United Athletic Conference

Complete Release (PDF)

 

Grand Canyon's Carlos Johnson has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for March 2 through March 8. 

 

Johnson, a senior guard from Centralia, Ill., erupted for 33 points, over double his season average, on senior day as the Lopes earned a 64-61 win over CSU Bakersfield. He also added five rebounds and a block in the win to help GCU earn the fourth seed in this week's Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament presented by TicketSmarter. On the season, Johnson is averaging 15.5 points per game to lead the Lopes in scoring. He is also fifth in the league in minutes per game at 33.1.

 

Other nominees included: Kansas City's Brandon McKissic scored a game-high 18 points and added four steals in the Roos win at Utah Valley on Thursday … NM State's Trevelin Queen scored 19 points with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in a blowout win over California Baptist to help the Aggies secure just the third undefeated league record in WAC men's basketball history … UT Rio Grande Valley's Lesley Varner II finished with 22 points, including the game-winning shot with four seconds in overtime, to lead UTRGV to the second-seed in this week's Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament presented by TicketSmarter.

 

After an exciting regular season, the league heads to #WACVegas for the 2020 Hercules Tires WAC Tournament presented by TicketSmarter. NM State is the top seed and team to beat after becoming just the third team in league history to go undefeated in conference play. The Aggies will take on eighth-seed Chicago State in the tournament opener at noon local time on Thursday. Grand Canyon is the fourth seed and will play fifth-seed Kansas City at 2:30 p.m. The second session will tip at 6 p.m. with second-seed UT Rio Grande Valley taking on seventh-seeded CSU Bakersfield, followed by third-seed Seattle U and sixth-seed Utah Valley rounding out the schedule at 8:30 p.m. The men's semifinals will be at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Friday evening with the trophy going to the winner of the championship game on Saturday, set to tip at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

 

The 2020 All-WAC teams have been named, following a vote of the WAC's nine head coaches. California Baptist's Milan Acquaah headlines the awards, earning WAC Player of the Year honors, while UT Rio Grande Valley's Javon Levi repeated as WAC Defensive Player of the Year. California Baptist's Brandon Boyd was named WAC Newcomer of the Year, Grand Canyon's Jovan Blacksher Jr. earned WAC Freshman of the Year and NM State's Chris Jans was once again named Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year.

 

Acquaah was named WAC Player of the Year after averaging 18.6 points per game in WAC play, also adding 4.9 assists per game against league foes. In conference play, he ranked fourth in free throw percentage (.870), fourth in three-point field goalks made (1.8), fifth in minute played (33.9) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.3). He earned TicketSmarter WAC Player of the Week honors twice this season.

 

Levi earned WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season after posting 1.9 steals per game in WAC play. He also led the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.7) and assists (7.9) and was ranked fourth in minutes played (34.4).

 

Boyd is the WAC Newcomer of the Year after avveraging 12.9 points per game against WAC foes He also led the league in free throw percentage in league games, making 55-of-59 attempts for a .932 clip.

 

Blacksher earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors after leading all freshman in scoring at 10.5 points per game and in rebounding at 5.9 per game. He also ranked sixth in the WAC in assists (3.7) and seventh in steals (1.4). His assist/turnover ratio was 1.9, which was third best in the league among all players.

 

Jans earns WAC Coach of the Year for the third straight season after leading the Aggies to just the third undefeated season in WAC men's basketball history and the Aggies fifth regular-season title in the last six years. NM State is currently 25-6 overall after going 16-0 in WAC play. The Aggies have a 19-game winning streak and are receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25.

 

Four different schools are represented on the first team. Joining Acquaah is NM State duo Ivan Aurrecoechea and Jabari Rice, Seattle U's Terrell Brown and UT Rio Grande Valley's Lesley Varner II.

 

The All-WAC second teamers are UTRGV's Levi, California Baptist's De'jon Davis, Grand Canyon's Carlos Johnson and Alessandro Lever and NM State's Trevelin Queen.

 

The All-Defensive Team is made up of Levi, Davis, NM State's Terrell Brown, Kansas City's Brandon McKissic and CSU Bakersfield's Taze Moore. 

 

The All-Newcomer Team consists of Boyd, CSU Bakersfield's Cam Allen, Utah Valley's Brandon Averette, Grand Canyon's Mikey Dixon and NM State's Evan Gilyard.

