Dallas Baptist guard Ricky Lujan helped orchestrate an upset of No. 3 West Texas A&M.
Wild seems like an understatement when describing the past week of DII men's basketball. Get out your dictionaries and shoot for the hyperbolic stars because the past few days have been absolutely bonkers with five of last week's top-six teams dropping a game.
So we're reinventing the all-stats team for this week and looking at some of the top numbers from the biggest upsets.
Note: All games played through Sunday, Jan. 10, were taken into account.
G - Tyler Geiman, Washburn
The Ichabods do-it-all floor general leads Washburn in nearly every major statistical category ... for the second year in a row. Geiman orchestrated an 84-82 overtime upset of No. 1 Northwest Missouri State with one of the biggest performances of his career. The senior netted 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting, knocking down a pair of 3's and converting on 6-of-7 free throws. He also pulled down seven rebounds and five assists while logging 41 minutes.
G - Q Mays, Missouri Western
Mays is nine games into his DII career and had his biggest game yet against Missouri Western's most highly-ranked competition to date. The junior scored a career high 17 points in the Griffons' 74-67 win over No. 5 Washburn. This was a game where few shot the ball well, but Mays still had a major impact. Eleven of his 17 points came at the free-throw line where he only missed once, including a perfect 8-for-8 stretch in the final 90 seconds to help MWSU ice the game.
G - Ricky Lujan, Dallas Baptist
Some freshmen need time to adapt to the speed and pace of college basketball. Then again, Lujan isn't like most first-year players. He scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, leading Dallas Baptist back from an 18-point halftime deficit to knock off No. 3 West Texas A&M, 87-78. Lujan got the nod here for the way he found himself in the second half, but you really can't choose wrong with most of the Patriots lineup. DBU was down 22 at one point in the second half before tying things up with 8 minutes remaining. Credit that to the team shooting 68 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes.
G - Darius Simmons, Lenoir-Rhyne
The Bears had never beaten a team as highly-ranked as Lincoln Memorial before their 89-83 upset this week, of which Simmons was a huge part. The senior guard poured in 23 points, scoring 13 in the second half — including 10 makes on his perfect 12-of-12 day at the free-throw line. Simmons dished out four assists and also helped hound LMU guards Cameron Henry and Devin Whitfield for a combined 10 turnovers.
F - Christian Simmons, Walsh
Simmons played a combined 7 minutes in Walsh's first two games of the season before putting on an absolute show against No. 6 Findlay. The senior logged 24 minutes off the bench, erupting for 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting after scoring just one total basket in the previous two games. But Simmons wasn't quite done yet as he also recorded his first double-double with the Cavaliers, pulling down 10 rebounds. The senior's timely performance played a major role in Walsh's 86-60 win over the Oilers.
