2023-24 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 11

GCU THE LONE UNBEATEN IN WAC ACTION
Following the first three weeks of conference play, Grand Canyon remained the only WAC team with an undefeated league record. GCU secured home victories against Abilene Christian (74-64, Jan. 11) and Tarleton State (74-48, Jan. 13) to improve to 6-0 in WAC contests. Stephen F. Austin climbed up to second place at 4-2, with Tarleton State and Utah Tech both tied at 3-2 at the end of last week.

LOPES REMAIN IN FRONT IN THE WAC RESUME SEEDING SYSTEM
In the latest WAC Résumé Seeding System rankings that were compiled on Jan. 16, Grand Canyon extended its advantage with 5.35 points on the strength of one of the nation’s longest active winning streaks. Tarleton State (0.39 points) was the only other team with a positive point value in the most recent seeding system rankings. Stephen F. Austin (-0.18 points), Seattle U (-0.64 points) and UT Arlington (-0.75 points) rounded out the metric’s top five teams.

GCU RISES TO THE TOP OF THE NATIONAL MID MAJOR RANKINGS
With the best winning percentage in NCAA Division I men’s basketball and in the midst of a 13-game win streak, Grand Canyon ascended to the number one spot in the Collegeinsider.com Men’s Mid Major Top 25 on Jan. 15. The Lopes received 19 first-place votes to climb from three to one with 754 voting points. GCU’s extended winning surge continued with a 74-64 victory against Abilene Christian on Jan. 11 to set up a showdown between the Lopes and Tarleton State on Jan. 13 in Phoenix. GCU blitzed the Texans 38-19 in the second half on the way to a 74-48 triumph to improve to a perfect 6-0 in WAC play. GCU guard Tyon Grant-Foster was the double winner as the WAC Player and Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 16 thanks to averages of 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game across the two conference wins last week.

GORDON STEADY FOR UTA DURING HOME CONFERENCE SWEEP
UT Arlington guard DaJuan Gordon caught fire for the Mavs in a pair of conference home victories last weekend. Gordon kicked the week off with 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting (9-of-10 from the free-throw line) with six rebounds and three steals in an 83-69 win over Utah Valley on Jan. 11. Gordon followed up that performance with 16 points and eight rebounds on the way to an 80-75 victory versus Seattle U on Jan. 13.

CBU’S GOODRICK AND OUEDRAOGO CRASH THE GLASS TO LEAD THE WAC IN REBOUNDING
California Baptist forwards Hunter Goodrick and Yvan Ouedraogo checked in as the top two leading rebounders in the WAC entering games on Jan. 18. Goodrick paced the conference with 9.3 rebounds per game over his first 17 games this season, while Ouedraogo ranked second with 8.7 rebounds per contest in 16 games played.

WAC IN THE NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
Grand Canyon checked in as the national leader in winning percentage (.941) in the latest NCAA Division I national statistics report on Jan. 15. Stephen F. Austin remained third in turnovers forced per game (18.65) and dropped back to fifth in bench points per game (37.71). UTRGV moved up to third in free throws attempted (27.1) per game and 10th in free throws made per contest (18.6).

KEY MATCHUPS IN THE UPCOMING WEEK
Stephen F. Austin is set to play host to Seattle U in Nacogdoches and Utah Valley travels to Phoenix to face off with Grand Canyon on Jan. 18. GCU closes the weekend with a trip to Seattle on Jan. 20 in the final scheduled WAC tip of the week.