 

California Baptist leads the WAC in scoring (79.5), free throw percentage (.786), field goal defense (.418), three-point field goal percentage (.380), rebounding offense (41.0), defensive rebounds (29.4) and three-pointers made (9.9). Regular season champion NM State is also on top in scoring defense (59.7), scoring margin (+11.7), rebounding defense (27.2) and rebounding margin (+8.0). Kansas City is the leader in field goal percentage (.458) and three-point defense (.297) while UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in assists (15.0), steals (8.4), turnover margin (+4.93), assist/turnover ratio (1.2). Utah Valley is the blocked shots leader (5.2) while CSU Bakersfield is the top offensive rebounding team (12.8).

 

Individually, Seattle U's Terrell Brown is the scoring leader at 20.7 points per game. CBU's De'jon Davis holds the top spot in rebounding at 9.7 and his 2.8 offensive rebounds per game and 6.9 defensive rebounds per game are also WAC bests. NM State's Ivan Aurrecoechea is the leader in field goal percentage (.579), SU's Morgan Means has the top free throw percentage (.882) and CBU's Ferron Flavors Jr. holds the top three-point shooting percentage (.439) and leads the league in three-pointers per game (3.0). UTRGV's Javon Levi leads the league in assists (7.9), steals (2.4) and assist/turnover ratio (2.9).UVU's Emmanuel Olojakpoke leads the league in blocked shots a 2.7 per game.

 

In WAC-only play, Seattle U led the league in scoring at 79.6 points per game, The Redhawks also held the top spot in turnover mrgin (+5.43). NM State is the leader in scoring defense (59.8), scoring margin (+14.1), field goal percentage (.470), three-point field goal percentage (.379), rebounding defense (25.7), rebounding margin (+8.9), assists (15.3), assist/turnover ratio (1.3) and three-pointers made (9.5). California Baptist had the top free throw percentage (.804) with the Lancers also holding the lead in rebounding offense (38.4) and defensive rebounds (27.3). CSU Bakersfield had the top field goal defense (.412) and held the lead in offensive rebounds (12.0) while Kansas City was the leader in three-point defense (.295). Utah Valley was the blocked shots leader (4.7) while UT Rio Grande Valley was the steals leader (7.7).

 

Individually, SU's Brown was the scoring leader at 21.0 ppg. CBU's Davis had a league-best 9.9 rebounds per game to go with WAC-bests in offensive rebounds (2.8) and defensive rebounds (7.1). NM State's Johnny McCants had the top field goal percentage (.588), CBU's Brnadon Boyd had the top free throw percentage (.932) and teammate Bul Kuol had the top three-point field goal percentage while fellow Lancer Flavors was the leader in three-pointers per game (2.6). UTRGV's Levi was the leader in assists (7.9) and assist/turnover ratio (2.7) while SU's Brown had the lead in steals (2.0). UVU's Olojakpoke was the blocked shots leader (2.6).

 

Due to concern over traveling due to COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus, Chicago State University elected to not play their final two regular season games against Seattle U and Utah Valley. The Cougar men were scheduled to play SU and UVU on the road while the CSU women were scheduled to host the Redhawks and Wolverines in Chicago. In addition, Kansas City decided not to travel to Seattle for its scheduled game at Seattle U. The games were officially recorded as "no contests" per NCAA guidelines but for tournament seeding purposes only, Seattle was awarded two wins, Utah Valley was awarded one win, Kansas City was given one loss and Chicago State was given two losses. 

 

With a win over California Baptist, the NM State Aggies completed just the third perfect season in WAC men's basketball history, joining TCU in 1997-98 (14-0) and Utah in 1998-99 (14-0).

 

NM State used a home win over California Baptist to push their record-setting WAC win streak to 31 straight games. The Aggies used a win over Seattle U on Jan. 18 to move past Utah, who won 19 straight from 1998-99. NM State also is second to Dayton for the longest win streak in the nation at 19 games.

 

Seattle U's Terrell Brown became the latest member of the 1,000-point club, reaching the mark on Feb. 20 against Grand Canyon. He joins CBU's Milan Acquaah, GCU's Alessandro Lever, teammate Morgan Means and UTRGV's Lesley Varner II as active members of the 1,000-point club. 

 

Hercules Tires was named the title sponsor of the upcoming WAC Basketball Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Hercules Tires will also be the exclusive tire partner for the Conference and will have an integrated marketing presence throughout the year, allowing the brand to connect with WAC alumni, fans, students, and employees at all conference championship events.

 

Former NM State Aggie and current Toronto Raptor Pascal Siakam was named a starter for the Eastern Conference at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 16 in Chicago. Playing for Team Giannis, he finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes on the floor as Team LeBron earned the 157-155 win.

 

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.

 

UT Rio Grande Valley junior Javon Levi is second in program history in career steals with 204. He is also ranked fourth in UTRGV history in career assists with 524.

 

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.