Player of the Week:
Mason Falslev (So., Utah State)
Utah State has been off to an incredible start of the season with a 15-1 record on the year with a 5-0 record in conference play. Utah State has finally got the recognition they deserved with them finally being ranked in the AP Poll this week at 25. The player of the week comes from Utah State, and it is one of their starting guards Mason Falslev he helped Utah State get two more huge wins this week. For the first game this week he had 14 points 6 rebounds and 2 assists against Fresco St. Then he followed that game up with even a better game with 17 points 7 rebounds and 4 assists he shot 3-4 from the 3PT line game also. After being ranked this week, they picked up two close wins thanks to the great play of Mason Falslev.
Who’s Hot:
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (Sr., UC San Diego)
In two wins this week for UC San Diego you could not ask for better games out of Aniwaniwa Tait-Hones then what he had in those two games. In his first game of the week, he finished with 24 points 5 rebounds and 4 assists in that game while shooting 80% from the field in that game. Tait-Jones then follows up that game with another great game with 25 points 3 rebounds and 4 assists while shooting almost 67% from the field. He is very high scoring very efficient player with an average of 18.1 points per game which is 66th in the country then 59.7 FG% which is tied for 30th in the country on the season.
Augustas Marciulionis (Sr., Saint Mary’s)
Augustas Marciulionis put together a great shooting week for himself from pretty much all over the field. In the two wins this week for Saint Mary’s the starting guard for them put together two great games with the first game he had 20 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists shooting 50% from 3PT line. Then he had a 23 point 1 rebound and 2 assists in the next game making 4 3 pointers shooting 80% from the outside.’
Who’s Not:
Enoch Cheeks (Sr., Dayton)
Not just Ethan Cheeks but the whole Dayton team has had a rough week this week with recording two losses this week. For Ethan though it was a rough week in the first game this week he had 4 points with 4 assists but did add 11 rebounds to his name. Then followed up that game with a 6 point game adding 2 rebounds and 1 assist. On the season he averages double digits points and around 7 rebounds per game. He and the Dayton team will look to get back on track against George Mason on 1/15.
Rondel Walker (Sr., North Texas)
In a close loss to 21 ranked Memphis Rondel played pretty well with 10 points and 6 rebounds which were both over his season average. Then he followed that up with a 0 point game with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Walker has just been too inconsistent for this North Texas team where he plays solid games then follows is up with a bad game. He is only averaging 5.1 points and rebounds per game with less than 1 assist per game on the season.
Top 5 teams outside the Power 5 Conferences
5. UC San Diego – Big West
UC San Diego might be on one of the best winning streaks in the country right now they have now won 12 games in a row. Some games have been blowouts and others have been close gritty wins which is good for the team. No matter what UCSD keeps finding ways to win and are also tied at the top of the conference is a 4-0 record.
4. Saint Mary’s – West Coast Conference
Once again it looks like the conference is led by Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga with them both being tied for 1st place in the conference with a 4-0 record. Saint Mary’s is now starting to figure it out as a team and on a 4-game winning streak. Their overall record is 14-3 on the season and will look to keep the hot streak going.
3. Utah State – Mountain West
Utah State is finally ranked in the AP Poll with the 25th spot in the rankings. They have a record of 15-1 on the season while riding a 5-game winning streak. They are 5-0 in conference play so far on the season putting them in a great spot to win the conference if they keep it up. Most of the recent games have been close wins that they have come out on top of all of them.
2. Memphis – AAC
In the latest AP Poll Memphis comes in ranked 19th in the country 1 spot behind Gonzaga. If Memphis keeps winning the games, they should I would not be shocked if they jump Gonzaga in the AP Poll and my poll. Memphis is 12-3 on the season with some great wins and some bad losses which is why they are ranked where they are in this week’s ranking. They are at the top of their conference with a 2-0 record to start the season.
1. Gonzaga – West Coast Conference
Once again Gonzaga comes in at the 1 spot in my week’s ranking. Gonzaga is still a very good and talented team. They have just lost a couple of games they could have won, but you can’t knock a team for winning games they should be winning, which is exactly what they are doing still. They are on a 4-game winning streak with a 13-4 record and like I said earlier tied for 1st place in their conference.