This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Dec. 20
This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Dec. 20
SAM HOUSTON STILL AT THE FRONT OF THE WAC RESUME SEEDING RANKING
In the latest WAC Resume Seeding System ranking on Dec. 20, Sam Houston remained as the top live seed in the WAC after a 9-2 start to the season. The Bearkats tallied 2.49 points to place ahead of 8-2 Seattle U (1.37 points). Other teams with positive point totals were Grand Canyon (8-4, 1.02), Utah Valley (8-4, 0.52), NM State (6-4, 0.21), Utah Tech (7-5, 0.14), California Baptist (8-4, 0.12) and Southern Utah (8-4, 0.05).
WAC SUCCESS AS NONCONFERENCE PLAY WINDS TO A CLOSE
Entering the final full week of nonconference action, 11 of the 13 WAC men’s basketball members owned a record of .500 or better. The top seven teams in the league had all won at least eight games, helping land the WAC among the top 12 leagues in the country in the NCAA NET as of Dec. 19. Eight different WAC squads also remained unbeaten in true home games.
UTAH WAC TEAMS ALL ON WINNING STREAKS
The three WAC men’s basketball members from the state of Utah each carried active winning streaks into play on Dec. 20. Utah Valley won five straight games to improve to 8-4, Southern Utah logged four consecutive wins to also get to 8-4 and Utah Tech notched a fourth victory to raise its record to 7-5.
JOHNSON ERUPTS IN UTRGV WINS TO WIN WAC TOP WEEKLY HONORS
UTRGV forward Justin Johnson enjoyed a stellar week for the Vaqueros to pick up WAC Player of the Week accolades on Dec. 19.
Johnson averaged 30.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, hitting 58.8 shots from the floor. Johnson tallied 31 points, 11 boards and four assists for UTRGV in a win against Southwestern Christian on Dec. 15 before following up with 29 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals at home against Houston Christian on Dec. 18.
8-4 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Entering games on Dec. 20, five different teams in the WAC were deadlocked with matching 8-4 nonconference records. Southern Utah, Grand Canyon, UTRGV, California Baptist and Utah Valley each turned in identical won-loss marks. Four of those five teams had won at least three straight games prior to play on Dec. 20, with Utah Valley’s five consecutive triumphs and Southern Utah’s active streak of four victories leading the way for the pack.
THE WAC AGAINST THE CONFERENCES
As expected, WAC teams have taken care of business in matchups against non-Division I opponents, posting a 32-0 record as of games played on Dec. 19. Highlighted records against peer DI conferences to start the season include a 14-3 (.824) combined mark against the Big Sky and a 9-3 (.750) record against the Big West. WAC programs have added wins against members from the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 to date in the 2022-23 season.
THE WAC IN THE NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA DI national statistics rankings that were released on Dec. 18, UTRGV ranked first in the country in team free throws attempted per game (28.6) and fourth in team free throws made per game (19.7). UT Arlington also checked in first nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.00). Sam Houston was second in DI in bench points (38.64), fourth in rebound margin (11.0) and fourth in scoring margin (23.0). Southern Utah had the second-best scoring offense nationally (91.0) and Stephen F. Austin was second in turnovers forced per game (21.27). Utah Valley posted the fifth-ranked total in blocks per game (6.1). Individually, UTRGV’s Justin Johnson was the national leader in free throw attempts (103), and Seattle U’s Cameron Tyson checked in fourth in made 3-pointers (4.12).