MVC/OVC Week Five Stars

Johnson Rsing Nationally

(St. Louis, MO) – As the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences announce their weekly awards, the week five stars are making a big splash. Southern Illinois (Carbondale) guard Xavier Johnson and Southern Illinois Edwardsville guard Damarco Minor are rising in the national consciousness.

With conference play coming at the turn of the year, these two leagues are starting to see some consistency of what their teams will be able to accomplish

Week Five Stars – MVC

SIU’s Xavier Johnson is flirting with the top spot among the nation’s leading scorers. During SIU’s win over Oklahoma State, Johnson hit the thirty point mark for the third time this season. Johnson leads the Valley and is second nationally in scoring (24.2 ppg) and is also the Valley’s ‘Player of the Week‘. He is 32nd nationally in free throw percentage (.913).

If Malik Dia continues to come off the Belmont bench, you can probably engrave Dia’s name on the MVC’s ‘Sixth Man Award’. This week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ averaged 18.5 points and four rebounds during the Bruins’ wins over Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee. The Vanderbilt transfer is the Valley’s eighth leading scorer (16.8 ppg) and is converting .529 of his shot attempts.

Drake’s impressive wins over Saint Louis and Nevada were sparked by the outstanding play of guard Kevin Overton. This week’s ‘Freshman of the Week‘ averaged fifteen points and 5.5 rebounds during the critical non-conference victories. Overton is the MVC’s highest scoring rookie (13.9 ppg).

Week Five Stars – OVC

SIUE’s Damarco Minor is seventh nationally in defensive rebounds (8.18) and leads the OVC with four double-doubles and has been named the ‘Player of the Week‘. SIUE split a pair of games and Minor was outstanding. The 6’ junior averaged 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, while teammate Ray’Sean Taylor hit the 1,000 point career scoring mark.

Southeast Missouri guard Rob Martin enjoyed a breakout week. The 5’10 sophomore scored 41 points during the Redhawk’s 1-1 week. This week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ set and than reset his career high in individual game scoring. The Indiana State transfer scored 19 and then 22 points in last week’s action.

Little Rock dropped two games, but rookie Jaylen Crocker-Johnson nearly recorded two double-doubles. The 6’8 forward averaged 14 points and twelve rebounds. This week’s ‘Freshman of the Week‘ grabbed season-best 15 rebounds against Central Arkansas.

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Editor: Cover photo courtesy of siuecougars.com.