This week's Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week is Lance Jones of Southern Illinois. Ja'Kobi Gillespie of Belmont is the MVC Newcomer of the Week.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lance Jones, Southern Illinois
Saluki senior Lance Jones put together one of the best weeks of his career in the maroon & white, aver-aging 23.5 points, 3.5 assists, three rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game as he helped the Salukis to a 2-0 week on the hardwood. Jones, an Evanston, Illinois native, shot 60.7 percent (17-28) and 50 percent (7-14) from behind the arc in the two wins. The guard scored a season-high 28 points on Senior Night to propel SIU to an 86-63 victory over UNI. Jones went on to lead the Salukis with 19 points in the regular-season finale on the road at UIC to help SIU clinch the No. 3 seed at Arch Madness.
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Belmont
Averaged 20.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game as Belmont won at UNI and at home against Indiana State. He scored a career-high 24 points with four assists at UNI, and he made his first eight shots of the game. He had 16 points and three steals vs. Indiana State in leading Belmont to its greatest comeback victory in Curb Event Center history. The Greenville, Tenn., native was 16-of-23 from the field for the week.
OTHERS NOMINATED
Rienk Mast, Bradley -- Averaged 15.0 points and a league-best 11.0 rebounds as the Braves won two games last week, extending their win streak to 10 games. On Sunday, Bradley earned its first regular-season men's basketball title since 1996 with a winner-take-all game against Drake in Peoria.
Seneca Knight, Illinois State -- Averaged 19.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game during the week for the Redbirds. Also made 13-of-29 shots from the field (44.8%), 6-of-12 shots from long range, and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Opened the week with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double, just his second of the season. Against the Bulldogs he added three assists and added a blocked shot while making all four of his free throw tries and 4-of-12 from the field. Closing out the regular season he scored a season-high 26 points, making 9-of-17 shots from the field and tied a career-high with five three-point makes while also going 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Dished out a team-high four assists against Evansville against zero turnovers, playing 33 minutes in the team’s win.
Roman Penn, Drake -- Averaged 12.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals last week. Penn scored 12 points while ripping away seven rebounds and dishing out three assists in a Senior Night 82-51 win over Illinois State. He scored 12 points again with six boards, four assists and a season-high four assists in a 73-61 loss at Bradley on Sunday.
Ben Krikke, Valparaiso -- Scored 20.5 points per game in two contests this week, shooting 63 percent (17-of-27) from the field. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Krikke finished the season as the league's leading scorer, both overall (19.61 ppg) and in MVC play (20.95 ppg). The Edmonton native scored in double figures in all 20 MVC games. He had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists on Wednesday vs. Bradley before leading all scorers with 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting in Sunday's regular-season finale at Murray State.
Connor Hickman, Bradley -- Averaged 14.0 points as the Braves won two games last week, extending their win streak to 10 games. On Sunday, Bradley earned its first regular-season men's basketball title since 1996 with a winner-take-all game against Drake in Peoria. He had a team-best 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting (including 4-of-5 from three-point range) against the Bulldogs.
Kendle Moore, Missouri State -- Pushed the Bears to back-to-back victories on the final week of the season, including a pivotal road win at Indiana State on Sunday that pushed MoState to three straight seasons with 12 Valley wins. Moore started the week with 14 points and 3 assists in the Bears' 15-point home win over Murray State with him contributing 4 three-pointers to the winning cause as the team's only outgoing senior. He topped that effort at Indiana State, racking up a season-high (and game-high) 22 points at the Hulman Center to spoil ISU's senior day. He also snagged a team-high 5 rebounds, dished out 3 assists, tallied 3 steals and knocked down 4 more triples. His 17 points in the first half against ISU was a season-high for points in a half by any Bear this season.
Nick Edwards, Valparaiso -- Averaged 12.0 points, 6.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game over two contests this week. Edwards started his week by cracking the program's single-season top 10 in assists by giving out eight helpers on Wednesday vs. Bradley. He also shared the team lead in rebounds with seven in that contest. Edwards followed that was his highest scoring output in MVC play this season with 16 on Sunday at Murray State. He also gave out five assists against the Racers.
Landon Wolf, UNI -- Wolf wrapped up the final week of his first collegiate regular season with a pair of breakout performances, averaging 19 points this week. He recorded a career-high 21 points in the regular season finale against Belmont, plus 17 points at Southern Illinois. Wolf’s 7 made field goals against the Bruins tied his season-high.