Senior of the week: Western Illinois Will Carius. The grad student forward from Bettendorf Iowa put in season-high totals in points (18) & in minutes(33) in the Leathernecks lone game of the week which was a 81-63 victory vs UT-Martin. To date, Carius is averaging 11.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg. He also has added 7 blocks to his season totals. It seems as if he can be counted on for consistent production & leadership as league season nears.
Junior of the week: Omaha junior Wanjang Tut had a career night against Wyoming on Thursday. Tut finished with career-highs in points (27), field goals made (10), field goals attempted (17), free throws made (7), free throws attempted (9) and rebounds (9) as the Mavericks fell 82-78 to the Cowboys. The Omaha, Neb., native shot 59 percent from the floor, and his 27 points were tied for the most allowed by the Wyoming defense this season.
Sophomore of the week: Max Abmas Oral Roberts. Abmas scored 20points on 7-13 shooting in a loss to Oklahoma. Was looking for another recipient as Abmas has won the award recently. However, Abmas clearly had the best sophomore performance this week. Abmas added 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and added 2 steals. Just another fine performance in what has been an impressive season for Abmas.
Freshmen of the week: Denver’s Sam Hines Jr captures this week’s Freshman of the week. Hines scored 15 points added in 3 rebounds and 4 dimes in a two-point loss to Texas State.
Bench player of the week: Gertautas Urbonavicius of North Dakota had a nice week off the bench in spite of playing against a very sound Southern Illinois defense. The Sophomore average 10 points, and 3.5 rebounds per game in the 2 games against the Salukis. This included an impressive 13 point performance in the first game.
Defense of the week: There was only one Summit League team to pick up a D1 win this week and it was in large part due to Western Illinois best defensive performance of the season. It also was their best performance overall. The Leathernecks held the UT Martin Skyhawks who came in averaging 85.7 PPG to just 63 points and an FG percentage of 34.6%. They racked up 7 steals and 5 blocked shots en route to forcing 14 turnovers and picking up an 81-63 victory.