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GRAND CANYON'S LEVER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon freshman center Alessandro Lever has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 15-21. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Bolzano, Italy, native averaged 26.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in a pair of road wins last week. Lever shot 73.1 percent from the field and 75.3 percent from three-point range over the two games. He opened the week by setting a Grand Canyon Division I freshman record with a career-best 28 points at Chicago State. Lever was 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. He also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out two assists. Lever followed it up with his first career double-double of 24 points and a season-high-tying 10 rebounds at Kansas City. He entered the week averaging 6.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Brent Wrapp averaged 6.5 assists, 6.0 points and 5.5 rebounds as the ‘Runners went 1-1 on the week ... Deionte Simmons of Chicago State averaged 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds ... Kansas City's Xavier Bishop averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals as the Roos went 1-1 on the week ... Zach Lofton of NM State averaged 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists as the Aggies went 2-0 on the week to remain the only unbeaten team in WAC play ... Seattle U's Aaron Menzies averaged 15.5 points and 13.5 rebounds as the Redhawks went 1-1 on the week ... Nick Dixon of UT Rio Grande Valley averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 ... Utah Valley's Conner Toolson averaged 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 steals as the Wolverines went 1-1 on the week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Utah Valley leads the WAC in scoring (80.7), field goal percentage (48.8), rebounding (39.3), blocks (4.3), assists (17.3), assist-turnover ratio (1.2) and defensive rebounds (27.9), while Grand Canyon is tops in scoring defense (62.2), scoring margin (11.9), field goal percentage defense (38.9), three-point field goal percentage defense (26.5) and offensive rebounds (12.6). Seattle U leads the league in free throw percentage (77.5), three-point field goal percentage (38.6) and three-pointers per game (9.6), while NM State is tops in rebounding defense (31.1) and rebounding margin (8.2). Kansas City leads the WAC in turnover margin (2.9) and UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in steals (7.9).
Individually, UTRGV's Nick Dixon leads the WAC in scoring (20.9), while NM State's Jemerrio Jones is tops in rebounding (11.3), offensive rebounds (3.7) and defensive rebounds (7.6). CSU Bakersfield's Moataz Aly leads the league in field goal percentage (74.0), while teammates Jarkel Joiner and Brent Wrapp lead the league in free throw shooting (91.7) and assists (5.5), respectively. Kansas City's Broderick Robinson leads the WAC in steals (1.6), while Seattle U's Matej Kavas is tops in three-point percentage (48.5), three-pointers per game (3.0) and minutes per game (33.2). Utah Valley's Akolda Manyang leads the league in blocked shots (2.4), while UTRGV's Lew Stallworth is tops in assist-turnover ratio (2.7).
In WAC games only, NM State leads the league in scoring defense (58.6), scoring margin (20.2), field goal percentage (48.7), field goal percentage defense (37.0), three-point field goal percentage defense (27.1), rebounding margin (10.8) and assist-turnover ratio (1.5), while Utah Valley is tops in scoring (79.2), three-point field goal percentage (41.7), blocks (4.0), assists (18.4) and three-pointers per game (9.6). UTRGV leads the WAC in free throw percentage (76.1), turnover margin (5.2) and offensive rebounds (12.8), while Seattle U is tops in rebounding (40.8) and defensive rebounds (29.2). CSU Bakersfield leads the league in rebounding defense (27.4) and Chicago State leads the WAC in steals (8.2).
Individually in WAC games, Dixon leads the league in scoring (23.2), while Jones is tops in rebounding (12.0) and defensive rebounds (8.8). Aly leads the WAC in field goal percentage (66.7), while Wrapp is tops in free throw percentage (1.000). Utah Valley's Brandon Randolph leads the league in assists (5.3), while Chicago State's Glen Burns is tops in steals (2.2). Kansas City's Brandon McKissic leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (88.9), while Lofton is tops in three-pointers per game (3.6). Chicago State's Cameron Bowles leads the league in blocks (2.4), while NM State's AJ Harris is tops in assist-turnover ratio (7.3). Seattle U's Aaron Menzies leads the WAC in offensive rebounds (4.2) and teammate Jordan Hill is tied with Burns for the lead in minutes per game (35.0).
CSUB'S BARNES EARNS 300TH CAREER VICTORY
In his team's win at Chicago State on Jan. 20, CSU Bakersfield head coach Rod Barnes picked up his 300th career victory. Barnes has an overall record of 300-289 (.509) in 17 seasons as a head coach. He is 114-100 (.533) in seven seasons at CSUB.
SEATTLE U EARNS FIRST ROAD WIN OF SEASON
Seattle U earned its first true road victory of the season at UTRGV on Jan. 20 - a 79-76 overtime win. It marked the first true road win since the Redhawks beat the Vaqueros 86-77 on Feb. 23, 2017. The 14 wins through 22 games surpasses last year's final total of 13.
CSUB'S DURHAM BECOMES 14TH ‘RUNNER WITH 1,000 CAREER POINTS
CSU Bakersfield junior Damiyne Durham scored his 1,000th career point in the ‘Runners' victory at Chicago State on Jan. 20, becoming just the 14th ‘Runner in the 1000-Point Club. Durham now has 1,001 career points and is the fourth active player in the WAC with 1,000 or more points.