Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Dec. 20, 2010)
Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Week
Matt Howard
Senior, Forward
Connersville, Ind.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Butler senior forward Matt Howard (Connersville, Ind.) has been named Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Week, for the week beginning Dec. 13. The honor is the first of the season for Howard and third of his career.
In just 29 minutes, Howard exploded for 27 points and 10 rebounds, fueling Butler’s 83-50 demolition of visiting Stanford. The senior finished the afternoon 9-for-13 from the floor, knocking down both of his three-point attempts and going a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
Scoring 13 first-half points, Howard turned his one assist into a highlight, tossing a quick touch pass across his body to Andrew Smith for a layup at the halftime horn.
Howard came out of intermission and scored Butler’s first 10 points of the half, fueling the 33-point margin of victory in the first CBS broadcast from venerable Hinkle Fieldhouse.
With 1,510 career points, Howard sits in 10th on the Butler career scoring ledger. Howard, the 2009 Horizon League Player of the Year, last won a League Player of the Week award on Jan. 14, 2008.
Improving to 6-4, Butler heads to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Diamond Head Classic, Dec. 22-25. Opening the three-game tournament on ESPNU against Utah on Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 11 p.m. ET, the Bulldogs will meet either Florida State or Hawaii on Dec. 23 on either ESPN2 or ESPNU and will wrap up the tournament on Dec. 25. Butler will face off with Baylor, Mississippi State, San Diego or Washington State in its third game, which could also air on the ESPN family of networks.
Top Performers for the Week:
Aaron Pogue, Cleveland State (Jr., F) - Pogue was a force in the middle for Cleveland State, finishing with a season-high 14 points and six rebounds in a 74-63 defeat at West Virginia. The 6-foot-9 forward went 5-for-8 from the field and supplemented his shooting with a 4-for-5 effort from the free-throw line.
Ray McCallum, Detroit (Fr., G) - Following up his League Player of the Week honor from Dec. 13, McCallum posted his first career double-double in a 75-49 rout of Central Michigan, scoring a game-high 23 points and corraling 11 rebounds. The freshman added seven assists for good measure in a nationally televised contest on ESPNU.
Alec Brown, Green Bay (Fr., C) - In just his 11th career game, the 7-foot-1 center had a career-high 18 points in Green Bay’s 70-56 defeat at Wisconsin. Brown controlled the paint, adding eight rebounds to his 8-for-11 shooting effort.
Geoff McCammon, Loyola (Sr., G) - McCammon poured in the most points by a Rambler in over two years, tallying a career-best 31 in an 81-74 setback at DePaul. Entering the game averaging just 8.0 points from the floor over his last three games, McCammon finished the contest 11-for-22 from the floor.
Tone Boyle, Milwaukee (Sr., G) - Boyle led Milwaukee back from a late 11-point deficit, knocking down five second-half three-pointers to give the Panthers a 72-69 victory over Bowling Green on Saturday. The marksman finished with seven long balls in the game and 22 points in the game, averaging 15.0 points for week.
Robo Kreps, UIC (Sr., G) - Kreps fueled UIC’s 57-54 upset of #12/14 Illinois on Saturday, knocking down three early three-pointers to give the Flames an early lead and hitting his fourth of the contest to help the Flames overcome an eight-point second-half deficit. The senior finished with a team-high 15 points in the victory, averaging 15.5 as UIC went 1-1 on the week.
Kevin Van Wijk, Valparaiso (So., F) - Coming off the bench, Van Wijk led the way for Valparaiso in a 63-47 win over IPFW, scoring 16 points and adding five rebounds and four blocks in 19 minutes of play. Twelve of the Dutchman’s points came in the first half, fueling Valpo’s 18-point halftime margin.
Vaughn Duggins, Wright State (Sr., G) - Duggins led the Raiders to its third and fourth straight wins last week, averging 14.0 points per game in wins over Central Michigan and Miami. The senior helped Wright State control the glass, chipping in six rebounds in each of the victories.
Vytas Sulskis, Youngstown State (Sr., F) - After posting a season-best 25 points in helping Youngstown State to a 78-62 win over Malone, Sulskis recorded his second double-double of the season at N.C. State, scoring a team-high 14 points and grabbing 10 boards in a the 67-50 defeat.
Tags: Butler - Men's Basketball
