Men's Basketball | Monday 01/15/2018

DENVER – After dropping 57 points over two road wins, New Mexico State men's basketball guard Zach Lofton was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time this season.
 
Lofton is the first player to earn four player of the week honors since Pascal Siakam claimed five weekly honors during the 2015-16 season.
 
Against a hostile environment, Lofton willed the Aggies to a 70-59 win at Grand Canyon and avenged their loss there last season with a 29-point performance on 8-of-15 shooting. In addition, the 6-4 guard was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line to go with his five rebounds and two assists against the Lopes.
 
Two days later, Lofton dropped 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting, four of which came from deep, to help NM State stay undefeated in WAC play with a 66-53 victory against CSU Bakersfield. The St. Paul, Minn., product was once again a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and added three boards in the win.
 
At week's end, Lofton averaged 28.5 points with a .593 shooting clip, 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals. He also finished the week perfect from the line, going 18-for-18 while knocking down 53.8-percent (7-for-13) of his shots from downtown.
 
New Mexico State will have gone 37 days between home games when it takes the floor Thursday, Jan. 18, when it takes on Seattle U at 7 p.m. (MT). During the eight-game 37-day stretch, NM State went 7-1 with wins over Illinois (at United Center), vs. Davidson and vs. then-No. 6/7 Miami while falling to USC in the Diamond Head Classic championship game in the final seconds.