Looking at the stats between Russell and Baker, I can understand why Baker won WAC POTY.

In actuality, if one takes into account the time (minutes per game) each player played on the court during WAC play. Baker was actually more product per minute of play than Russell. Baker had a higher production for points and rebounds but Russell was still higher for assists. Neither Russell nor Baker had a great field goal percentage. But Baker shot the ball noticeable better from the free throw line than Russell. Baker also had a better assist to turnover ratio; less turnovers. Overall, in conference play, Baker was more efficient than Russell.

Another thing to take into account is Russell had a substantial drop in his scoring average once WAC play started. Bakers stayed pretty constant throughout the season... in fact his stats were steadily increasing during WAC play.

Russell OOC scoring average - 23.6 ppg
Russell in WAC play - 18.7 ppg (0.478 points/minute)
Baker OOC scoring average - 16.1 ppg,
Baker in WAC play - 17.3 ppg (0.499 points/minute)

I actually think Josh Braun's strong performance during WAC play (once he was healthy) diminished Dewayne Russell's value on the GCU team. Ian Baker on the other hand, was always numero uno for NMSU.