Point Guard Domination

(St. Louis, MO) – In a week of ups and downs for the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences point guard domination is in vogue in the ‘Twin Valleys’. This week’s main award winners turned that unique triple trick in unique fashion.

Missouri Valley Conference

Drake (5-1) is off to a surprising start and one of the reasons has been the strong play of senior transfer Nick Norton. The former UAB point guard is leading the MVC in assists (7.2 per game) and is sixth in scoring (15.2 points per game). Saturday he made history.

Norton put on a show in Drake’s most recent win. His triple double included a school record 17 assists. Rounding out the trifecta were 18 points and 13 rebounds. The feat was just the second in Drake history. His assist total as part of a triple double is the most by a Division 1 player since 2010.

Norton’s triple double garnered him a double honor. He is the Missouri Valley’s ‘Player of the Week‘ and ‘Newcomer of the Week‘.

Ohio Valley Conference

To know one’s surprise, Murray State’s Ja Morant has claimed his second straight OVC ‘Player of the Week‘ award. The sophomore point guard AVERAGED 31.5 points, ten rebounds and 5.5 assists while MSU split a pair of games.

Morant scored 38 points against Alabama and is currently leading the OVC and is third nationally averaging 27.2 points per game.

In UT Martin’s only game, Quinton Dove helped the Skyhawks (3-2) to a victory over Big South champion UNC Asheville. His 22-point, six rebound performance earned the junior college transfer this week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ award. Dove averages 10.6 points per game.

Jr. Clay is an emerging talent at Tennessee Tech. The 6’ freshman has raised his season scoring average to 11.6 with three straight double figure scoring outings. This week’s ‘Freshman of the Week‘ averaged 17.5 points (including his first collegiate 20-point performance) and eight rebounds during the Golden Eagles’ two games.