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NM STATE'S ZACH LOFTON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State graduate student guard Zach Lofton has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 20-26. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The St. Paul, Minn., native averaged 24.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 67.9 percent from the floor and 46.1 percent from three-point range in a pair of big wins last week. Lofton opened the week with a monster night against Colorado State,
scoring 30 points on 12-of-15 shooting with eight rebounds as NM State took down its second-straight Mountain West team in as many games. The 6-4 guard followed it up with 18 points and another eight rebounds against Battle of I-10 rival UTEP.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Ricky Holden averaged 14.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as the Roadrunners went 2-1 last week ... Fred Sims Jr. of Chicago State averaged 18.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game over four games ... Grand Canyon's Casey Benson averaged 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists ... Broderick Robinson of Kansas City averaged 16.3 points and 4.8 rebounds as the Roos went 2-2 on the week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Nick Dixon averaged with 25.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists on the week ... Akolda Manyang of Utah Valley averaged 22.0 points on 65.5 percent shooting and 10.0 rebounds in a pair of wins last week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Grand Canyon leads the WAC in scoring defense (59.0), scoring margin (14.0), field goal percentage defense (38.2), three-point field goal percentage (37.4), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.0), blocks (4.8) and assists (16.0), while NM State is tops in rebounding (43.8), rebounding defense (29.8), rebounding margin (14.0), assist-turnover ratio (1.1), offensive rebounds (13.8) and defensive rebounds (30.0). Seattle U leads the league in scoring (80.3), free throw percentage (81.7) and three-pointers per game (9.7), while Utah Valley is tops in field goal percentage (47.8), UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in steals (9.4) and Kansas City is tops in turnover margin (3.1).
Individually, NM State's Zach Lofton leads the WAC in scoring (24.4), while teammate Jemerrio Jones is tops in rebounding (11.6), offensive rebounds (5.0) and defensive rebounds (6.6). CSU Bakersfield's Moataz Aly leads the league in field goal percentage (74.4), while teammate Brent Wrapp is tops in assists (5.7) and assist-turnover ratio (3.1). CSUB's Jarkel Joiner leads the league in free throw shooting (95.2), while Kansas City's Broderick Robinson leads the WAC in steals (1.9). Grand Canyon's Joshua Braun leads the league in three-point percentage (50.0) and minutes per game (33.8), while Seattle U's Matej Kavas is tops in three-pointers per game (3.3). Utah Valley's Akolda Manyang leads the WAC in blocked shots (2.2).
CHICAGO STATE'S SIMS JR. BECOMES 18TH MEMBER OF COUGAR 1,000 POINT CLUB
Chicago State junior guard Fred Sims Jr. became the 18th member of Chicago State's 1,000-Point Club after tallying 15 points on Nov. 21 in a home win over East-West. The second active player in the WAC with 1,000 or more career points, Sims Jr. now has 1,060 in his two-plus years.
CSUB HOLDS UAA TO SECOND-LOWEST POINTS IN DIVISION I PROGRAM HISTORY
CSU Bakersfield opened the 40th and final Great Alaska Shootout with a defensively dominant win over host Alaska-Anchorage. The Roadrunners defeated the Seawolves 59-39 on their home court, allowing the second fewest points to an opponent in CSUB's Division I history. The ‘Runners won 87-36 over La Verne in 2014-15. The 39 points also tied the fewest scored by UAA in a single game in the program's history.
UMKC BOASTS SIX PLAYERS SHOOTING 75 PERCENT OR BETTER AT FREE THROW LINE
As a team, Kansas City is shooting 73 percent from the free throw line on the season. Six different players - Broderick Robinson, Xavier Bishop, Jordan Giles, Marvin Nesbitt Jr., Robert Knar and Steve Dulley - are all shooting over 75 percent at the charity stripe.
WRAPP AVERAGES 8.67 ASSISTS PER GAME AT GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT
CSU Bakersfield redshirt senior Brent Wrapp accumulated 26 assists over the three games of the Great Alaska Shootout for an 8.67 per game average. The total tied Wrapp for sixth-most in the Great Alaska Shootout's 40-year history.
GCU'S BRAUN BECOMES PROGRAM THREE-POINT RECORD HOLDER
WAC Preseason Player of the Year Joshua Braun broke the Grand Canyon all-time career three-point record against Robert Morris on Nov. 13, hitting his 198th career long ball in the second half. He now has 208 three-pointers, three shy of the WAC Top 20.