MVC/OVC Player of the Week

Week Four Heating Up

(St. Louis, MO) – As the basketball season heats up, so do the season-ending awards predictions. If the weekly awards are any indication, the season-ending hardware will be hard to predict. With so many players collecting weekly honors, there isn’t much separation among these stars.

One player racked up a rare two trophy week.

Ohio Valley Conference

UT Martin’s Parker Stewart popped a career-high 34-point performance against McNeese State. During the Skyhawks’ two games Stewart made ten of 19 shots from distance and this week’s Co-Player of the Week now leads the OVC in scoring (16.3 ppg), triples per game (2.9) and steals (2.4).

Joining Stewart as Co-Player of the Week is a player who is also the Newcomer of the Week. Southeast Missouri’s Israel Barnes. While SEMO dropped two, difficult road contests, Barnes produced two, 20-point performances. The Newman University transfer scored 22 and 21 points while making seven of 14 three-point attempts.

Two freshmen also share the OVC’s Freshman of the Week honors. Eastern Illinois’ Kyle Thomas averaged 10.5 points and five rebounds last week and Little Rock’s Ethan Speaker recorded career high’s in points (13) and rebounds (6) during the Trojans’ only game.

Through four weeks of the season, no OVC player has earned a weekly award more than once.

Missouri Valley Conference

Murray State needed overtime periods to win their first two MVC contests and Rob Perry was vital to both victories. The 6’4 junior scored 20 points during the Racers’ OT victory against Illinois State and then dropped 30 points on Valparaiso during that extra session contest. This week’s Player of the Week converted nine of 15 long distance shots including the game winner against the Beacons.

When you make 81 percent of your shots, you’re likely to receive awards. Southern Illinois’ Xavier Johnson turned that trick last week. The George Mason transfer averaged 18.5 points while making eight of ten triple attempts. This week’s Newcomer of the Week scored 23 points at Saint Louis and 14 points at Evansville.

Through four weeks of the season, no MVC player has earned a weekly award more than once.

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