United Athletic Conference

WAC Men's Basketball Weekly Release - March 10

UTAH VALLEY'S NELSON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley sophomore forward Zach Nelson has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of March 2-8. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.

The Yuba City, Calif., native finished with a career-high 29 points to go along with nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks in a win over Bakersfield in the Wolverines' only game last week. He shot on 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the field and a blazing 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from three-point range. He also knocked down 6-of-6 shots at the charity stripe. The seven three-pointers is one shy of the Utah Valley single-game record and was a career high for Nelson.

Other nominees included: Chicago State's Clarke Rosenberg finished with 21 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals in a loss at New Mexico State ... Royce Woolridge of Grand Canyon tallied 28 points on 80 percent shooting to go with four rebounds and two steals in a win over Seattle U ... Missouri-Kansas City's Reese Holliday finished with 15 points and six rebounds in a loss at Texas-Pan American ... Tshilidzi Nephawe of New Mexico State averaged 16.0 points on 55 percent shooting and 10.0 rebounds in a pair of wins last week ... UTPA's Shaquille Boga averaged 18.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists as the Broncs went 1-1 on the week.

ALL-WAC HONORS ANNOUNCED
The 2014-15 All-WAC teams have been named, following a vote of the WAC's eight head coaches. Missouri-Kansas City's Martez Harrison headlines the awards, earning WAC Player of the Year honors, while New Mexico State's Pascal Siakam was named WAC Freshman of the Year and New Mexico State's Marvin Menzies earned Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year honors.

In WAC play, Harrison led the conference in scoring (17.5), ranked fourth in steals (1.57), fifth in assist-turnover ratio (1.85), sixth in assists (3.57) and ninth in three-pointers per game (1.64). He scored in double digits in all but one WAC contest and had 20 or more points in five of his 14 WAC games. He was also named WAC Player of the Week on Nov. 17. Only a sophomore, Harrison is the first player in UMKC history to be named Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in his career.

Siakam earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors after scoring in double figures in 12 of 14 WAC games with four double-doubles. In conference games only, he led the WAC in rebounding (8.4) and field goal percentage (61.5), ranked second in blocks (1.57), fifth in free throw percentage (82.3), sixth in scoring (13.9) and seventh in minutes per game (34.5). He was twice named WAC Player of the Week on the season.

Menzies was named WAC Coach of the Year after leading the Aggies to their first-ever outright WAC regular-season title with a 13-1 league record. New Mexico State posted a 14.2 scoring margin in WAC games and ranks in the Top 50 nationally in seven statistical categories.

First Team All-WAC
Aly Ahmed, Bakersfield
Martez Harrison, UMKC
Daniel Mullings, New Mexico State
Pascal Siakam, New Mexico State
Isiah Umipig, Seattle U

Second Team All-WAC
Remi Barry, New Mexico State
Jarell Flora, Seattle U
Janari Joesaar, UTPA
Tshilidzi Nephawe, New Mexico State
DeWayne Russell, Grand Canyon

All-Defensive Team
Jerome Garrison, Grand Canyon
Dan Kimasa, UTPA
Kevin Mays, Bakersfield
Daniel Mullings, New Mexico State
Pascal Siakam, New Mexico State

All-Newcomer Team
Josh Braun, Grand Canyon
Reese Holliday, UMKC
Janari Joesaar, UTPA
DeWayne Russell, Grand Canyon
Pascal Siakam, New Mexico State

Player of the Year: Martez Harrison, Missouri-Kansas City
Freshman of the Year: Pascal Siakam, New Mexico State
Don Haskins Coach of the Year: Marvin Menzies, New Mexico State

WAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2015 WAC Basketball Tournament returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the fifth year in a row. The tournament will be held March 11-14, and includes all seven eligible men's and women's teams.

ESPNU TO TELEVISE WAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
ESPN will once again broadcast the WAC men's and women's tournament championship games from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on March 14. The women's game will be broadcast on ESPNU at 1 p.m. (PT). The men's championship game will also be broadcast by ESPNU at 8 p.m. (PT).

NEW MEXICO STATE WINS FIRST OUTRIGHT WAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
When it defeated Grand Canyon on Feb. 21, New Mexico State won its first-ever outright WAC regular-season title. It is the Aggies' second WAC regular-season title overall, as they shared it with three other teams in 2007-08. NM State last won an outright conference championship in 1993-94 when the Aggies won the Big West regular-season title. NM State has also clinched the No. 1 seed for the WAC Tournament.

