2017/18 AUSSIES IN DIVISION 1 COLLEGE UPDATE- MEN
Arizona Wildcats
A senior for the Wildcats, Keanu Pinder had a strong debut this season as he tallied four points, four rebounds, a steal and two blocks in his first game. Since then, he has been quiet but Arizona sit on top of the Pac-12 Conference with an 11-3 record.
Baylor Bears
A key piece of Baylor’s line-up, Jo-Lual Acuil Jr. is averaging a double-double of 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. The Bears own a 10-4 record and his best game came in mid-December when he tallied 31 points, 20 boards and three blocks against Savannah State while on January 2, Lual-Acuil tallied 28 points and 11 rebounds in an overtime loss while playing a mammoth 42 minutes.
Bradley Braves
A pair of Aussies feature for Bradley in Callum Barker and Jayden Hodgson. Barker is a junior who has played sporadically while Hodgson has impressed in his sophomore season with an average of 4.6 points and 1.6 assists. A threat from beyond the arc, Hodgson is also shooting 48% from distance with just under a make per game.
Bryant Bulldogs
The Bulldogs are struggling at 1-15 but Bosko Kostur is having a career year with 11.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while owning shooting splits of 51% from the field, 47% from long range and 85% from the free-throw line. A double-double on New Year’s Eve of 23 points and ten boards almost helped Bryant pull off an overtime win against St. Francis but they have now found themselves on an 11-game losing streak.
California Golden Bears
217cm centre Grant Anticevich is an imposing figure coming off the bench for the Golden Bears and the freshman is carving out a role for himself as the season wears on. Over a four-game period in mid-December, Anticevich averaged almost 20 minutes per game while his team is in the best form of the 2017/18 campaign with four wins from their past five games.
Colgate Raiders
Hugh Baxter has only appeared in four contests for the Raiders this season but his most recent performance on December 22 netted him seven points, four rebounds and two assists as they thrashed Pitt-Bradford by 50 points.
Denver Pioneers
After a slow start to his junior year, Abiola Akintola ended 2017 with a couple of confidence-boosting games. He recorded three points, five rebounds and a steal against Montana State before backing up with eight points, three boards and an assist in a 46-point thumping of Colorada Mesa. Hitting 52% from the field, Akintola is making the most of limited minutes.
Drake Bulldogs
Freshman Noah Thomas got off to the perfect start for Drake, knocking down three three-pointers for 13 points and six steals in his debut back in November. He has not reached double-figures since but is still averaging 4.3 points and an assist per game while the Bulldogs are on a four-game winning streak.
Eastern Washington Eagles
A freshman (Jack Perry), sophomore (Mason Peatling) and junior (Jesse Hunt) are included in the Eagles line-up with all three Aussies making contributions this season. Perry sits second in the side for assists with 2.5 to go with 5.3 points while Peatling notched a career-high 19 points on December 10 before missing the past four games.
Hunt has developed into a serious scorer for the Eagles after a quiet first two years and now sits second within the team with 8.9 points per match. A run of five straight losses was snapped on December 17 when Hunt recorded 14 points and eight rebounds and since then, he is averaging 15.5 points, 8.8 boards, 1.8 assists and 1.3 rejections to help them succeed in three of their last four games.
Florida Gators
While only playing ten minutes per contest, Gorjok Gak has improved his numbers dramatically from his freshman season by doubling his points and rebounds averages. With a 10-4 record, the Gators lead the Southeastern Conference and are currently on a four-game winning streak.
Gardner-Webb Bulldogs
Having an up-and-down campaign in his senior year, Jamaal Robateau helped the Bulldogs record their first win of the year on November 18 with a season-high 13 points. He then missed the next four games but has returned to the floor with two double-digit games from his past four outings while he now sits fifth for Gardner-Webb in steals.
Grand Canyon Antelopes
A consistent season for Gerard Martin has seen him hit the scoreboard in all but two games so far before collecting a season-high ten points on December 27. He is also knocking down 38% of his three-point attempts while team mate Matt Jackson is developing his own three-point shot as well, hitting 7-18 since early December for an average of 2.9 points. The third Aussie member of the Antelopes, Parker Dale has only hit the court twice this season.
Hartford Hawks
George Blagojevic has not been able to reach the heights of his freshman year but now in his third season with the Hawks, is building some momentum as we hit 2018. Hartford have won five of their last six and Blagojevic came alive for ten points, six rebounds and four assists on December 14 to continue a run of nine consecutive games of hitting the scoreboard.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Jack Purchase is a major reason why Hawaii own the second best record in the Big West at 9-4. He is placed fifth in the team for points (7.6), second for rebounds (5.5) and second for assists (2.8) and in his most recent outing on December 29, Purchase recorded 22 points on 6-9 three-point shooting.
Louisville Cardinals
Deng Adel has been exceptional for Louisville in his third year, not dropping below nine points in any game so far while scoring a season-high of 21. His consistency is helping the Cardinals to an 11-3 record as is his length at the defensive end where he sits fourth for steals.
LSU Tigers
Maintaining his career form for LSU, Duop Reath is recording 12.8 points per game which has been aided by a 30-point performance on December 10 while in his last game, he combined 24 points with 11 rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks. That match included 2-3 three-point shooting as well after nailing just three total prior to that game.
Marquette Golden Eagles
Making the move to Marquette in 2017/18, Harry Froling did not play until mid-December but since he has been cleared to play, he has averaged 3.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists. Stating that his job is to crash the glass and impose his big frame in the paint, Froling is doing his job so far and will now be aiming to achieve consistent minutes for the rest of the season.
