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DENVER - NM State graduate student guard Zach Lofton has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 8-14. This is his fourth WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and of his career.
The St. Paul, Minn., native averaged 28.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals to keep NM State undefeated in league play with a pair of road wins. In the first game against a record-setting crowd at Grand Canyon, Lofton finished with 29 points on 8-of-15 shooting - including a perfect 10-of-10 performance from the free-throw line - to help NM State avenge its loss at GCU last season. He added five rebounds and two assists in the 11-point victory. Two nights later at defending WAC champion CSU Bakersfield, Lofton finished with 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, as he helped power NM State past the ‘Runners, 66-53. He had another perfect night at the charity stripe, going 8-of-8, and also nabbed two steals. Lofton currently ranks second in the WAC in scoring (19.9), sixth in field goal percentage (50.6), seventh in three-pointers per game (2.2), ninth in three-point field goal percentage (39.2) and 12th in rebounding (5.1).
Other nominees included: Fred Sims Jr. of Chicago State averaged 13.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals ... Grand Canyon's Keonta Vernon posted a pair of double-doubles and averaged 12.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 assists as the Lopes went 1-1 on the week ... Matej Kavas of Seattle U averaged 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists as the Redhawks went 2-0 on the week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Nick Dixon averaged 24.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists as the Vaqueros went 1-1 on the week ... Conner Toolson of Utah Valley averaged 15.5 points on 92.9 percent shooting from the field and 83.3 percent shooting from three-point range, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals in a pair of wins.