Men's Basketball

MVC Announces Men's Basketball Weekly Honors

This week's Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball player of the week is Shamar Givance of Evansville; and the newcomer of the week is Bowen Born of UNI.
 
Player of the Week
Shamar Givance, Evansville
5-10, 155, Jr., Gd., Toronto (Ontario) First Love Christian
With a top five seed on the line, Evansville junior Shamar Givance put forth two of the top performances of his career.  In Friday’s opener against Missouri State, Givance finished with 21 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.  He was 9-of-16 from the field and 3-for-6 from outside over the course of 30 minutes.  The final point tally was just one short of his career high.  Just 24 hours later, Givance stepped it up even more in one of UE’s biggest games in recent seasons.  Another 9-for-16 shooting day saw him tie his career scoring mark with 22 points.  He knocked down four triples in six tries while leading the Aces with 7 rebounds in a 72-63 win that cemented UE’s spot as the #5 seed in Arch Madness.
 
Newcomer of the Week
Bowen Born, UNI
5-11, 170, Fr., Norwalk (Iowa) High
Born scored 33 points, dished out 12 assists, with 5 rebounds and 4 steals while helping the Panthers to a 2-0 mark on the week against Illinois State. Born’s 12 points and 5 assists in Fridays game to helped push the Panthers past the Redbirds 70-56 but his play on Saturday sealed the victory for the Panthers. Going 6-12 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line on Saturday, Born found himself scoring in critical moments down the stretch. Providing catch and shoot opportunities on the perimeter, Born dished out 7 assists and recorded 3 steals in the double overtime victory.
 
