Green Bay's Sykes, Detroit's Grant Earn Weekly Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay junior guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill./Marshall) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while Detroit guard Matthew Grant (Los Angeles, Calif./Westchester) has been named the Freshman of the Week, for the week of Dec. 2-8. The award is the seventh of Sykes’ career and third of the season, while Grant is receiving the honor for the first time.

Green Bay (5-2) returned to the Resch Center for its lone game of the week, knocking off a Virginia team that was receiving votes in both top-25 polls, 75-72.

Detroit (5-5) split its results on the week, falling at Toledo, 91-75, before rebounding with a 70-68 win over visiting Rhode Island.

For the sixth straight game, Sykes eclipsed the 20-point mark, finishing Green Bay’s win with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Matching his career high with 10 assists, Sykes posted the first point-assist double-double in the Horizon League this season. In total, Sykes helped account for 16 of Green Bay’s 26 field goals in the win.

Through Dec. 8, Sykes is one of just three players in the country to be averaging more than 20 points and five assists per game (22.6 ppg, 5.0 apg), joining Roberto Nelson of Oregon State (25.4 ppg, 5.2 apg) and Arizona State’s Jahii Carson (20.5 ppg, 5.1 apg). With seven career player of the week awards, Sykes is tied for fifth in Horizon League history, matching the effort of former Cleveland State standout Norris Cole.

Coming off the bench for the Titans, Grant recorded back-to-back double figure scoring efforts for the second time in his career, posting 10 points at Toledo before an 11-point outing against Rhode Island. In 10 games, Grant has reached the 10-point mark six times, making him the first Detroit freshman since Ray McCallum to achieve the feat.

Green Bay will hit the road for two games this week, beginning on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at Eastern Michigan (7 p.m. ET). The Phoenix will wrap its week in Vermillion, S.D., on Saturday, taking on the University of South Dakota (8 p.m. ET). Detroit will travel to N.C. State on Saturday (6 p.m. ET) in a game carried by ESPN3.

Top Performers for the Week:

• Kelsey Barlow, UIC (Sr., G) - With a 31-point effort against SMU, Barlow became the first UIC player to post back-to-back 30-point games since Sherrell Ford achieved the feat in 1995. Despite playing with the flu on Saturday, Barlow filled the stat sheet with 10 points, five assists and three steals.
• Evan Bruinsma, Detroit (Sr., F) - Recorded his second double-double of the season with 25 points and 14 rebounds against Toledo before helping Detroit rally against Rhode Island by scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
• LaVonte Dority, Valparaiso (Sr., G) - Dority posted two game-high scoring efforts on the week, beginning with a 16-point outing in Valparaiso’s road win ahead of scoring 21 points against Saint Louis. Dority’s layup with 3.8 seconds left tied the game ahead of a Billiken buzzer-beater.
• Jon Harris, Cleveland State (Sr., F) - Coming off the bench, Harris erupted for a career-high 27 points in CSU’s triple-overtime loss at Drexel. Harris’ 44 minutes played in the game set a record for a Viking reserve.
• Duke Mondy, Oakland (Sr., G) - Helped spur Oakland’s 73-56 win over Ohio, finishing with 13 points and matching his career high with nine rebounds. With three steals in the game, Mondy has now had a steal in 47 of his last 48 games.
• Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State (Sr., G) - Became the first Horizon League player this year with three games with 30 or more points, posting 33 in the Penguins’ 88-80 loss at UMKC. With 1,537 career points, Perry is now among the top 50 in conference history.
• Matt Tiby, Milwaukee (So., F) - Helped Milwaukee to its best start in 11 seasons (9-2) with a 19-point effort against Northern Iowa before notching 15 against Bradley.
• JT Yoho, Wright State (So., F) - Led the Raiders in scoring and rebounding on the week, including an 18-point outing at Morehead State.

Men’s Basketball Player of the Week:
Nov. 11: Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State
Nov. 18: Steve McWhorter, Milwaukee
                Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Nov. 25: Alec Brown, Green Bay
Dec. 2: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Dec 9: Keifer Sykes, Green Bay

Men’s Basketball Freshman of the Week:
Nov. 11: Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Nov. 18: Kahlil Felder, Oakland
Nov. 25: Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Dec. 2: Lexus Williams, Valparaiso
Dec. 9: Matthew Grant, Detroit