TicketSmarter WAC Men’s Basketball Players of the Week Announced
DENVER – Utah Valley's Fardaws Aimaq has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week and Grand Canyon's Chance McMillian have been named TicketSmarter WAC Men's Basketball Freshman of the Week for February 21 through February 27.
Aimaq, a sophomore center from Vancouver, B.C., Canada, recorded his 24th and 25th double-doubles of the season in a pair of wins over Seattle U and California Baptist. Against Seattle U, the man they call Big Maple scored 19 points and brought down 18 rebounds to go with three blocks, two assists and a steal. He followed that up with 20 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks in a win against California Baptist. On the week, he was 14-of-27 from the field for a .519 shooting clip and was a perfect 9-for-9 on free throws.
McMillian, a guard from Vallejo, Calif., put up a pair of double-digit scoring efforts to help the Lopes pick up a pair of important wins. On Wednesday at Chicago State, he was 3-for-5 from the field and also was a perfect 6-for-6 on free throws to finish with 13 points in an 85-64 win over the Cougars. On Saturday night at home against Sam Houston, he put up a career-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including three three-pointers and 4-of-4 on free throws in a 67-41 win over the Bearkats.
Other nominees included: Abilene Christian's Coryon Mason surpassed 1,000 points for his career in Thursday's win over Lamar and then scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats in a 73-71 loss at Stephen F. Austin on Saturday … California Baptist's Taran Armstrong put up 20.0 points per game as the Lancers split a pair on the road at Dixie State and Utah Valley … Chicago State's Brandon Betson scored the game-winning bucket to finish with 17 points as the Cougars knocked off league-leading NM State, 61-59, on Saturday … Dixie State's Hunter Schofield averaged a double-double at 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in a pair of home losses to California Baptist and Seattle U … Grand Canyon's Chance McMillian led the Lopes to a pair of wins, averaging 14.0 points per game in victories over Chicago State and Sam Houston … NM State's Sir'Jabari Rice averaged 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as the Aggies went 1-1 on the road with a win at Seattle U and a close loss at Chicago State … Seattle U's Darrion Trammell averaged 17.0 points per game over three games for the Redhawks last week … Stephen F. Austin's Gavin Kensmil shot .607 on the week, averaging 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in home wins over Sam Houston and Abilene Christian … Tarleton's Freddy Hicks recorded a pair of 20-point games, putting up 20 in a win against UT Rio Grande Valley and 22 points in a win over Lamar … UT Rio Grande Valley's Justin Johnson scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting in a 75-62 loss at Tarleton.
Other freshman nominees included: California Baptist's Taran Armstrong averaged 20.0 points per game on the road as the Lancers earned a 10-point win at Dixie State before falling at Utah Valley … Chicago State's J.J. Harris averaged 14.0 points per game on the week, including 12 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals in the Cougars' 81-59 win over NM State … Lamar's Brock McClure scored 13 points to go with 10 rebounds and a pair of assists in the Cardinals' 57-49 loss at Tarleton on Saturday … Stephen F. Austin's Sadaidriene Hall averaged 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds off the bench as the 'Jacks picked up important wins over Sam Houston and Abilene Christian … UT Rio Grande Valley's RayQuan Taylor scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and added eight rebounds and a block in UTRGV's 75-62 loss at Tarleton on Thursday.