WAC STAT LEADERS
New Mexico State leads the WAC in scoring defense (59.5), scoring margin (9.0), field goal percentage (46.5), three-point field goal percentage defense (29.4), rebounding (35.7), rebounding defense (28.7), rebounding margin (6.9), blocks (3.65) and offensive rebounds (12.71). Seattle U is tops in field goal percentage defense (40.2), three-point field goal percentage (39.0), assists (13.89), defensive rebounds (24.21) and three-pointers per game (7.11), while Grand Canyon leads the WAC in scoring (68.6) and assist-turnover ratio (1.07). Bakersfield leads the league in free throw percentage (72.2), Chicago State is tops in steals (8.19) and Missouri-Kansas City leads the WAC in turnover margin (2.65).

Individually, Missouri-Kansas City's Martez Harrison leads the WAC in scoring (17.8) and steals (1.87), while New Mexico State's Pascal Siakam is tops in field goal percentage (58.0), blocks (1.77) and offensive rebounds (3.42). Kevin Mays of Bakersfield leads the league in rebounding (8.0), while teammates Brent Wrapp and Aly Ahmed are tops in assist-turnover ratio (2.59) and defensive rebounds (5.0), respectively. Marcel Davis of Utah Valley is tops in assists (4.14), while teammate Donte Williams leads the WAC in free throw percentage (81.9). Ian Baker of New Mexico State is tops in three-point percentage (47.4), Seattle U's Isiah Umipig leads the WAC in three-pointers per game (3.64) and UTPA's Janari Joesaar leads the league in minutes per game (34.93).

In WAC games only, New Mexico State led the league in scoring defense (52.8), scoring margin (14.2), field goal percentage (47.8), field goal percentage defense (38.9), three-point field goal percentage defense (28.4), rebounding (35.1), rebounding defense (26.1), rebounding margin (9.0), blocks (3.86) and defensive rebounds (23.43). Grand Canyon was tops scoring (70.6), free throw percentage (77.4), assist-turnover ratio (1.34) and three-pointers per game (7.14), while Chicago State led the league in steals (7.0) and offensive rebounds (12.64).
UMKC was tops in turnover margin (3.71), Seattle U led the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (37.7) and Utah Valley was tops in assists (13.71).

Individually in WAC games, Harrison was tops in scoring (17.5), while Siakam led the league in rebounding (8.4), field goal percentage (61.5) and offensive rebounds (3.57). Grand Canyon's DeWayne Russell led the WAC in assists (4.64), while Joesaar was tops in free throw percentage (90.4) and minutes per game (36.43). Seattle U's Emerson Murray led the league in steals (1.79), while Umipig was tops in three-pointers per game (3.0) Chicago State's Trayvon Palmer led the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (48.4), while UTPA's Dan Kimasa was tops in blocks (1.71). Wrapp led the league in assist-turnover ratio (3.67), while New Mexico State's Tshilidzi Nephawe was tops in defensive rebounds (5.31).

NM STATE'S 11-GAME WIN STREAK TIED FOR THIRD NATIONALLY
New Mexico State's 11-game winning streak is tied with Duke for the third-longest active winning streak in Division I. Kentucky is first with 31 straight, with Villanova next with a 12-game streak. It is the second-longest win streak in the Marvin Menzies era at NM State behind the 12-game win streak in 2013 and the third-longest win streak since NM State joined the WAC (13-game win streak in 2006-07).

SEATTLE U'S UMIPIG CLIMBING WAC SINGLE-SEASON THREE-POINTERS RECORD
Seattle U senior Isiah Umipig currently ranks tied for seventh all-time in the WAC single-season record books with 102 three-pointers. He is four shy of a tie for fifth place and 23 away from the record of 125. Umipig set the Seattle U single-season record with 106 last year.

UTPA'S JOESAAR FINISHES WAC PLAY IN TOP 15 FOR FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
Texas-Pan American sophomore Janari Joesaar finished WAC play with a 90.4 free throw percentage. That mark ranks 14th all-time in WAC history.