OTHERS NOMINATED
  • Jake LaRavia, Indiana State -- LaRavia had a strong weekend in the regular season finale for Indiana State, averaging 17.0 points and 9.5 points per game. The Indianapolis, Ind. scored 22 points in the Sycamores’ 15-point victory over Valparaiso Friday, grabbing 14 boards and shooting 60-percent. (9-of-15) from the floor. LaRavia followed it up a 12 point performance in which he went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, had four steals, and added three assists.
  • Gaige Prim, Missouri State -- In two games this week, Prim averaged 25.0 points per game, including a career-high 33 in Friday's road win at Evansville and fired at an amazing 68.8 percent clip from the field for the week (22-of-32). He also padded his league lead in rebounding with 6.0 rebounds per game on the road swing. On Friday, Prim was 15-for-19 from the field while matching the 33rd-best single-game scoring effort in school history and most since 10th best of the program's Division I era.
  • Austin Phyfe, UNI -- Phyfe led the Panthers to a 2-0 mark against the redbirds of Illinois State last week. The junior big man totaled 29 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block to lead the Panthers in their first series sweep of the year. Phyfe continued his efficient play in the paint, making 52% (13-25) of his shots from the field. The redshirt junior added 11 points and 8 rebounds against the Redbirds on Friday. HE added 18 points and 9 rebounds in Saturday’s contest. Phyfe provided key plays in Saturday’s double overtime victory, scoring the final field goal of regulation to tie the game and send it into the first overtime period. 
  • Cameron Krutwig, Loyola - One of the most accomplished players in Missouri Valley Conference history, Krutwig helped Loyola to its third regular season conference title in four years, notching 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 3.0 blocks and 1.5 steals, while shooting 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the field, as the Ramblers pulled out a pair of wins against Southern Illinois over the weekend. In the opener of the two-game set with the Salukis, the 6-foot-9 center tallied 11 points, six boards, two assists and four blocks, then went off for 20 points, a half-dozen boards, two helpers, two blocks and a pair of steals in a 65-58 overtime victory that ran the Ramblers’ home-court winning streak to 22 games. His tip-in in the waning seconds of overtime sealed the win on February 27 on Senior Night. Krutwig and teammate Lucas Williamson are the winningest players in program history with 94 career victories. A leading candidate for MVC Player of the Year, Krutwig is pitching in 15.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.1 bpg and 1.1 spg this season.
  • Lance Jones, Southern Illinois -- Averaged 21.7 points on 56% shooting from the field and 56% shooting from the free throw line in three games last week. Jones scored 21 points in a win over Valpo on Monday, and he followed that up by averaging 22 points per game against the nation’s No. 1 defense, Loyola. Against Loyola, Jones shot 16-of-30 from the field and 9-of-16 from the 3-point line. He scored a game-high 30 points in the second game, 19 of those in the second half alone to help SIU come all the way back from a 16-point deficit to force overtime.  
  • Joseph Yesufu, Drake -- Led Drake with 18.5 points per game to close the season and played 79 total minutes … closed the regular season with a game-high 21 points and was 9-of-10 at the line in that contest … it was his fourth 20+ point game in his last five games and fifth-straight double-digit game … opened the week with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the three-point arc in the win over Bradley while never leaving the court … also added five assists and three steals in the two games.
  • DJ Horne, Illinois State -- In the regular season finale, Horne scored a career-high 34 points off the bench, which is tied for the fourth-highest scoring total in the country this season among reserves. In all there are 20 student-athletes this season who have scored at least 30 points in a reserve role, including Illinois State freshman Emon Washington against Greenville, and Drake’s Joseph Yesufu against Evansville. Since 2010-11, no MVC player has scored more points off of the bench than Horne did on Saturday.
  • Darnell Brodie, Drake -- Averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the series at Bradley while shooting 63.2 percent … had a career-high 21 points with seven rebounds to open in the week in the win at Bradley while shooting 10-of-13 from the field … was limited offensively in the series finale, but managed to haul in 12 rebounds along with seven points … his 12 boards marked his fifth double-digit rebounding performance in MVC action this season.
  • Steven Verplancken, Southern Illinois -- Averaged 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds for SIU in three games last week. Verplancken shot 65% from the field and 62% from the 3-point line over the three games. Verplancken’s best game came against the nation’s top defense at #21 Loyola. He scored 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 5-of-5 from the 3-point line in the first game against the Ramblers. Verplancken also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. 
  • Braden Norris, Loyola -- In two games against Southern Illinois over the weekend, Norris put up 12.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per outing, hitting 7 of 15 shots (.467) from the field, 5 of 11 (.455) from behind the arc, and all six of his attempts from the foul line, to help Loyola win its third MVC regular season title in the last four years. In addition, the transfer from Oakland was a key contributor as the Ramblers extended their home-court winning streak to 22 games.  The 6-foot point guard scored in double figures in both wins over the Salukis, totaling 13 points, two boards, a pair of assists and three steals in a 60-52 decision on February 26 before posting 12 points and five assists in a 65-58 overtime victory the following day. Norris’ three-pointer in overtime gave Loyola the lead for good, at 60-58. For the year, the Hilliard, Ohio native in contributing 7.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.7 apg and shooting 38.6 percent (39-for-101) from long distance.
  • Jacob Ognacevic, Valparaiso  -- Ognacevic scored a team-high 13.0 points per game over two contests this week, shooting at a 64.3 percent clip (9-of-14) including a 75 percent rate (6-of-8) from 3-point distance. The Valpo freshman also squeezed 4.5 rebounds per game in 23.0 minutes per contest. After contributing seven points and four boards in Friday's defeat to the Sycamores, Ognacevic helped Valpo outscore Indiana State 49-3 in bench points in Saturday's significant victory, which allowed the Brown & Gold to lock up a first-round bye in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since joining the league. In Saturday's 70-58 triumph, Ognacevic boasted a plus-minus number of +26 to go along with his game-high 19 points, a personal best against a Division-I opponent. The rookie knocked down seven of his nine field-goal attempts including a 5-of-6 clip from 3-point distance. Ognacevic became the first Valpo player to hit five 3s vs. a Division-I foe this season and just the fifth MVC player to shoot better than 80 percent from long range (minimum four attempts) in a game this year. 
  • Rienk Mast, Bradley -- Mast continued his strong campaign in a pair of contests against Drake, averaging 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field. Mast helped key a win against the first-place Bulldogs on Saturday as the rookie played a career-best 38 minutes with BU only having six scholarship players available — chipping in 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, eight boards, three assists and one block.