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NM STATE'S BAKER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State junior guard Ian Baker has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 18-24. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Washington, D.C., native averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as the Aggies picked up a pair of road wins, including a double overtime victory at CSU Bakersfield, a team that was previously unbeaten in WAC play and hadn't lost at home since Feb. 7, 2015. Baker opened the week with 15 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line, to go with two rebounds and two assists in a win at Seattle U. On Saturday, he grabbed his career-high 10th rebound with less than seven seconds left in the second overtime, brought it up the floor and buried a 28-foot three-pointer as the horn sounded to give the Aggies a 68-67 victory before a sold out crowd at the Icardo Center. Baker posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 boards to go along with six assists in the victory. The WAC leader and 32nd-best free throw shooter in the nation at 87.1 percent (61-of-70), Baker was 11-of-11 from the charity stripe in the week. He has made 13 straight free throws and 24 of his last 25 attempts at the line.
Other nominees included: Aly Ahmed of CSU Bakersfield averaged 14.0 points and 11.0 rebounds as the Roadrunners went 1-1 on the week ... Chicago State's Trayvon Palmer averaged 13.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 blocks over three games last week ... Joshua Braun of Grand Canyon averaged 25.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal as the Lopes extended their winning streak to 11 games ... Seattle U's Brendan Westendorf averaged 13.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds as the Redhawks went 1-1 on the week ... Dakota Slaughter of UT Rio Grande Valley averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal over two games last week ... Utah Valley's Konner Frey averaged 18.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists to lead the Wolverines to their first conference road sweep since 2014.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Grand Canyon leads the WAC in scoring (80.8), scoring margin (10.9), field goal percentage (48.0), three-point field goal percentage (39.9) and assist-turnover ratio (1.28), while NM State is tops in field goal percentage defense (40.2), rebounding (42.0), rebounding defense (31.5), rebounding margin (10.5) and defensive rebounds (29.05). CSU Bakersfield leads the WAC in scoring defense (64.2), blocks (5.15), assists (16.0) and turnover margin (2.15), while
Utah Valley is tops in free throw percentage (73.8), three-point field goal percentage defense (31.4) and three-pointers per game (8.5). Chicago State leads the WAC in steals (8.13) and offensive rebounds (13.35).
Individually, NM State's Pascal Siakam leads the WAC in scoring (22.1), rebounding (11.7), blocked shots (2.14), offensive rebounds (4.05), defensive rebounds (7.67) and minutes per game (35.48). Grand Canyon's Grandy Glaze is tops in field goal percentage (63.8), while teammates DeWayne Russell and Joshua Braun lead the WAC in assists (5.85) and three-point field goal percentage (48.1), respectively. NM State's Ian Baker is tops in free throw percentage (87.1), while Seattle U's Manroop Clair leads the league in three-pointers per game (3.06). CSU Bakersfield's Dedrick Basile and Brent Wrapp are tops in steals (1.90) and assist-turnover ratio (2.81), respectively.
In WAC games only, CSUB leads the league in scoring defense (61.2), scoring margin (13.4), field goal percentage defense (38.9), rebounding defense (32.0) and turnover margin (2.8), while NMSU is tops in rebounding (42.8), rebounding margin (9.0), blocks (6.3), offensive rebounds (14.0) and defensive rebounds (28.83). Grand Canyon leads the WAC in scoring (87.2), field goal percentage (49.0), three-point field goal percentage (45.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.78), while Utah Valley is tops in free throw percentage (82.1), assists (17.6) and three-pointers per game (11.6). Seattle U leads the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (30.3) and Chicago State is tops in steals (7.67).
Individually in WAC games, Braun leads the WAC in scoring (25.4), while Siakam is tops in rebounding (11.8), offensive rebounds (4.33) and defensive rebounds (7.5). Glaze leads the league in field goal percentage (64.6), while Russell is tops in assists (6.2) and assist-turnover ratio (5.17). Baker leads the WAC in free throw percentage (95.2), while Basile is tops in steals (2.60) and Hollins is tops in blocks (3.0). Utah Valley's Konner Frey leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (52.6), while teammate Jaden Jackson is tops in three-pointers per game (3.6) and minutes per game (36.4).