NEW MEXICO STATE WINS 28TH STRAIGHT WAC GAME AT HOME
After defeating Chicago State on March 7, New Mexico State has now won 28 straight WAC games at the Pan American Center, dating back to Jan. 26, 2012. The Aggies are also 51-4 in their last 55 games at the Pan American Center and have had three home winning streaks of 11 games or more since the 2011-12 season.

MULLINGS MOVES INTO SIXTH PLACE IN NM STATE CAREER SCORING
New Mexico State senior Daniel Mullings moved into sixth place on the NM State career scoring list on Jan. 31 against Texas-Pan American. He currently has 1,648 career points, three shy of fifth place and 214 away from the record of 1,862 held by Eric Channing (1998-02).

UMKC POSTS BEST-EVER CONFERENCE HOME RECORD
When it defeated Utah Valley and Grand Canyon last week, Missouri-Kansas City improved its WAC home record to 6-1, the best home conference mark in school history. The Kangaroos' previous best home record in league games was a 6-2 mark in the Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League) in 2004-05.

SEATTLE U POSTS BEST CONFERENCE HOME RECORD SINCE 1976-77
Seattle U closed out its home portion of WAC play with a 6-1 record. It was the most home conference wins as a Division I program since it had six as a member of the West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC) in 1976-77.

NM STATE'S NEPHAWE JOINS 1,000 POINT CLUB, MOVES INTO TOP 10 IN REBOUNDING
New Mexico State senior Tshilidzi Nephawe became the 32nd player in Aggie history to score 1,000 career points with a free throw in the first half at Grand Canyon on Feb. 21. Nephawe currently has 1,040 career points. He has also moved into seventh place in career rebounding at NM State with 743 career boards.

UMKC'S HARRISON JOINS 1,000 POINT CLUB
Missouri-Kansas City sophomore guard Martez Harrison scored his 1,000th career point on a three-pointer with 10:41 left in the game at Bakersfield on Feb. 21, becoming the 10th UMKC player to join the 1,000-point club (1,066). He is also the fourth fastest player to do it, accomplishing the feat in 58 games.

SEATTLE U'S UMIPIG SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
Seattle U's senior Isiah Umipig hit a three-pointer with 10:41 remaining in the second half against Chicago State on Feb. 21 to move him past the 1,000-point mark for his Seattle U career. He became the 36th player to achieve that total in Seattle U history and just the 13th SU player to reach that milestone in the span of two seasons or less. Umipig now has 1,052 points.

UTPA'S KIMASA CLIMBING BLOCK CHARTS
Texas-Pan American freshman Dan Kimasa set the freshman record for blocks in a season on Feb. 19 at Grand Canyon. He currently has 42 blocks, good for a tie for fourth all-time in the UTPA single-season record books, four shy of third place.

NM STATE'S SIAKAM CLIMBING SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS CHART
New Mexico State redshirt freshman Pascal Siakam recorded five blocks against Chicago State on March 7, the third time he has blocked that many in a game this season. He now has a WAC-leading 55, tied for the fourth-most in a single season in NM State history and three shy of third place (58).

UMKC'S HARRISON'S 43-GAME DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING STREAK SNAPPED
Missouri-Kansas City sophomore guard Martez Harrison saw his 43-game double-digit scoring streak come to an end on Feb. 14 at Chicago State when he finished with nine points. Harrison's streak was good for second place all-time at UMKC. He has reached double-digit scoring in 58 of his 61 career games as a Kangaroo.

UTPA'S JOESAAR POSTS 12TH 20-POINT GAME
Texas-Pan American sophomore Janari Joesaar posted his WAC-leading 12th 20-point game this season against Seattle U on Feb. 14, finishing with 23.

UMKC SURPASSES WIN TOTAL FROM LAST YEAR
Missouri-Kansas City surpassed its win total from a year ago with a 61-50 road win at Chicago State on Feb. 14. The ‘Roos now have 13 wins this season, the most since the 2010-11 season when they won 16 games.

UTPA'S BOGA NABS 100TH CAREER STEAL
At the 6:54 mark in the second half at Chicago State on Feb. 7, Texas-Pan American senior Shaquille Boga nabbed his 100th career steal. The guard now has 105 steals on his career, 11 shy of the all-time program Top 10 list.

