United Athletic Conference

Grand Canyon's Alessandro Lever has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 13 through Jan. 19.

 

Lever, a junior center from Bolzano, Italy, had a pair of big games to lead the Lopes to a pair of road wins at Chicago State and Kansas City. Against the Cougars, the post scored 25 points to go with six rebounds and a block in a 14-point win. He followed that up with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists in a three-point win at Kansas City on Sunday. On the season, he is averaging 15.5 points per game with 5.6 rebounds per game and a .539 shooting clip.

 

Other nominees included: California Baptist's Ferron Flavors Jr. scored 21 points in a non-conference win over Bethesda on Friday night … CSU Bakersfield's Justin Edler-Davis averaged 18.0 points per game with 5.0 rebounds per game in road wins at Kansas City and Chicago State … Kansas City's Jordan Giles averaged 16.0 points per game in a pair of close home losses to CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon … NM State's Ivan Aurrecoechea scored 19 points and brought down 11 rebounds to lead the Aggies to a road win at Seattle U … Seattle U's Terrell Brown averaged 16.5 points per game with 7.0 assists per game and 5.5 rebounds per game in a home win over UT Rio Grande Valley and a loss to NM State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Lesley Varner II led UTRGV in scoring in a pair of road losses at Seattle U and Utah Valley … Utah Valley's Isaiah White scored the game-winning shot in a 72-70 win over UT Rio Grande Valley to finish with 12.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg in a home split.

 

Chicago State heads west for a midweek contest at California Baptist, with the Lancers also hosting Kansas City on Saturday. Seattle U and CSU Bakersfield also hit the road, traveling to Grand Canyon and CSU Bakersfield. The final matchup of the week has NM State making the trip to UT Rio Grande Valley.

 

California Baptist leads the WAC in scoring (81.2), free throw percentage (.780), field goal percentage (.456), field goal percentage defense (.410), three-point field goal percentage (.375), three-point field goal defense (.307), rebounding offense (41.3), assists (15.4), defensive rebounds (30.3) and three-pointers made (9.8). First-place NM State is the leader in scoring defense (60.7), scoring margin (+10.8), rebounding defense (28.4). CSU Bakersfield is tops in rebounding margin (+9.1) and offensive rebounds (13.7) while Utah Valley holds the lead in blocked shots (5.4) and UT Rio Grande Valley is the leader in steals (8.8), turnover margin (+5.28) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2).

 

Individually, Seattle U's Terrell Brown leads the WAC in scoring (19.3), while California Baptist's De'jon Davis is tops in rebounding (8.4). NM State's Ivan Aurrecoechea is the leader in field goal percentage (.586), SU's Morgan Means is the leader in free throw percentage (.887) and UTRGV's Connor Raines is tops in three-point field goal percentage (.486). UTRGV's Javon Levi holds the lead in assists (8.3),  steals (2.2) and assist/turnover ratio (3.4). CBU's Ferron Flavors Jr. is tops in three-point field goals made at 3.1 per game and UVU's Emmanuel Olojapoke is the blocked shots leader (2.8).

 

In WAC play, Seattle U is the leader in scoring offense (82.6), blocked shots (4.8), turnover margin (+6.20). NM State is atop the stats in scoring defense (63.8), scoring margin (+15.8), field goal percentage (.489), rebounding defense (26.8), rebounding margin (+8.8), assists (17.2) and three-pointers made (10.8). California Baptist is tops in free throw percentage (.823), three-point defnese (.302), rebounding offense (37.8) and defense rebounds (29.0). CSU Bakersfield is the leader in three-point field goal percentage (.459) while Grand Canyon leads the league in field goal defense (.384). UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in steals (8.2), assists/turnover ratio (1.5) and offensive rebounds (14.0). 

 

Individually, CBU's Brandon Boyd is the scoring leader (18.8 ppg) and UVU's Isaiah White is the rebounding leader (8.0). NMSU's Aerrecoechea has the top field goal percentage (.581), CSUB's De'Monte Buckingham is the leader in free throw percentage (.947) and CBU's Bul Kuol is the leader in three-point field goal percentage (.750). UTRGV's Levi is the leader in assists (8.6) and CSUB's Czar Perry has the lead in steals (2.5) and assist/turnover ratio (7.0). Kansas City's Rob Whitfield has the most three-pointers per game at 2.7 and UVU's Olojakpoke is the blocked shots leader at 2.8 per game. 

 

A midwest storm stranded both the CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon men's basketball teams on Friday but it didn't stop them from picking up road sweeps as the 'Runners earned a win at Chicago State on Sunday and the Lopes defeated Kansas City on Sunday as well.

 

NM State used wins over Utah Valley and Seattle U to push their WAC win streak to 20 straight games. The 20 wins set a new WAC best for straight wins, besting Utah winning 19 straight from 1998-99.

 

Seattle U and Kansas City gave fans a little extra excitement on WAC opening night, playing three overtimes before the host Roos were able to break away and earn the 90-86 victory. It was the first triple-overtime game in the WAC since CBU lost at UAPB on Nov. 23, 2018 and the first multiple-overtime game in WAC play since Grand Canyon defeated Chicago State in double overtime on Jan. 28, 2017.

 

NM State picked up its first win over an SEC program since Dec. 29, 1994 when it beat Mississippi State on Dec. 22. It was also the first victory for a WAC squad over a Power Six team this season.