This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Jan. 10
This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Jan. 10
UTAH VALLEY TAKES THE LEAD IN THE LATEST WAC RESUME SEEDING RANKING
In the latest WAC Resume Seeding System ranking on Jan. 8, Utah Valley rose to the top of the conference seeding mountain with a 13-4 overall record and 4-0 mark in WAC play to post 3.13 points. Sam Houston (12-4, 2-2 WAC) was second with 2.98 points. Other teams with positive ranking points were Seattle U (12-4, 3-0 WAC; 2.15 points), Grand Canyon (11-5, 2-1 WAC; 2.11 points), Southern Utah (11-6, 3-1 WAC; 0.84 points) and Stephen F. Austin (12-5, 4-0 WAC; 0.71 points).
UTAH VALLEY WINNING STREAK REACHES 10 STRAIGHT
Utah Valley continued its impressive early season run to the top of the WAC standings by extending its current winning streak to 10 games overall with road victories at UT Arlington (72-64 on Jan. 5) and UTRGV (75-61 on Jan. 7). The Wolverines have outscored opponents by 156 points (798-642) during the winning streak, hitting 46.7 percent of their shots from the floor and an even 72.0 percent from the free-throw line. Utah Valley has averaged 41.1 rebounds and 7.9 blocks per contest over its past 10 starts.
BANDAOGO WINS WAC POTW FOR SECOND TIME THIS SEASON
Utah Valley center Aziz Bandaogo claimed WAC Player of the Week for the second time this season on Jan. 9 after turning in another signature weekend for the Wolverines. Bandaogo averaged 15.5 points, 14.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks for Utah Valley in wins against UT Arlington and UTRGV.
In 17 starts thus far in the 2022-23 season, Bandaogo leads the WAC with 10.3 rebounds per game and 2.9 blocked shots per contest, while hitting 67.6 percent of his shots from the floor to average 11.1 points. Bandaogo’s 11 10-rebound efforts and eight double-doubles also paced the conference as of Jan. 10.
TYSON STILL HAS THE SCORING TOUCH
Seattle U guard and WAC leading scorer Cameron Tyson extended his streak of 20-point games to six in a row during a road sweep of UTRGV and UT Arlington for the Redhawks. Tyson connected on double-digit field goals (11-of-23) for the third time this season in a 27-point outing against UTRGV on Jan. 5 and scored an even 20 points for the fourth time in the streak at UTA on Jan. 7. In just 14 starts this season, Tyson leads the WAC with 20.9 points per game, 54 made 3-pointers, two 30-point games and nine 20-point games.
SIX STRAIGHT WINS FOR SFA HAS LUMBERJACKS IN THE HUNT
Winners of the past six starts as of Jan. 10, Stephen F. Austin is tied with conference leader Utah Valley with matching 4-0 records to begin WAC play. The Lumberjacks held home court against two of the preseason favorites in the conference last week, defeating NM State 69-60 on Jan. 4 and downing Grand Canyon 73-68 on Jan. 7. Stephen F. Austin is the WAC leader in team field goal percentage for the season with a 48.2 percent clip.
THE WAC IN THE NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA DI national statistics rankings that were released on Jan. 8, Southern Utah checked in first in team scoring offense (87.2 points per game), third in free throws attempted (25.8) and fourth in free throws made (18.6). Utah Valley was atop the NCAA in team blocks per game (6.8). Sam Houston was second in the nation in bench points per game (36.44), fourth in scoring margin (20.9) and turnovers forced per game (19.56) and fifth in turnover margin (6.3). UTRGV ranked fourth in the country in team free throws attempted per game (25.8). Individually, Utah Valley’s Aziz Bandaogo was third in total blocks (50), fourth in blocks per game (2.9) and fifth in rebounds (175), UTRGV’s Justin Johnson was third in free throw attempts (126) and Seattle U’s Cameron Tyson was fourth in made 3-pointers per game (3.86).