INDIANAPOLIS -- Northern Kentucky junior guard Cole Murray (Delphi, Ind./Delphi) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while UIC freshman forward Dikembe Dixson (Freeport, Ill./Mingo Central [W. Va.]) has been named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week.
Murray garnered Player of the Week honors after scoring 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as Northern Kentucky won at Detroit on Friday night. Murray connected on nine of his 14 field goal attempts in the game, including 7-of-10 from three-point range. He was 6-of-8 from the field in the second half.
The Norse were trailing by two points with 7:57 to play when Murray hit a three-pointer to put NKU ahead 71-70. Ninety seconds later Murray connected on another three-pointer to tie the game at 74. The game was still tied when Murray hit his third three-pointer of the half to put the Norse up 79-76 with 5:12 to play. NKU would never trail again after that three-pointer. Murray hit his final three-pointer of the game with 3:26 to go, putting Northern Kentucky up 84-78, as the Norse sealed the win at the foul line, winning 91-83.
Murray has been deadly from long distance in NKU’s last three games as he has hit 14 of his 19 attempts from three-point range. In Horizon League contests only, Murray ranks third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 51 percent (30-of-59) and fourth in three-point field goals per game at 2.8.
Northern Kentucky has three home games on its schedule this week. NKU opens the week hosting Oakland on Monday night before closing the week by welcoming Green Bay on Thursday and Milwaukee on Saturday.
Dixson is the Freshman of the Week for the sixth time this season and the fourth time in the last six weeks. The Freeport, Ill., native averaged 28.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in two games last week. He secured his fourth double-double of the season on Thursday night with a career-high 32 points and a career-high tying 15 rebounds in UIC’s game versus Youngstown State. On Saturday, he led UIC with 24 points, including 17 in the second half, as the Flames battled back from a 12-point first half deficit to defeat Cleveland State in overtime, 72-70.
Dixson is averaging 21.3 points per game in Horizon League contests to rank third in the League.
UIC returns to the hardwood on Saturday when it visits first-place Valparaiso.
Top Performers for the Week:
Kenny Carpenter, Cleveland State (So., G) - Carpenter averaged 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.5 assists in CSU’s two road games last week. He scored a career-high 24 points at UIC on Saturday. He shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field for the week.
Kay Felder, Oakland (Jr., G) - Felder scored 33 points in the win over Wright State on Friday. It was his fifth 30-point game of the season and first in Horizon League play. On Monday, he collected his 10th double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 assists in Oakland’s win at Milwaukee.
Jordan Johnson, Milwaukee (Jr., G) - Johnson put up a near double-double of 20 points and 9 assists versus Oakland on Monday night. He then put the team on his back in the win over Green Bay, scoring the final 7 points and 10 of the team’s last 12 (17 overall) in UWM’s 95-94 victory. His three-point play put Milwaukee ahead with seconds left. He added eight assists against the Phoenix and made 18-of-20 foul shots on the week.
Cameron Morse, Youngstown State (So., G) - Morse led the Penguins to a 1-1 week with an 82-78 win over UIC and a loss at Valparaiso. Morse averaged 24.5 points per game and shot 43.5 percent from the floor, 42.9 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line. Against UIC, Morse tied a career high with four 3-pointers en route to 22 points. He scored 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field with two 3s and 9-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line against Valparaiso. Morse leads Horizon League with 24.2 point per game against league foes, and he has scored at least 20 points 10 times this season, seven times in league play.
Alec Peters, Valparaiso (Jr., F) - Peters led the Crusaders in scoring in both of their wins last week, scoring 18 points in each contest. He was 7-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range versus Cleveland State and was 7-of-10 from the field in just 21 minutes of action in the victory over Youngstown State.
Anton Wilson, Detroit (Sr., G) - Wilson averaged 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game in three Titan games last week. He led Detroit with 18 points, 15 of which he scored in the second half, as the Titans overcame an 11-point first half deficit to beat Wright State on Sunday. He tied his career-high with five triples against the Raiders and had a career-best five blocks on Friday night versus Northern Kentucky.
JT Yoho, Wright State (Sr., F) - Yoho scored a career 31 points at Detroit on Sunday. He connected on his first 12 field goal attempts against the Titans. On Friday night, Yoho became the 30th member of WSU’s 1,000 point club as he scored eight points against Oakland.
Najeal Young, UIC (Jr., F) - Young scored a career-high 17 points, including the game-winner with two seconds left in overtime of UIC’s win versus Cleveland State on Saturday. He added 15 rebounds in the win. On Thursday, he pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds versus Youngstown State, while also accumulating career-highs in assists (4) and steals (3) versus the Penguins.
Top Freshmen for the Week:
Rob Edwards, Cleveland State (Fr., G) - Edwards averaged 11.5 points and 2.0 assists in two games last week. He scored 13 points on Thursday at Valparaiso and had 10 on Saturday at UIC.
Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky (Fr., F) - McDonald recorded his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds in only 18 minutes of action in NKU’s win at Detroit on Friday. He connected on 13-of-14 shots at the foul line in the win.
Josh McFolley, Detroit (Fr., G) - McFolley had back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts for the Titans last week. He scored 15 points against Northern Kentucky and added 12 in the win over Wright State on Sunday. He tied his career-high with back-to-back games with four rebounds against the Norse and Raiders. He also had 10 assists and four steals for the week.
Tags: Horizon League - Men's Basketball · Northern Kentucky - Men's Basketball · UIC - Men's Basketball