SEATTLE U SETS RECORD FOR POINTS ALLOWED TWICE IN TWO WEEKS
For the second time in the span of two weeks, Seattle U held an opponent to a historically low point total, allowing just 31 points in its Feb. 21 win over Chicago State. Seattle U prevented the Cougars from scoring a single point over a 16-minute stretch that spanned the end of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half. It is the lowest point total accumulated by a Division I opponent in the history of the Seattle U program, besting the previous mark of 33 points established two weeks prior by Utah Valley in Seattle U's 55-33 win over the Wolverines.

UMKC'S HARRISON DISHES OUT 200TH CAREER ASSIST
Missouri-Kansas City point guard Martez Harrison dished out his 200th career assist at the 12:17 mark of the second half in a win over Utah Valley on Jan. 31. The sophomore now has 233 dimes in his two-year career at UMKC.

BAKERSFIELD'S MAYS HAS 11 GAMES WITH 10 OR MORE REBOUNDS
With 12 rebounds at Seattle U on Feb. 28, Bakersfield's Kevin Mays now has a WAC-leading 11 games with 10 or more rebounds this season. He is currently averaging a WAC-best 8.0 boards per game. He has 240 rebounds this season, 36 shy of the CSUB single-season Divison I record of 276 held by Rashad Savage (2010-11).

SEATTLE U'S UMIPIG CLIMBING CAREER THREE-POINTERS CHART
In just his second season with the program, Seattle U's Isiah Umipig currently ranks second all-time on the Seattle U career three-pointers list with 208, 31 shy of the record. The senior currently ranks third in the nation in three-pointers per game (3.64) and fifth in three-pointers made (102).

CSUB'S MAYNOR HITS 200TH CAREER THREE-POINTER
His three-pointer with three seconds remaining in the game against Grand Canyon on Feb. 7 was the 200th of his career for Bakersfield senior Javonte Maynor. In his third season with the Roadrunners, Maynor ranks second all-time with 216 career three-pointers. He trails only Kenny Warren, who hit 278 treys from 1990-94 in Division II.

SEATTLE U'S FLORA PLAYS IN 100TH CAREER GAME
His team's victory over New Mexico State on Jan. 17 was the 100th career game for Seattle U senior Jarell Flora. The guard, who has now played in 111 career games, is in his fifth season with the team, having redshirted the 2010-11 season.

CHICAGO STATE'S ROSENBERG DISHES OUT 200TH CAREER ASSIST
Chicago State senior Clarke Rosenberg dished out his 200th career assist on Jan. 10 at Texas-Pan American. Rosenberg dished to Trayvon Palmer for a three-pointer with 13:54 left in the game and now has 237 assists on his career.

BAKERSFIELD'S CORBIN RECORDS 100TH CAREER ASSIST
Bakersfield senior Tyrell Corbin had one assist at Grand Canyon on Jan. 10, the 100th of his career. In his second season with the Roadrunners, the guard now has 131 assists on his career.

NM STATE'S BAKER HITS GAME-WINNERS IN BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
New Mexico State sophomore Ian Baker hit a pair of game-winning shots in leading NM State to a pair of wins. Baker's layup with 2.2 seconds to play beat Texas Southern 54-52 on Dec. 30, and his three-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining downed UC Irvine 70-67 on Jan. 3. His trey with four seconds to play in regulation tied No. 24 Colorado State on Dec. 27, sending the game to overtime.

GCU'S GARRISON HITS TWO MILESTONES IN SAME WEEK
Grand Canyon senior guard Jerome Garrison hit his 100th career three-pointer on Dec. 17 against Incarnate Word. He followed it up with his 100th career game on Dec. 20 vs. St. Edward's. He closed out his career with 104 career treys and played in 118 career games.

CHICAGO STATE'S ROSENBERG SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
Chicago State senior Clarke Rosenberg became the ninth player in Cougar history to surpass 1,000 career points when he hit a layup with 10:52 remaining in the game at Southern Illinois on Dec. 14. With 1,234 points, Rosenberg ranks sixth all-time in career scoring at Chicago State.

BAKERSFIELD LOSSES COME IN HEARTBREAKING FASHION
Of Bakersfield's 17 losses this season, 12 have been my eight points or less. The Roadrunners have three one-point losses and three two-point losses.

UMKC'S HARRISON HAS WAC'S FIRST 30-POINT GAME IN 2014-15
UMKC point guard Martez Harrison had a career-high 34 points in a double overtime win at Indiana State on Dec. 28. The 34 points are the highest for any player in the WAC this season and the most for a UMKC player since Dane Brumagin scored 35 in February of 2007. It was Harrison's second 30-point output of his career, making him one of just 11 players to score 30 or more points twice in his UMKC career. He tallied 29 of his 34 points after halftime.