CSU BAKERSFIELD HAS FIRST SELLOUT SINCE 1993
A sellout crowd of 3,880 fans attended the double-overtime, buzzer-beating defeat at the hands of NM State, 68-67, on Jan. 23. The sellout was the third in CSUB's history and just the first since it happened twice in 1993.
GRAND CANYON SURPASSES LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
With wins at Missouri-Kansas City and Chicago State last week, Grand Canyon improved to 18-2 on the season, surpassing last year's win total of 17 with a minimum of 10 games remaining. The Lopes have the second-best winning percentage in the NCAA (90.0) and are one of only two teams with 18 wins in the country.
UTAH VALLEY MAKES 15 THREE-POINTERS TWICE THIS SEASON
Utah Valley made 15 three-pointers in Saturday's win at Chicago State. It was the second time the team has tallied 15 made treys in a single game this season as the Wolverines also did it on Jan. 9 against UT Rio Grande Valley. The win over the Cougars also gave Utah Valley its first conference road sweep since 2014 as the Wolverines also defeated UMKC on Thursday night.
CSUB'S HOLLINS SETS GAME, SEASON BLOCKS RECORDS
CSU Bakersfield junior Justin Hollins tied the all-time program single-game record with six blocked shots in only 18 minutes played at Seattle U on Jan. 16. He is the first CSUB player to do so at the Division I level. Hollins now has 37 blocks on the season, breaking the previous CSUB Division I record of 31 and 20 shy of the all-time record. As a team, the Roadrunners have 103 blocks on the season, three shy of the CSUB Division I single-season record.
GRAND CANYON RANKED NO. 10 IN MID-MAJOR TOP 25
In the Jan. 25 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, Grand Canyon was ranked No. 10. The Antelopes currently have the best RPI of all WAC teams at 94 and are riding an 11-game winning streak. NM State (3) and CSU Bakersfield (1) are also receiving votes in the poll.
NM STATE BOASTS 30-GAME WAC HOME WINNING STREAK
NM State is currently riding a 30-game WAC home winning streak, as the Aggies' last WAC home loss was on Jan. 26, 2012, to Nevada. NM State is 2-0 at the Pan American Center in WAC play this season, went 7-0 in 2014-15, 8-0 in 2013-14, 9-0 in 2012-13 and 4-0 to close out the 2011-12 season.
UTRGV HAS FIVE PLAYERS AVERAGING DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING
UT Rio Grande Valley currently has five players averaging double-digit scoring - Shaquille Hines (13.7), Antonio Green (12.0), J.J. Thompson (11.8), Dakota Slaughter (11.8) and Dan Kimasa (10.0). The Vaqueros are one of only nine teams in the NCAA with five or more players averaging double-figures in scoring. The others are Iowa State (six), Hofstra, Maryland, Nevada, North Florida, Siena, South Carolina and SMU. Of those teams, the Vaqueros are one of two (Hofstra) to have all five of their starters averaging double-figures in scoring and the only one with three newcomers averaging double-figures in scoring (Green, Thompson and Slaughter).
CSUB POSTS LONGEST ROAD WIN STREAK EVER AS A DIVISION I PROGRAM
CSU Bakersfield has won four-straight road games for the first time as a Division I program and for the first time since the 2007-08 season, its final year as a Division II program. At 14-6 and with a minimum of 10 games remaining, CSUB has matched its win total from a year ago when it went 14-19.
GRAND CANYON POSTS LONGEST WIN STREAK AT DIVISION I LEVEL
With a pair of wins last week, Grand Canyon extended its win streak to 11 games. It is the Lopes' longest winning streak since transitioning to Division I.
UTRGV'S GREEN NATION'S SECOND-BEST FRESHMAN THREE-POINT SHOOTER
UT Rio Grande Valley freshman Antonio Green currently ranks second in the NCAA in three-point shooting by a freshman at 41.2 (47-of-114). Overall, Green ranks 61st in the NCAA and third in the WAC.
NM STATE'S MENZIES EIGHTH ON WAC WINS CHART
With wins over Seattle U and CSU Bakersfield last week, NM State head coach Marvin Menzies is now eighth on the all-time WAC victories chart with 95 wins. He also ranks third in WAC winning percentage (.720) and ninth in overall wins (188).