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UTAH VALLEY'S MANYANG NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley senior center Akolda Manyang has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 7-13. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Rochester, Minn., native averaged 11.5 points on 60 percent shooting, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks in a pair of road games against two Top 5 teams last week. Manyang recorded a double-double with a career-high 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds against No. 1 Duke. He also dished out a career-high six assists and registered a steal. Manyang connected on 6-of-11 shots from the field and knocked down 5-of-6 free throws against the Blue Devils. In the season opener at Kentucky, Manyang scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds and tallied a game-high five blocked shots.
Other nominees included: Jarkel Joiner of CSU Bakersfield finished with 23 points on 60 percent shooting, six rebounds and two assists against Whittier College ... Grand Canyon's Keonta Vernon tallied eight points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals in a win over Florida A&M ... Xavier Bishop of Kansas City averaged 12.0 points, 3.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals as the Roos went 1-1 on the week ... NM State's Jemerrio Jones finished with 19 points, a career-high 19 rebounds and three assists in a win over East Central ... Jordan Hill of Seattle U averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.0 blocks as the Redhawks went 1-1 on the week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Xavier McDaniel Jr. finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot in a loss to Nicholls State.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State leads the WAC in scoring margin (26.0), rebounding (59.0), rebounding defense (30.0), rebounding margin (29.0) and defensive rebounds (38.0), while Seattle U is tops in free throw percentage (92.7), field goal percentage (51.4), field goal percentage defense (29.7), three-point field goal percentage defense (28.2) and blocks (6.0). Kansas City leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (32.7), steals (13.0) and turnover margin (10.0), while UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in scoring (106.0), assists (22.0) and assist-turnover ratio (1.8). CSU Bakersfield leads the WAC in offensive rebounds (22.0) and three-pointers per game (9.0), while Grand Canyon is tops in scoring defense (51.0).
Individually, UT Rio Grande Valley's Xavier McDaniel Jr. leads the WAC in scoring (27.0) and three-pointers per game (4.0), while NM State's Jemerrio Jones is tops in rebounding (19.0) and offensive rebounds (10.0) and is tied with McDaniel Jr. for defensive rebounds (9.0). CSU Bakersfield's Moataz Aly leads the league in field goal percentage (85.7) and blocked shots (4.0), while Grand Canyon's Gerard Martin is tops in three-point percentage (1.000). NM State's AJ Harris and CSUB's Brent Wrapp lead the WAC in assists (6.0). Kansas City's Marvin Nesbitt Jr. leads the league in steals (3.5), NM State's Johnathon Wilkins is tops in assist-turnover ratio (999.0) and Utah Valley's Kenneth Ogbe leads the WAC in minutes per game (33.0).
GRAND CANYON'S EIGHT-GAME WIN STREAK BEST IN NATION
With the win over Florida A&M on Nov. 10, Grand Canyon extended its active winning streak to eight games, the longest current streak in the nation. The Lopes are one game ahead of last year's NCAA Champion, North Carolina.
CSU BAKERSFIELD' WRAPP NABS 100TH CAREER STEAL
The WAC's active career steals leader, CSU Bakersfield senior Brent Wrapp nabbed his 100th career steal in his team's season opener against Whittier College on Nov. 10. Wrapp now has 101 steals on his career.
SEATTLE U SCORES PROGRAM-RECORD 121 POINTS
Seattle U put on an offensive display in its home opener against visiting Puget Sound on Nov. 12, pouring in a Division I program-record 121 points on its way to a convincing 121-70 victory in the Connolly Complex. Five different players scored in double digits - Richaud Gittens (26), Josh Hearlihy (23), Matej Kavas (17), Aaron Menzies (15) and Morgan Means (14).
UTRGV HAS FIVE PLAYERS IN DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING IN SEASON OPENER
UT Rio Grande Valley had five players score in double-figures in its season-opening loss against Nicholls State - Xavier McDaniel (27), Nick Dixon (17), Jordan Jackson (14), Leslie Varner Jr. (13) and Moe McDonald (11).
GCU'S BRAUN TWO TREYS AWAY FROM PROGRAM THREE-POINT RECORD
WAC Preseason Player of the Year Joshua Braun currently has 195 career three-pointers. Braun trails Richard Davis for the GCU all-time record for career three-pointers by two. Davis drained 197 treys from 2005-07, including a school record 107 in 2005-06.