2024-25 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 8

SEATTLE U EARNS FIRST WIN OVER WASHINGTON SINCE 1978
Seattle U broke through against its crosstown rival Washington for the first time since 1978, downing the Huskies 79-70 on Dec. 23 at UW’s Alaska Airlines Arena. The Redhawks earned their first win over Washington in the program’s Division I era. Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe powered Seattle U with 23 points and 16 rebounds in the victory against Washington, hitting 7-of-11 shots from the floor and 9-of-10 tries at the free-throw line. John Christofilis connected on all eight of his free throw attempts on the way to scoring 21 points for the Redhawks in the triumph.

UTAH VALLEY’S WELLING EARNS WAC PLAYER, NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Utah Valley forward Carter Welling swept WAC Player and Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23 following a dynamic week for the 2-0 Wolverines. Welling averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per contest while shooting 68.0 percent from the floor in wins at Idaho State and Weber State. Welling scored 23 points and pulled down nine rebounds while blocking three shots and logging two steals at Idaho State on Dec. 18. Welling added 22 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots later in the road trip for Utah Valley in its 64-62 win at Weber State on Dec. 21.

GCU’S WINS LATE AT HOME AGAINST SAINT LOUIS
Grand Canyon finished off the pre-Christmas slate for the WAC with a thrilling 73-72 comeback win against Saint Louis on Dec. 22 at Global Credit Union Arena. After taking a five-point (37-32) lead into halftime, the Lopes trailed 72-71 with under five seconds to play. Lok Wur missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and hit a jump shot off his own rebound to send GCU to a 73-72 victory. Collin Moore led all scorers with 20 points and added seven rebounds and three blocked shots to the GCU cause, while Ray Harrison hit 4-of-6 shots from 3-point range on his way to 16 points.

MONCRIEFFE REMAINS IN THE NATIONAL TOP 10 IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Seattle U forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe remained ranked among the national top 10 players in double-doubles this season as of the latest NCAA Division I statistics report on Dec. 25. Moncrieffe registered a conference-high six double-doubles over his first 10 starts in 2024-25 to rank eighth in the country in the metric.

CONFERENCE PLAY ON THE HORIZON
One final week of nonconference play is all that remains before the start of WAC games after the calendar flips to 2025. A highlighted matchup on the final nonconference weekly schedule includes Abilene Christian traveling to No. 13 Texas A&M on Dec. 28. Eight of the nine WAC programs will compete in at least one more nonconference game in 2024 before the first day of league games on Jan. 4.