5) and minutes per game (35.5), while Seattle U's Brendan Westendorf is tops in rebounding (10.5) and defensive rebounds (9.5). Kevin Mays of CSU Bakersfield leads the league in field goal percentage (100.0) and offensive rebounds (5.0), while teammate Brent Wrapp is tops in assist-turnover ratio (8.0) and is tied with teammate Dedrick Basile for the lead in assists (8.0). UT Rio Grande Valley's Shaquille Hines and Chicago State's Jawad Adekoya lead the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (80.0), while Missouri-Kansas City's LaVell Boyd is tops in three-pointers per game (4.5). Eleven players have perfect free throw percentages, while five players lead the WAC with 4.0 steals per game.
CHICAGO STATE BREAKS TWO RECORDS, TIES ANOTHER AGAINST IIT
CSU broke two school records and tied another record in last Friday's home-opening win over Illinois Tech. The Green and White scored 137 points on 56 made field goals to beat the previous records of 131 points and 51 made field goals that were set nearly 20 years ago. The Cougars also tied the school record for steals in a game (26).
UMKC'S BOYD TIES PROGRAM RECORD FOR SCORING IN A DEBUT
Missouri-Kansas City junior guard LaVell Boyd tied the program record for most points in a debut when he scored 25 points at Minnesota last Friday in the season opener. Dominique Johnson also had 25 in 2006. Boyd's seven three-pointers in that game were also the most for a UMKC player since Reggie Chamberlain hit seven in January of 2012.
NM STATE'S MENZIES NINTH ON WAC WINS CHART
With a win over Houston Baptist on Nov. 13, NM State head coach Marvin Menzies moved into sole possession of ninth place on the WAC's all-time wins chart with 176 victories. He was previously tied with Bob King of New Mexico (1962-72) with 175.