YSU's Perry, Valpo's Peters Tabbed for #HLMBB Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Youngstown State senior guard Kendrick Perry (Ocoee, Fla./Edgewater) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while Valparaiso forward Alec Peters (Washington, Ill./Washington) has been named the Freshman of the Week, for the week of Feb. 17-23. The award is the second of the year for Perry and fourth for Peters.

Youngstown State (15-14, 6-8 Horizon) split results last week, outlasting Milwaukee, 88-83, in overtime, before coming up a basket short, 68-66, at Valparaiso. Valpo (17-12, 9-5 Horizon) remained in the the hunt for the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament, falling at #rv/-- Green Bay, 67-53, before rebounding with the aforementioned win against the Penguins.

On the day he was named a Capital One Second Team Academic All-America, Perry recorded a career-high 35 points against Milwaukee. The senior was 11-for-17 from the floor in the game, coming up one rebound shy of a double-double while eclipsing 30 points for the seventh time in 2013-14. On Saturday, Perry was limited to 12 points, but broke the 1,900-point barrier for his career.

With 600 points on the season, Perry became the first Youngstown State player since Tilman Bevely in 1986-87 to score 600 points in a year. At 1,909 career points, Perry ranks fifth in YSU history and is 15th in Horizon League history in scoring. The conference’s all-time career steals leader with 243, Perry needs two to break his own YSU single-season steals record of 74.

Peters led the Crusaders in scoring in both games, going 5-of-7 from the floor at Green Bay before doubling his effort with 22 points against Youngstown State. The 22-point total marked the first time Peters eclipsed the 20-point mark since scoring 30 against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 14. Fourteen of Peters points came in the second half as Valparaiso rallied for the win.

Peters leads Horizon League freshmen in scoring (12.1 ppg), rebounding (4.9 rpg) and field-goal percentage (46.6).

Looking to secure a first round home game in the Horizon League Tournament, Youngstown State begins the last week of the regular season at Cleveland State (19-10, 10-4 Horizon) on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The Horizon League Network will carry the game live at 7 p.m. ET. The Penguins wrap the regular season at the Beeghly Center on Saturday, March 1, welcoming Oakland (11-18, 6-8 Horizon). HLN will provde live, HD coverage at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Valparaiso can finish anywhere from second to fourth in the League standings and will begin the week at fourth-place Wright State (16-13, 8-6 Horizon) on Tuesday, Feb. 25. ESPN3 will carry the game live at 7 p.m. ET. The Crusaders will close the regular season against Cleveland State on Saturday, March 1, at 4 p.m. ET.. HLN Regional TV will have the game, with ESPN3 and the Horizon League Network also carrying the contest.

Top Performers for the Week:

• Austin Arians, Milwaukee (So., F) - In Milwaukee’s overtime loss at Youngstown State, Arians notched a career-high 28 points, going 8-of-13 from the field, including a 5-of-7 rate from 3-point range.
• Travis Bader, Oakland (Sr., G) - With 28 points at UIC, Bader helped Oakland move into a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference. Bader’s four 3-pointers gave him 487 for his career.
• Alec Brown, Green Bay (Sr., C) - With eight blocks against Valparaiso, Brown went over 300 career blocks and sits nine from breaking the Horizon League record of 309. The senior added 14 points as the Phoenix clinched a share of its first regular-season title since 1996.
• Juwan Howard, Jr., Detroit (Jr., F) - Howard, Jr., notched his eighth game with 20 or more points in his last 11 with a game-high 20 at UIC. The junior followed up the effort with 16 in a loss at Wright State.
• Charlie Lee, Cleveland State (Jr., G) - Lee led a balanced Cleveland State attack with 14 points and three assists in a 24-point win over Milwaukee. Lee’s four steals set a careeer high.
• AJ Pacher, Wright State (Sr., F) - The senior helped keep Wright State in the running for a first-round tournament bye, leading the Raiders with 19 points in a 65-61 comeback win against Detroit.
• Ryan Weber, Youngstown State (So., F) - Returning to his home state, Weber exploded for a career-high 24 points against Valparaiso. Weber went 4-for-8 from 3-point range and is tied for the YSU team lead with 57 on the year.