2024-25 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 3

SOUTHERN UTAH LEADS THE WAC AFTER WEEK TWO
Southern Utah earned wins in four of its five games to open the 2024-25 season to take hold of the top spot in the most recent WAC nonconference standings. The Thunderbirds have been led by transfer guard Jamir Simpson, who scored 25 or more points in back-to-back games against Omaha (25) and Loyola Chicago (28) in his last two starts.

ACU WINS TWO STRAIGHT TO PULL INTO SECOND PLACE
Abilene Christian won a pair of games at home last week to move into a share of second place in the latest conference standings at 3-1. The Wildcats raced past McMurry 101-55 on Nov. 12, with seven different players scoring in double figures, before earning a 72-60 victory against Texas State on Nov. 16 behind the 23 points of Hunter Jack Madden. Abilene Christian owned the best rebounding margin (+18.0) and the most steals per game (10.5) among all WAC teams as of Nov. 20.

CBU POSTS STRONG HOME SHOWING TO JOIN IN AT 3-1
Following a hard-luck 70-69 loss to crosstown rival UC Riverside on Nov. 12, California Baptist bounced back with a 90-77 win over LIU on Nov. 15 to join ACU at 3-1. Dominique Daniels Jr. went over 20 points for the second straight game in the LIU victory, tallying a game-high 27 points. Daniels Jr. ranked second among all WAC players with a 20.3 points per game average as of Nov. 20.

UTA’S WELLS EARNS FIRST WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
UT Arlington transfer guard Jaden Wells was named the WAC Player and Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 18 after averaging 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game against Southern California and Texas College last week. In a narrow loss at USC on Nov. 13, Wells hit 7-of-10 3-point attempts and poured in 27 points to go along with five assists and four steals. After his first four games with the Mavericks, Wells was the conference leader in scoring (20.5 points per game) and 3-point field goals made (16, 4.0 per game) as of Nov. 20.

WELCOME BACK TGF
Grand Canyon senior guard and 2024-25 WAC Preseason Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster made his season debut for the Lopes against Arizona State on Nov. 14 as part of the Hall of Fame Series at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Grant-Foster finished with a team-high 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals in 36 minutes against ASU, hitting 8-of-12 attempts from the free-throw line. Grant-Foster was also named a second-team preseason All-American by ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas and the Bracketeer.org Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in 34 starts (19.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.6 STL/G in 20 conference starts) for GCU in 2023-24, guiding the Lopes to a WAC Tournament victory as the championship’s Most Outstanding Player (25.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG in two tournament starts).