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GRAND CANYON'S RUSSELL NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon redshirt senior guard DeWayne Russell has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 14-20. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Peoria, Ariz., native averaged 26.5 points, 8.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game over two games last week. He shot 54.1 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from three-point range and 72.7 percent from the free throw line on the week and had a 4.25 assist/turnover ratio. Russell made his season debut against Albany and set a career high with 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting while handing out 10 assists, his sixth career double-digit assist effort. He followed it up with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor and dished out seven more assists in a win over Marist on Sunday.
Other nominees included: Jaylin Airington of CSU Bakersfield averaged 24.5 points and 4.5 rebounds as the Roadrunners went 1-1 last week ... Chicago State's Fred Sims Jr. averaged 21.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals over two games last week ... Martez Harrison of UMKC averaged 20.3 points on 57.1 percent shooting, 3.67 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals as the Roos went 3-0 on the week ... NM State's Sidy N'Dir averaged 16.7 points and 2.3 rebounds as the Aggies went 2-1 on the week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Nick Dawson averaged 17.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 2.0 assists per game last week ... Isaac Neilson of Utah Valley averaged 13.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in a pair of wins last week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
CSU Bakersfield leads the WAC in scoring (79.7), scoring margin (12.3), field goal percentage (48.6), three-point field goal percentage (44.4), rebounding defense (31.0), rebounding margin (1.7), steals (10.0) and three-pointers per game (10.67), and is tied with Utah Valley for the lead in turnover margin (5.67). NM State leads the league in scoring defense (61.8), field goal percentage defense (36.3), three-point field goal percentage defense (22.8), blocks (5.0) and offensive rebounds (14.2). Chicago State is tops in assists (15.67) and assist-turnover ratio (1.21), while Utah Valley leads the WAC in rebounding (42.0) and defensive rebounds (31.67). Seattle U is tops in free throw percentage (80.8).
Individually, CSU Bakersfield's Jaylin Airington leads the WAC in scoring (21.3), while Utah Valley's Isaac Neilson is tops in rebounding (9.7), offensive rebounds (3.33), defensive rebounds (6.33) and blocked shots (1.67). CSUB's Shon Briggs leads the league in field goal percentage (61.9), while Seattle U's Brendan Westendorf is tops in free throw percentage (1.000) and Utah Valley's Kenneth Ogbe leads the WAC in three-point percentage (64.3). Grand Canyon's Shaq Carr leads the WAC in assists (4.75), while UMKC's Martez Harrison is tops in steals (2.4). CSUB's Damiyne Durham leads the league in three-pointers per game (5.0), while teammate Brent Wrapp is tops in assist-turnover ratio (4.5). Grand Canyon's Joshua Braun leads the WAC in minutes per game (36.0).
GCU'S BRAUN SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
Grand Canyon junior Joshua Braun scored his 1,000th career point on a layup at the 4:11 mark of the first half against Albany on Nov. 19. He now has 1,014 career points and becomes the first 1,000 point scorer in the Division I era for the Lopes.
HARRISON BREAKS UMKC CAREER ASSISTS RECORD
UMKC senior guard Martez Harrison became the program's all-time assists leader on Nov. 19 at Bowling Green when he dished out his 378th career assist. Harrison surpassed the 377 of Quinton Day (2005-07). He also ranks second in free throws made (516), third in steals (160) and fourth in scoring (1,639).
CSUB'S DURHAM SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR THREE-POINTERS IN A GAME
CSU Bakersfield's Damiyne Durham broke the program Division I record for three-pointers in a game with eight against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 19. The redshirt sophomore hit 8-of-19 for a .421 clip from behind the arc on the way to scoring a game-high 30 points. Durham accomplished the feat in only 25 minutes played. Durham's 27 field goal attempts tied the CSUB all-time record and his 19 three-point attempts tied the all-time record, as well. As a team, the ‘Runners were one shy of the Division I record for three-pointers made (15) and tied the record of attempted threes with 32.
UVU SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR THREE-POINT ATTEMPTS
Utah Valley tallied a school-record 43 three-point attempts in its game against Benedictine on Nov. 19, as nine different players attempted a long ball. The Wolverines connected on 11 threes in the victory.
CSUB'S AIRINGTON SCORES SECOND-MOST POINTS IN PROGRAM DI HISTORY
CSU Bakersfield redshirt senior Jaylin Airington had a huge game against No. 9 Arizona on Nov. 15, He finished the game with 31 points, the second highest single-game total for a Roadrunner in CSUB's Division I history (33, Issiah Grayson, 2013-14). Twelve of his 18 points came in the second half.
THREE WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO LOU HENSON AWARD WATCH LIST
Three WAC men's basketball players - NM State's Ian Baker, CSU Bakersfield's Dedrick Basile and Grand Canyon's Joshua Braun - have been named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List, given to the nation's top Division I mid-major player.
Baker, a Preseason All-WAC honoree, was a first team All-WAC pick last year after averaging 13.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He also shot 43 percent from the floor.
A Preseason All-WAC selection, Basile helped lead the Roadrunners to their first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance and was named WAC Tournament MVP after hitting a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win the WAC Tournament last year as a junior. He was named second team All-WAC, to the WAC All-Defensive Team and to the WAC All-Newcomer Team after averaging 12.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game last year.
The WAC Preseason Player of the Year, Braun averaged 16.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and led the league in both three-point field goal percentage (41.7) and free throw percentage (87.3) last year as a sophomore. He was also a first team Academic All-American®, was named to the Lou Henson All-America Team and was named to the NABC All-Region 6 Team.
Lou Henson coached for 41 years. When he left the game in 2005, he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is the winningest coach at both Illinois and NM State and is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the five first team All-WAC players in 2015-16, two return for the 2016-17 season in Ian Baker of NM State and Joshua Braun of Grand Canyon. Three one of the five second team honorees return in Dedrick Basile of CSU Bakersfield, Martez Harrison of UMKC and Brendan Westendorf of Seattle U.
Three of the five All-Defensive Team honorees from last year return - Baker, Basile and Westendorf. Meanwhile, three of the five All-Newcomer Team honorees from a year ago return in Basile, Westendorf and LaVell Boyd of UMKC.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
WAC teams have several key non-conference matchups this season, including 30 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament or NIT last season. The complete list is below.
Games vs. 2016 NCAA Tournament Teams
Nov. 11 Grand Canyon at Duke
Nov. 11 Utah Valley at Gonzaga
Nov. 14 Seattle U at Colorado
Nov. 15 CSU Bakersfield at Arizona
Nov. 16 Seattle U at Notre Dame
Nov. 17 Chicago State at Wisconsin
Nov. 20 UT Rio Grande Valley at Iowa
Nov. 21 UMKC vs. Green Bay
Nov. 22 Fresno State at CSU Bakersfield
Nov. 26 Chicago State at Notre Dame
Dec. 3 UMKC at South Dakota State
Dec. 6 UMKC at Kansas
Dec. 6 Utah Valley at Utah
Dec. 14 Grand Canyon at Arizona
Dec. 17 UMKC at West Virginia
Dec. 17 Utah Valley at Weber State
Games vs. 2016 NIT Teams
Nov. 11 UMKC at Creighton
Nov. 26 Utah Valley at Brigham Young
Nov. 26 CSU Bakersfield vs. North Florida
Dec. 3 San Diego State at Grand Canyon
Dec. 12 North Florida at UT Rio Grande Valley
Dec. 17 UT Rio Grande Valley at Houston
Dec. 22 Washington at Seattle U
Dec. 28 Chicago State at Valparaiso