2023-24 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 16

TARLETON STATE JOINS WAC TOURNAMENT FIELD
Tarleton State became the second team to officially clinch a spot in the 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament field thanks to an 80-78 road victory at UT Arlington on Feb. 15. The Texans joined Grand Canyon as early qualifiers for the conference tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Tarleton State has won six consecutive games leading into a showdown with first place GCU on Feb. 22 in Stephenville.

LOPES CONTINUE TO BUILD ON WAC RESUME SEEDING SYSTEM LEAD
In the latest WAC Résumé Seeding System rankings that were compiled on Feb. 18, Grand Canyon maintained its advantage with 8.44 points and remained at the top of the conference standings at 24-2 overall (14-1 in the WAC). Tarleton State (2.77 points) and Seattle U (0.89 points) were the only other teams with a positive point value in the most recent seeding system rankings. UT Arlington (-1.18 points) and Stephen F. Austin (-1.58) rounded out the metric’s top five teams.

SEATTLE U LOOKS TO PUNCH THIRD TOURNEY TICKET
Seattle U has positioned itself to claim the third official slot berth the 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. The Redhawks have won four of the past five games to climb into outright third place in the WAC conference and Résumé Seeding System standings. Seattle U can lock up its tournament entry with a win against Stephen F. Austin and an Abilene Christian defeat against California Baptist in games across the conference on Feb. 22.

UTA’S GORDON KEEPS STELLAR SEASON ROLLING WITH CONFERENCE WEEKLY HONOR
UT Arlington guard DaJuan Gordon earned his second WAC Player of the Week award of the season Feb. 19 following another solid week for the Mavs in conference play. Gordon averaged 18.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per start across two games last week for UTA, registering his conference-best 10th double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds against Tarleton State on Feb. 15.

WAC IN THE NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
Grand Canyon checked in as the national leader in winning percentage (.923), fourth in made free throws per game (19.1) and seventh in free throws attempted per game (25.7) in the latest NCAA Division I national statistics report on Feb. 20. Stephen F. Austin was fourth in turnovers forced per game (17.44) and sixth in bench points per game (33.00). UTRGV was fifth in free throws attempted (26.0) and 10th in free throws made (18.2) per game.

WACVEGAS WILL BE ON YOUR TV
A total of three games at the 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas will air on linear ESPN networks. The final game of the WAC women’s basketball championship will be shown live on ESPNU at 10:30 a.m. PT on March 16. The 2024 women’s championship contest will mark the first WAC women’s title game to be carried live on linear TV since 2016.

The second WAC men’s semifinal on March 15 pitting the winner of Game Four against the tournament’s number two seed will air live on either ESPNU or ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m. PT. The WAC has not had a men’s semifinal tournament game available on linear TV since 2011. The 2024 WAC men’s basketball championship game is slotted for March 16 at 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2. All additional tournament games at the 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament will be available on ESPN+.

KEY SHOWDOWNS AWAIT ON THE WAC COMPOSITE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
The top two teams in the WAC standings will collide on Feb. 22 in Texas when Grand Canyon travels to Tarleton State. Stephen F. Austin heads to Seattle U to close out the slate on Feb. 22. California Baptist will make the trek to Tarleton State on Feb. 24 to highlight the Saturday collection of games.