TicketSmarter WAC Men’s Basketball Players of the Week Announced
DENVER – Dixie State's Cameron Gooden has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week and UT Rio Grande Valley's RayQuan Taylor named TicketSmarter WAC Men's Basketball Freshman of the Week for December 6 through December 12.
Gooden, a junior guard from Frisco, Texas, helped lead the Trailblazers to a statement win over Denver, putting up 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting and dishing out six assists with no turnovers in the 82-62 win over the Pioneers. 14 of his 22 points came in the first half as Dixie built a 20-2 lead early. He was just one point shy of his career high of 23 points, which came last year in a win at Denver.
Taylor, a freshman forward from Montgomery, Ala., earned his first-career double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds off the bench in a 75-69 loss at rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The 19 rebounds was the highest single-game total for the Vaqueros in nearly two decades and he is one of just three freshman this season to have that many boards in a game.
Other nominees included: Abilene Christian's Coryon Mason matched a career-high 21 points in just 22 minutes in a win over Drexel … California Baptist's Daniel Akin averaged 20.0 ppg and shot .889 from the field with 6.5 rebounds as the Lancers picked up a win against North Dakota before falling to UC Riverside … Grand Canyon's Holland Woods scored a team-high 20 points in a loss at Arizona State and then added 13 points in just 23 minutes in a win over Ottawa (Ariz.) … Lamar's Davion Buster scored 21 points and put up seven rebounds in the Cardinals' loss at UTA on Saturday … NM State's Johnny McCants averaged 10.0 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game as the Aggies picked up road wins at New Mexico and Loyola Marymount … Seattle U's Darrion Trammell scored 29 points and added six steals in the Redhawks' 73-51 win over UC San Diego … Stephen F. Austin's David Kachelries helped the 'Jacks beat Liberty in the Hall of Fame Classic, putting up 14 points with five rebounds, six assist and one steal to earn Game MVP honors … Tarleton's Tahj Small put up 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in wins over Dallas Christian and Southwestern Assemblies of God … UT Rio Grande Valley's RayQuan Taylor posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds in a close loss at rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Other freshman nominees included: California Baptist's Taran Armstrong broke the program record for assists in a game with 15 against North Dakota, adding 11 points and eight rebounds to nearly collect his second triple-double of the season … Chicago State's Jahsean Corbett scored 17 points to go with six rebounds and two steals in the Cougars' 80-71 loss to Illinois State … Dixie State's Noa Gonsalves put up nine points with three assists off the bench as the Trailblazers earned an 82-62 win over Denver … Grand Canyon's Jalen Blackmon averaged 4.0 points off the bench as the Lopes fell at Arizona State before rebounding with a home win against Ottawa (Ariz.) … Tarleton's Noah McDavid put up 25 points with five rebounds and two assists in the Texans' home win over Dallas Christian.