Strangleholds on Awards in the MVC & OVC

(St. Louis, MO) – Several players are taking a stranglehold on their potential season-ending awards, by winning the weekly version again this week. As the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences near the midway point of the season, certain players have emerged as strong favorites for those end-of-year awards.

Ohio Valley Conference

After the first eight weeks of the basketball season, eight different players had won the ‘Player of the Week’ award. Now in the past three weeks, three players have repeated as winners. Tahjere McCall of Tennessee State and Austin Peay’s Josh Robinson were the first repeaters. This week it is pre-season ‘Player of the Year’ Evan Bradds.

The 6’7 Belmont senior averaged 23.5 points and 10.5 rebounds as the Bruins ran their league record to 7-0 with two wins. Bradds is third in the OVC in both scoring and rebounding.

Murray State’s Jonathan Stark won the OVC’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’ award, each of the season’s first four weeks. The 6’ junior averaged 24 points and 6.5 assists for the Racers as they split last week’s two games.  Stark makes more three-pointers than anyone in the OVC and is second in scoring.

One player won his fifth ‘Freshman of the Week’ award and another earned his second straight award, as the OVC named ‘Co-Freshmen of the Week’ on Monday. Eastern Kentucky’s Asante Gist is the five-time winner, earning last week’s award by averaging 21 points per game and four assists. Denzel Mahoney is emerging as a real threat for Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks won two games and Mahoney led SEMO with 29 points in those two contests.

Missouri Valley Conference

Wichita State’s Shaquille Morris has finally shown up! People have been predicting great things from Morris for three years, and this past week, Morris exploded with a double-double against Evansville, and then a career high 24 points against Indiana State. Morris is this week’s Valley ‘Player of the Week’.

Back to the strangleholds. Missouri State’s Alize Johnson won his fifth MVC ‘Newcomer of the Week’ with a border-line historic week. Johnson registered a 26 point, 20 rebound performance against Indiana State. He is the first Valley player have a 20-20 performance in the past 20 years. He then recorded his third straight double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

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