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DENVER - 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.