MAC Men’s Basketball East Division Player of the Week
DJ Cooper, Ohio
Junior, Guard, Chicago, Ill. (Seton Academy)
On Wednesday, D.J. Cooper scored 18 points to lead Ohio and also contributed five rebounds and four assists in a two-point win at Oakland. The Bobcats snapped the Golden Grizzlies' 11-game home winning streak, one of the longest current marks in the nation. He topped that performance on Saturday when he recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists for his first career triple-double as Ohio eased to a 72-54 victory over Portland. The junior also added five steals as the Bobcats improved to 7-1 for the first time since the 1969-70 season. This season, Cooper is once again leading the Bobcats in scoring (8th in MAC), assists (2nd) and steals (1st). This was the third true road win of the season for the Bobcats. The last team to accomplish that feat this early in the season was the 1960-61 season that won a trio of games by December 14. Ohio also won a game in the Pacific Time Zone for the second-straight year after topping Santa Clara in the Las Vegas Invitational last season. It was the first win on the west coast for the 'Cats since beating Cal-State Northridge in 1996.
MAC Men’s Basketball West Division Player of the Week
Jarrod Jones, Ball State
Senior, Forward, Michigan City, Ind. (Michigan City)
Senior forward Jarrod Jones led the Cardinals to two victories on the week to run their winning streak to six straight games, including a 58-55 victory over two-time NCAA Tournament finalist Butler … Jones averaged 21.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in the two victories while shooting 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field and 88.9 percent (16-of-18) from the free throw line … He scored a team-high 21 points against Butler, including the game-winning basket with 47.2 seconds left to give the Cardinals their first win over Butler since 2003 … He recorded his third double-double of the season with 22 points and a season-high 13 rebounds at SIU Edwardsville … Jones is averaging 20.0 points per game this season as he has scored at least 20 points in six of the Cardinals’ eight games this season.
Other Nominees
Zeke Marshall, Akron
Junior, Center, McKeesport, Pa. (McKeesport)
Marshall tied for the game high with 16 points and lead all players with eight rebounds as the Zips dropped a nail-bitter at Cleveland State on Saturday. Marshall shot 50.0 percent from the floor (4-of-8) and was a career-best 8-of-10 from the charity stripe (80.0 percent). He opened the game with six-straight points to finish with 10 points in the opening frame. He also finished the game with one blocked shot and two steals.
A'uston Calhoun, Bowling Green
Junior, Forward, Southfield, Mich. (Southfield)
from the floor as Bowling Green went 1-1 on the week. Calhoun broke Bowling Green's program record by going 9-for-9 from the floor in a win over Malone with all of those coming in the first half. He scored 10 points during a critical 13-2 run that gave the Falcons a 17-point halftime lead. He then followed that up with 25 points, 17 in the second half, at Valparaiso Saturday, adding seven rebounds and three steals. Calhoun also made 9-of-12 free-throws (75 percent) on the week, grabbed 13 rebounds (6.5 per game), and had a blocked shot.
Javon McCrea, Buffalo
Sophomore, Forward, Newark, N.Y. (Newark)
McCrea averaged 17.5 points, 13 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 2.5 steals to help the Bulls go 2-0 on the week. Against Niagara, McCrea finished with just six points, but tied a career high with 13 rebounds and added three blocks and two steals. Three days later, the sophomore forward had one of the finest games of his career. Against Youngstown State, McCrea tied career highs with 29 points and 13 rebounds in just 29 minutes of action. McCrea was 14-of-17 from the field. He also had two assists and three steals. McCrea scored 17 points in 12 minutes of the first half on 8-of-10 shooting. He scored 10 of the Bulls' first 17 points of the second half to help UB pull away for the victory. It was his third double-double of the season.
Trey Zeigler, Central Michigan
Sophomore, Guard, Mt Pleasant, Mich. (Mt Pleasant)
Zeigler led CMU with 17 points and six rebounds at Tennessee State. He has led CMU in scoring in three straight games.
Michael Porrini, Kent State
Senior, Guard, Massillon, Ohio (Gulf Coast C.C. Fla.)
Porrini helped extend the Golden Flashes winning streak to five straight with a pair of road win this past week. On Tuesday he was all over the court with 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals as Kent State dominated James Madison 45-22 in the second half on the way to a 71-51 win. On Saturday he saved his heroics until the final 1:36 scoring five points as the Golden Flashes erased a four-point deficit. He started a 7-1 spurt that ended the game with an old-fashioned three-point play then with Kent State holding onto a one-point lead with 12 seconds he hit two free throws to clinch the game as he ended the contest with 11 points, two rebounds and an assist.
Julian Mavunga, Miami
Senior, Forward, Indianapolis, Ind. (Brownsburg)
In Miami’s lone game of the week, Julian Mavunga recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 16 rebounds to lead all players … it was the 18th career double-double for Mavunga and the 11th in his last 19 games. His 16 boards tie for the most by a MAC player this season and are the third most in a single-game Mavunga has recorded in his career.
Rian Pearson, Toledo
Sophomore, Guard, Raytown, Mo. (UW-Green Bay)
Pearson averaged 18.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg and posted a 51.7 FG% (15-of-29) and 60.0 3PTFG% (3-of-5). Pearson tallied 16 points and eight rebounds against Temple before notching 20 points and seven boards against Loyola (IL).
Mike Douglas, Western Michigan
Senior, Guard, Detroit, Mich. (Finney)
Douglas scored a career-high 33 points in the Broncos’ loss to Detroit, nearly single-handedly bringing them back from a big deficit against the Titans. Douglas’ 33 points represents the highest single-game points total for a Bronco in 2011, and is the highest single-game total for a Bronco since David Kool scored 39 points in the 2009-10 season finale against Akron. Combined with Matt Stainbrook’s 32 point effort against South Dakota State in the season opener, it is the first time since before the 2005-06 season that two different Broncos have scored 30+ points in a game in one season. Against Southern Illinois, Douglas’ first assist of the game pushed him past Michael Redell for fifth on the Broncos’ career assists list; he now how 365 career assists. Douglas shot 12-of-25 (.480) from the field for the week, and made 17-of-22 (.773) free throws. Douglas played more than any Bronco this past week, averaging 37.0 minutes per game.