Miami Hurricanes
Joined by Deng Gak in Miami who has yet to see any court time, Dejan Vasijevic continues to be a lights out shooter for the Hurricanes with 10.3 points per game. He nailed just 1-10 from downtown in his first match but has improved his overall mark to 40% since then while also proving his stroke on 91% free-throw shooting. Owning a 12-2 record, Miami are a serious contender in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.
Montana Grizzlies
Foul trouble has been an issue for Fabijan Krslovic and could be hampering his minutes but the forward is still averaging 4.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest while he is one of six Montana players recording more than a steal per game.
Mt. St. Mary’s Mountaineers
Jonah Antonio has shown no fears in his freshman season for the Mountaineers and has been thrown into the deep end by playing over 30 minutes per match. Across a seven-game stretch during November and December, he recorded 15.7 points while hitting at least three three’s every contest and shooting a season-high five on November 24. That has helped bump up his average to 11 points and today against Bryant, he added another 18 points on 4-12 long range shooting.
New Mexico Lobos
New Mexico set the competition alight with a stunning 147-76 win over Northern New Mexico in their opening game this season and Makuach Maluach had 18 points on perfect 7-7 shooting. Neither he nor the Lobos have been able to reach those heights again but the freshman is still averaging over six points per contest.
New Mexico State Aggies
Gabe Hadley started his career with New Mexico confidently, hitting the court in his first four matches while also scoring five points on debut but since then, he has only played in three of their next 11 games.
Northern Illinois Huskies
Another freshman, Gairges Daow signed off from 2017 with his most productive performance of 12 points, six boards and two assists. He is receiving some big minutes but is yet to make a serious impact on the team while the Huskies are also struggling for consistency, unable to string together consecutive wins since late November.
Quinnipiac Bobcats
Jacob Rigoni watched the Bobcats struggle through the opening games of the season with little court time but since December, he has notched three games of 17+ points and Quinnipiac have won three of their past six. Knocking down 11-16 from beyond the arc in his last three matches, Rigoni is showcasing the impressive shooting that Aussies already knew he had.
Santa Clara Broncos
A senior for Santa Clara, Kai Healy has had an innocuous season so far for the Broncos but his contribution to the team extends beyond just stats. That said, Santa Clara are struggling so far with just a 4-10 record.
San Francisco Dons
Improving his production upon every season, Matt McCarthy is now recording 7.6 points per game to sit fourth for the Dons while he has also notched double-figures on the boards twice over his past five games. Shooting 46% from the field, he is also the most efficient offensive player for San Francisco.
Stanford Cardinal
Freshman Isaac White has cooled off somewhat in recent games but is still making a nice contribution to Stanford with 9.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. He started off with a 17-point performance and has gone on to tally 17 points on four more occasions while his season-high of 20 came against 2017 NCAA Champions UNC on November 20.
St. Mary’s Gaels
The most represented team on the men’s side, St Mary’s have six Australians in the line-up this season. Jock Landale has been the standout, earning the West Coast Conference Player of the Week for the third time while averaging 21.8 points and 9.8 rebounds. His lowest production has been 13 points in the first game and since then, he has recorded nine double-doubles to be the highest scoring centre in the nation. Emmett Naar continues to be a real offensive threat too with 11.5 points on 50% shooting from the field and 41% three-point shooting but the most impressive aspect of his game has been his 9.1 assists per game which places him second in the country.
Freshman Tanner Krebs has fitted in nicely to the team, averaging 7.7 points alongside Jordan Hunter who is adding 7.4 points while Jock Perry is hitting 64% from the field for 3.5 points. Kyle Clark is the sixth member of the team but has only played three contests due to knee issues.
TCU Horned Frogs
A freshman duo have joined TCU this season but Lat Mayen has not played a game yet. Kouat Noi, on the other hand, has been integral to their 13-1 start after he began 2017/18 with three double-digit scoring performances. Since then, he scored a career-high 16 points on December 5 while shooting a very impressive 57% from the field and 47% from beyond the arc overall.
UC Davis Aggies
The on-court leader for the Aggies, Chima Moneke is pacing the team in points (19.9) and rebounds (9.9) while also impressing in assists and steals with one per game. He has recorded nine double-doubles for the season and has been very efficient with his minutes, helping UC Davis to sit first in the Big West Conference with a 10-5 record.
UL Monroe Warhawks
Both Aussie representatives for the Warhawks have played every game with sophomore Sam Alabakis collecting 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while senior Sam McDaniel sits second for the club with 14.9 points. He notched a season-high 28 points today on perfect 6-6 shooting from the three-point line to push his mark to 42% shooting beyond the arc for 2017/18.
UNLV Rebels
Jay Green, a freshman who hails from Sydney, featured in the Rebels’ first five games and they were unbeaten in every one of those matches. Since then, he has only played in two games though with UNLV now owning a 12-3 record overall.
UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
The 216cm John Crnogorac is becoming a factor in the paint at the defensive end with a block in each of his last six games while also recording 4.5 points per game overall. On December 22 against Oklahoma State, he combined 11 points with two assists in his best game of the campaign.
UT San Antonio Roadrunners
In his senior year, James Ringholt has only played six games for the Roadrunners but showed how valuable he can be with 12 points in 12 minutes on November 30 against Ottawa.
Winthrop Eagles
Two freshman Aussies in Tom Pupavac and Kyle Zunic have joined Xavier Cooks at Winthrop. Pupavac has played eight games while Zunic has already showcased his three-point shot on a 38% conversion rate with 7.9 points per contest, including four double-digit scoring performances. Cooks, meanwhile, is absolutely dominating once again in his senior year with 15.5 points (first for the team), 8.7 rebounds (first), 3.6 assists (first), 1.4 steals (first) and 1.3 blocks (first) but he needs more help with the Eagles only owning a 7-6 record.
Basketball Australia
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