MAC Announces Men's Basketball Players of the Week

Filzen averaged 25 points in the Bulls two games on the week. The senior guard scored 24 points, including six three-pointers in Buffalo's convincing 84-55 win at Dayton on Wednesday. He helped the Bulls hand the Flyers their largest home loss in 16 years and give the Bulls their largest road victory since 1987. Against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Filzen scored a season-high 26 points and added five rebounds and an assist. UB's sharpshooter was red hot from beyond the arc, knocking down 6-of-8 three-point attempts. For the week, Filzen was 12-of-19 from downtown.

Buckley averaged 21.0 ppg, 5.5 apg and 5.0 rpg to lead the Rockets to a pair of victories last week and continue their red-hot start. Buckley tallied a career-high 21 points in both contests while posting a 50.0 FG% (10-of-20), 50.0 3PTFG% (7-of-14) and a 93.8 FT% (15-of-16). In UT's 75-73 win over UNC-Wilmington last Wednesday, Buckley scored 10 straight points (and 18 points in the second half) to help UT rally from a 58-51 deficit with less than 10 minutes to play. He also recorded a career-high seven assists and three steals and just one turnover. On Saturday at Chicago State, Buckley erupted following halftime again with 18 points and knocked down a career-best five three-point field goals in addition to grabbing a career-best six rebounds.

Senior forward Jarrod Jones led the Cardinals to two victories this week to run their winning streak to four straight games as he averaged 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game on the week. Jones connected on 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the field and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the free throw line in the two victories … He posted his second double-double of the season with a 14-point, 11-rebound effort against Texas Southern … He followed that up with a 22-point, seven-rebound game at Tennessee-Martin, his fourth 20-plus scoring effort in the first six games this year … He leads the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game and on the glass at 8.7 rebounds per game.

Thomas had 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal as Bowling Green fought back from an 18-point second half deficit to tie Western Kentucky late. Thomas scored 12 of the Falcons' final 14 points, including a transition three-pointer with 2:18 to play that tied the score at 53-53. Thomas has scored in double-figures in all seven of Bowling Green's games this year and is just 43 points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Coimbra recorded a career-high 22 points in a road game at Temple on Saturday while grabbing a team-high tying five rebounds and blocking three shots.  His 15 points at the half surpassed his old career high of 14 points.

Averaged 28 points 1.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in two games last week.  Also made 15-of-15 free throw attempts. At Syracuse, Nov. 29, (L, 84-48) he scored 19 points, making 6-of-9 field goals, 3-of-5 trhees, 4-of-4 free throws with two rebounds and two assists. At Colgate, Dec. 1, (L, 74-70) he scored 37 points, making 12-of-26 field goals, 2-of-10 threes, 11-of-11 free throws with one rebound and two assists.  

Holt was a key performer in all three victories this week as he averaged 15.0 points per game while leading Kent State to a 3-0 record.  The 6'1" junior sharp shooter found his stroke from beyond the arc connecting on 8-13 (61. 5 percent) from three and 11-13 (84.6 percent) from the foul line.  He started the week off matching a team high with 15 points on Monday.  Holt shot 3-4 from three in the game, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 4:16 left that put Kent State up 67-66 as the Golden Flashes closed out the win with a 12-1 run on the way to a 76-67 win over Louisiana at Lafayette.  On Thursday in an 83-63 win vs Morehead State, Holt poured in 17 points and had five assists.  The bulk of the damage was done in the first 11 minutes of the second half in which Holt scored 14 points and helped the Golden Flashes turned a six-point halftime lead into an 18-point advantage.  Holt then helped complete the 3-0 week with a team best 13 points in a 57-48 victory over UAB.  Holt completed an old-fashioned three-point play with just under eight minutes left to cap off an 11-0 run that erased a two-point deficit and gave Kent State the lead for good.  On the year Holt is scoring a team best 12.2 ppg while shooting 41.9 percent (13-31) from three.  He has given the Golden Flashes a +67 advantage in points scored (+11.2 ppg) when he has been on the court this season.  

Mavunga averaged a whopping 25.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg while shooting 63 percent from the field, 66.7 percent from 3-point range and 70 percent from the free-throw line. Mavunga accounted for nearly 47 percent of the RedHawks scoring for the week. He tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds at Cincinnati, his 17th career double-double, while scoring his 1,000th career point. He shot 68.7 percent from the floor against the Bearcats. At Troy, Mavunga scored 24 points, going 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, and playing in his 100th career game. It was his third straight 20-point scoring effort and 11th of his career … he also had three assists against the Trojans. He led all scorers in both games and led all rebounders at Cincinnati.

Baltic was the leading rebounder for the Bobcats and one of two players to average double-figures as Ohio won both its games last week. The junior currently ranks 14th in total rebounding during MAC play and seventh in offensive rebounds. Baltic finished one rebound shy of a double-double and hit his first career three-pointer in the win at Marshall, sending the Thundering Herd to its first loss of the season. He then scored 14 points and led the Bobcats in rebounding while collecting a career-high four steals in the home win over Morgan State. The 'Cats are off to their best start in the John Groce era at 5-1 with trips to Oakland and Portland this week.

Whitfield became the 35th member of the 1,000-point club at Western Michigan, surpassing the millienium mark at 3:11 of the first half in the Broncos' 80-58 victory over Hope College on Wednesday.  In addition, with 1,010 points, Whitfield passed Jason Black for 34th on the career scoring list at Western Michigan, and needs just six points to move into 32nd place on the list.  Whitfield had game-highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds against Hope, his team-leading second double-double of the season. Whitfield accumulated his points on 10-of-16 (.625) shooting from the field, and also drained a pair of free throws.  Nine of Whitfield's 11 rebounds came on the offensive glass, as the Broncos out-rebounded Hope 55-30.  The Broncos recorded more offensive rebounds (27) than the Flying Dutchmen did defensive rebounds (19).  Whitfield is averaging 10.4 points per game and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game, and is 31-of-68 (.465) from the field.