Final 2018 Weekly Awards

(St. Louis, MO) – Conference season is approaching so it is time for the final 2018 weekly awards. The tournament successes by Drake and Indiana State were great Christmas presents to the Missouri Valley Conference and five near-misses were agonizing for the Ohio Valley Conference.

This week brings huge opportunities for the OVC.

Missouri Valley Conference

Has Nick Norton wrapped up the ‘Newcomer of the Year‘ award yet? Drake’s grad transfer point guard scored a career high 31 points in the Bulldogs’ (10-2) Las Vegas Classic championship game win over San Diego. The 5’10 senior was named the tournament’s MVP and handed out 13 assists during the team’s two victories in Las Vegas. Norton’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ award is his third this season.

Speaking of tournament heroes, Jordan Barnes starred at the Diamond Head Classic. The Indiana State junior was named to the all-tournament team for leading the Sycamores (8-4) to a second-place finish. Barnes averaged 20.3 points over the three games in Honolulu. ISU defeated Colorado and UNLV before falling to TCU in the title match.

Barnes leads the Valley in scoring (20.8 ppg) and in three-pointers (3.6 per game). Norton leads the league in assists (6.5 per game). This week’s ‘Player of the Week‘ award is Barnes’ first this season.

Ohio Valley Conference

Murray State’s Ja Morant is terrorizing the Southeastern Conference. Morant put on another display in a hostile SEC environment. The 6’3 sophomore scored 25 points in a narrow loss at Auburn. During the Racers’ two close losses in the State of Alabama Morant scored  a total of 63 points.

Prior to the Auburn game, Morant scored 27 points including the game-winning layup against Evansville.

The OVC’s final 2018 weekly awards look a lot like the preseason predictions as Morant, this week’s ‘Player of the Week‘ winner was part of the predicted All-OVC squad. His third weekly award breaks a three-way tie between fellow preseason first-teamers Terry Taylor and Nick Mayo.

Morant’s teammate Tevin Brown earned his second straight ‘Freshman of the Week‘ award for averaging 13.5 points and six rebounds in the Racers’ two games. He recorded his first collegiate double-double against Auburn and leads the OVC in 3-pointers (3.3 per game).

Eastern Kentucky’s Kelvin Robinson was outstanding during a Colonel overtime loss to Duquesne. The 6’2 junior recorded a season high 14 points and added nine assists and five rebounds. He is this week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’.