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NM STATE'S 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 Dec. 18-24. This is his third WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and of his career.
The St. Paul, Minn., native led the Aggies to the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamondhead Classic with a pair of dramatic wins, including their first win against a Top 10 team since 1990, a 63-54 victory over previously unbeaten and No. 7 Miami on Saturday. Lofton averaged 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals and was a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line over the two games. He opened the week with 10 points, a team-high eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in NM State's thrilling 69-68 win over Davidson. Lofton followed it up with game highs of 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in the victory over the Hurricanes. He also made six of the Aggies' eight free throws on the game, as he was perfect at the line, going 6-of-6. The win for NM State was also its first against an ACC team since 1997.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Jarkel Joiner finished with 23 points and two rebounds in a loss to Delaware ... Alessandro Lever of Grand Canyon averaged 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds and shot 57.1 percent from three-point range as the Lopes went 2-1 on the week ... Seattle U's Matej Kavas averaged 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists as the Redhawks went 1-1 on the week ... Xavier McDaniel of UT Rio Grande Valley finished with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in a loss to Oklahoma State ... Akolda Manyang of Utah Valley averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks as the Wolverines went 2-0 last week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Grand Canyon leads the WAC in scoring defense (60.3), scoring margin (11.8), field goal percentage defense (39.5), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.7), assists (16.4), turnover margin (2.8), assist-turnover ratio (1.2) and offensive rebounds (12.7), while Utah Valley is tops in field goal percentage (49.1), rebounding (41.6), rebounding margin (10.5), blocks (4.6), and defensive rebounds (29.0). Seattle U leads the league in scoring (81.0), free throw percentage (78.7), three-point field goal percentage (38.7) and three-pointers per game (9.9), while NM State is tops in rebounding defense (30.6) and UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in steals (8.1).
Individually, UTRGV's Nick Dixon leads the WAC in scoring (20.6), while NM State's Jemerrio Jones is tops in rebounding (10.9), offensive rebounds (4.0) and defensive rebounds (6.9). CSU Bakersfield's Moataz Aly leads the league in field goal percentage (76.6), while teammate Jarkel Joiner leads the league in free throw shooting (94.7). CSUB's Brent Wrapp is tops in assists (5.4) and assist-turnover ratio (2.9), while Kansas City's Broderick Robinson leads the league in steals (1.6). Seattle U's Matej Kavas leads the WAC in three-point percentage (47.9), three-pointers per game (3.3) and minutes per game (34.1), while Utah Valley's Akolda Manyang leads the WAC in blocked shots (2.7).
NM STATE DEFEATS TOP 10 TEAM FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1990
When NM State defeated No. 7 Miami on Dec. 23, it was the Aggies first victory over a Top 10 team since an 83-82 win at home over seventh-ranked UNLV on Jan. 8, 1990. It was also NM State's first win against an Atlantic Coast Conference team since Lou Henson's 1997-98 team took down Virginia in the 34th Rainbow Classic in Honolulu on Dec. 30, 1997.
GRAND CANYON HAS GIVEN UP SECOND FEWEST THREE-POINTERS IN NATION
As a team, Grand Canyon has given up just 49 three-pointers this season, the second-fewest of any team in the country, one more than San Diego, which has played one less game. The Lopes also second nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense, allowing just 25.7 percent from beyond the arc.