MAC Announces Men's Basketball Players of the Week

Greene led Kent State to a pair of wins scoring back-to-back 23 point games in victories over Miami and Bowling Green.  On Wednesday he posted his first 20 point game of the year notching 23 points, including the game winning basket with 23 seconds left as the Golden Flashes rallied from a seven point deficit with six minutes remaining on the way to a 71-67 win.  Greene had another 23 points along with three assists on Saturday powering a 92-87 win vs Bowling Green.  14 of his points came in the last 14 minutes of the first half as Kent State turned a seven point deficit into an 18-point 45-27 lead by out scoring Bowling Green 38-12.  The 2011 MAC Player of the Year, Greene is averaging a league best 20.7 ppg during league play this season.  The only active MAC player with over 1000 points, 100 blocks and 100 steals in a career, he became just the 9th player in Kent State history to score over 1,300 career points.  His 1,311 points are the most by a Golden Flash since Trevor Huffman (1998-02).  He has also totaled 699 career rebounds.     

Stainbrook helped the Broncos to a pair of conference victories at home this past week, taking down MAC West opponents Northern Illinois and Toledo at University Arena.  Stainbrook averaged 14.5 points per game over the two-game span, shooting 13-of-20 (.650) from the field.  Stainbrook scored 16 polnts on 7-of-9 shooting in the Broncos’ win over Northern Illinois, and also contributed five rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.  Stainbrook would record his second double-double of the season against Toledo, notching 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.  Stainbrook came just short of completing his first career triple-double, finishing the game with six assists as he passed his way out of double-teams.  For the season, Stainbrook is averaging 13.6 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game.  Against conference opponents, those averages jump to 14.4 ppg and 7.7 ppg.

Harney is a big reason why the Zips are off to their first 3-0 start in MAC play since the 2007-08 season (4-0).  Harney helped Akron to a 2-0 record last week, including wins at Bowling Green (56-55) and against Ohio (68-63).  In the win at BGSU, Harney hit a floater in the lane with 0.5 seconds left to give Akron the victory over the Falcons.  Harney led all scorers with 12 points, including 10 in the second half, on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and added four rebounds, two assists and a steal.  On Saturday, Harney scored 10 points, grabbed five boards and added a blocked shot, a steal and an assist to help the Zips defeat Ohio.  For the week, Harney scored 22 points in 34 minutes while averaging 11.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  He shot 66.7 percent from the field (8-of-12) and was 1-of-1 from long range.

Jones continued his stellar campaign as he averaged 16.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two MAC games this week … Jones scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds against Toledo, including the game-winning basket with 0.6 seconds left in the game … he connected on 7-of-11 from the field and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line … He followed that up with his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds against Eastern Michigan … He is averaging 17.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game this season.

Scott Thomas, Bowling Green

Thomas averaged 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in losses to Akron and Kent State this week, including a season-high 23 points against Kent State. Thomas made a pair of three-pointers, grabbed five rebounds, and added a block and a steal in a 56-55 loss to Akron Wednesday. Thomas then scored 21 second-half poin 

Derek Jackson, Central Michigan

Jackson averaged 15.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game last week in CMU's two contests.  In a road win at Eastern Michigan, Jackson scored a game-high 15 points and recorded three steals.  For the week, Jackson averaged 2.5 3-pointers per game while shooting .455 from the arc and he was 10-for-11 from the foul line for a .909 clip.  Jackson has now scored in double figures in a career-high five straight games while he has drained at least two 3-pointers in each of the last seven contests.  The sophomore ranks third in the MAC in steals (2.0), fifth in 3-pointers made (2.0), sixth in free throw percentage (.804), 10th in 3-point percentage (.390) and 18th in scoring (11.8).ts against Kent as BGSU scored 60 points in the period. He tied his career high with four three-pointers in the game.

Drew McGhee, Miami

McGhee scored in double figures in both games, the first two double-figure scoring efforts of his career … he averaged a team-leading 13.5 ppg and team-high-tying 5.0 rpg for the week … McGhee poured in a career-high 16 points off 8-of-10 shooting from the field in a hard-fought battle at Kent State … it doubled his previous career-high of eight points against Xavier earlier in the season … McGhee helped spark Miami to its first MAC win of the season in a 52-51 win over Buffalo that halted a three-game losing skid … McGhee scored 11 points, 10 coming in the second half as he played the entire 20 minutes of the second half … he accounted for more than a third of the RedHawks’ second-half points against the Golden Flashes …  in both games he played career highs of 28 minutes … McGhee also pulled down five rebounds in each game, also career highs for him … for the week, he shot an impressive 65.0 percent from the field and also collected two blocked shots.

Nader averaged 18.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last week for NIU as it split a pair of games against Western Michigan and Central Michigan. Nader shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from the field for the week, including an outstand 75 percent (6-of-8) from three-point range. Against Central Michigan, Nader fueled the Huskies out of the gate, scoring the first 13 points en route to a 22-point effort on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-5 from three. Against Western Michigan, Nader played just three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble but responded with all 14 of his points against the Broncos in 17 minutes played after the intermission.

Cooper finished with a team-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in the home win over Buffalo. The junior also passed Bobcat great Paul Baron for second place all-time in career assists. Cooper led the Bobcats in scoring one more time this weekend with 13 points at Akron. The Ohio guard leads the league in assists and steals, ranks among the top five in free throws made and top 10 in three-pointers made.

Pearson averaged 17.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.0 spg and 1.5 apg for the Rockets last week. Pearson’s top performance of the week was a 19-point, 7-rebound, 7-steal effort vs. Ball State in which he tied a school record for steals in a game and played a career-high 38 minutes. He followed that up with a 15-point showing at WMU.