CSUB GETS FIRST WAC WIN OVER PAC-12 SCHOOL SINCE 2011-12
Bakersfield defeated California 55-52 in Berkeley on Dec. 28 for the WAC's first win over a Pac-12 school since Dec. 21, 2011, when Fresno State beat Arizona State 68-65. It was also Bakersfield's first-ever win over a Pac-12 school.

UMKC'S SMITH BLOCKS SEVEN SHOTS AGAINST INDIANA STATE
Missouri-Kansas City junior Thaddeus Smith tied a 23-year old school record on Dec. 28 with seven blocks against Indiana State. He matched the program high of Hall of Famer David Robinson, who set it in 1991.

UMKC PLAYS FIRST TRIPLE OVERTIME GAME IN DIVISION I ERA
Missouri-Kansas City played its first triple overtime game in the Division I era (since 1987) and first OT game of Kareem Richardson's career in a Dec. 20 110-104 loss to Incarnate Word. The last triple overtime game for UMKC was in 1982 at the NAIA level. It was also first 100-point game for UMKC since 2007.

UMKC SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR STEALS IN A GAME
Missouri-Kansas City broke the school record for steals in a game with 22 against William Jewell on Nov. 29, besting the previous mark of 18 set in 2003 vs. Oklahoma State. The ‘Roos also forced 33 turnovers, matching the school record set in 2003 against Norfolk State.

BAKERSFIELD PLAYS PROGRAM'S LONGEST GAME
Bakersfield opened the season with a 100-99 quadruple overtime loss to High Point in the first game of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. It was the first time the ‘Runners played a quadruple overtime game, making it their longest contest since Feb. 11, 1989 at Cal State LA.

UMKC BEATS MISSOURI FOR FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Missouri-Kansas City opened the season with a 69-61 win at Missouri, the program's first-ever win over the Tigers in school history (1-3). The victory was also the ‘Roos first over a BCS school since a 2003 victory against Kansas State.

KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
WAC teams had several key non-conference matchups this season, including 27 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament or NIT last season. The complete list is below.

Games vs. 2014 NCAA Tournament Teams

Date	Match-up	Result
Nov. 14	Grand Canyon at Kentucky	L, 45-85
Nov. 14	New Mexico State at Wichita State	L, 54-71
Nov. 17	Missouri-Kansas City at Kansas State	L, 73-83
Nov. 20	Bakersfield at San Diego State	L, 27-51
Nov. 23	Delaware at Bakersfield	W, 70-52
Dec. 3	New Mexico State at New Mexico	L, 47-62
Dec. 3	Missouri-Kansas City at Milwaukee	L, 56-65
Dec. 9	Missouri-Kansas City at Iowa State	L, 56-73
Dec. 9	Utah Valley at Arizona	L, 57-86
Dec. 17	Texas-Pan American at Saint Louis	L, 69-75
Dec. 17	New Mexico State at Baylor	L, 55-66
Dec. 20	New Mexico at New Mexico State	L, 67-69
Dec. 20	Utah Valley at Weber State	L, 61-73
Dec. 23	New Mexico at Grand Canyon	W, 68-65
Dec. 30	Harvard at Grand Canyon	L, 59-72

Games vs. 2014 NIT Teams

Date	Match-up	Result
Nov. 14	Bakersfield vs. High Point	L, 99-100 (4OT)
Nov. 14	Missouri-Kansas City at Missouri	W, 69-61
Nov. 18	New Mexico State at Saint Mary's	L, 71-83
Nov. 24	Chicago State vs. Georgia State	L, 46-69
Nov. 26	Texas-Pan American at Utah	L, 48-85
Dec. 6	Chicago State at Toledo	L, 59-87
Dec. 19	Seattle U at Minnesota	L, 57-92
Dec. 28	Missouri-Kansas City at Indiana State	W, 73-70 (2OT)
Dec. 28	Bakersfield at California	W, 55-52
Dec. 31	Chicago State at Green Bay	L, 50-54
Jan. 3	UC Irvine at New Mexico State	W, 70-67
Jan. 3	Utah Valley at Arkansas	L, 46-79