MVC/OVC Weekly Awards – Week 8

Wide Open Player of the Year Race

(St. Louis, MO) – For the eighth straight week there is still no multi-week winner of either the Missouri Valley or Ohio Valley Conferences’ player of the week. These two conferences are so filled with parity that no player nor team is dominating.

While the OVC conference schedule has just begun the Valley teams have played four league games. The two leagues consist of a total of 22 teams. Two are undefeated and three haven’t won a game. The rest are jammed together in the middle.

Missouri Valley Conference

Southern Illinois (11-4, 3-1) has won six straight games and senior guard Lance Jones is certainly a key component to the Salukis’ success. The 6’1 guard scored 37 points covering two games against two of the Valley’s newcomers. During wins over Murray State and Belmont, Jones made five three-pointers and handed out seven assists. This week’s Player of the Week recently joined SIU’s career top-20 list in assists.

Missouri State (7-7, 3-1) has won three straight games and Georgia transfer Dalen Ridgnal is an emerging contributor. The 6’7 forward recorded a double-double (24 points & 11 rebounds) against Northern Iowa and made key plays during the team’s win over Drake. This week’s Newcomer of the Week made seven of 14 long range attempts during the Bears’ two games.

Ohio Valley Conference

Southern Indiana (8-7, 1-1) split its OVC openers and during the Screaming Eagles’ victory over Southeast Missouri, Jacob Polakovich performed a rare feat. The 6’9 senior recorded the eleventh 20/20 game in conference history. His 27 point and 26 rebound performance sparked USI to its first-ever OVC win. This week’s Player of the Week recorded the best single game rebounding total by any Division 1 player this season.

Lindenwood University (6-9, 1-1) split its OVC openers and during the Lions’ victory over Tennessee Tech,  Keenon Cole scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds. This week’s Newcomer of the Week is a Polk State transfer and Cole is the OVC’s second ranked three-point shooter.

Little Rock University (5-10, 1-1) split its OVC openers and during the Trojans’ victory over UT Martin, freshman Chris Walker came off the bench to score eleven points. The 6’6 guard is this week’s Freshman of the Week and is now a three-time winner of the award.

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