DENVER – Less than 24 hours after upsetting No. 6/7 Miami in the semifinal game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, New Mexico State men's basketball grad transfer Zach Lofton was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
 
This is the third conference weekly honor for Lofton and the second-straight week the guard has been named player of the week.
 
The St. Paul, Minn., product opened the phenomenal weekend with 10 points and eight rebounds with a pair of assists and steals as NM State beat Davidson on a late put-back. He also scored four of NM State's last eight points in the final two minutes of action.
 
Lofton then had a game-high 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals to help guide NM State in its upset win against No. 6/7 Miami Saturday night. His nine boards was a new career-high while going a perfect 6-for-6 at the line in 33 minutes of play.
 
At weekend's end, Lofton tallied 12.5 points per game and 8.5 boards per game with a perfect clip from the free-throw line (8-for-8) with five assists and five steal.
 
The win was New Mexico State's first victory over a ranked opponent since 2007 and the first win against a top-10 ranked team since the memorable 1990 victory over then No. 7 UNLV at the Pan American Center.
 
NM State and company are slated to battle the Trojans of USC at 4 p.m. (MT) Christmas Day for the tournament title on ESPN2.