Offensive Explosions Lead to Weekly Honors

Big Upsets Help Too

(St. Louis, MO) – In an historic week there were some offensive explosions and huge upsets. The Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences enjoyed some rare exploits and achievements.

Ohio Valley Conference

Two different OVC players averaged 31.5 points per game last week and they share this week’s ‘Player of the Week’ honors. Belmont’s Adam Kunkel’s offensive explosion catapulted the Bruins to an upset win over Boston College and an easy victory over Samford. The 6’3 sophomore scored 28 points against Samford and followed that up with 35 points against BC.

Belmont’s win over the Atlantic Coast Conference foe gave them back-to-back seasons with wins over ‘power five’ teams. Last year the Bruins defeated UCLA. Kunkel is averaging an OVC-best 25.3 points per game.

Eastern Kentucky sophomore Jomaru Brown equaled Kunkel’s point total, but scored 22 points in one game and an OVC-high 41 in the other. His 41-point performance was this season’s third highest output by a Division 1 player.

Parker Stewart produced one of offensive explosions with a career-high 32-point, 11 rebound game. The UT Martin redshirt sophomore is this week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’. The Skyhawks split a pair of games and Martin led them in scoring, rebounding and assists.

Austin Peay guard Jordyn Adams scored 15 points in Governors’ only game. The 6’3 Texan is this week’s ‘Freshman of the Week’ and is currently tenth in the OVC in scoring (14.0).

Missouri Valley Conference

Valparaiso sophomore Javon Freeman-Liberty had two offensive explosions. His 30 point, 13-rebound double-double led the Crusaders to a road win at Southern Illinois Edwardsville and his 21 point effort led Valpo to a home win over North Dakota. The Chicago native is the Valley’s ‘Player of the Week‘. Freeman-Liberty is the Valley’s leading scorer (22.3 ppg), is fifth in rebounding (7.8) and tied for sixth in steals (2.0).

Yet another sophomore is one of the weekly award winners. For the second straight week, Evansville’s DeAndre Williams is the Valley’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘. Williams played a key role in the Purple Aces’ upset win over # 1 Kentucky. While he scored nine pointes and grabbed four rebounds in the upset of the season, he followed that performance with a 23 point, 13 rebound effort in UE’s defeat of IU Kokomo.

The 6’9 sophomore is second to Freeman-Liberty in scoring (19.3 ppg) and third in rebounding (8.7 rpg).

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