Buffalo's Idbihi, WMU's Ricks Selected As Men's Basketball Players Of The Week
MAC East Player Of The Week
Yassin Idbihi ? So. ? F ? Buffalo
Tangier, Morocco ? Schloss Hagerhof
Idbihi averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Bulls went 2-0 on the week. The senior forward scored 12 points and tied a career high with 14 rebounds in the Bulls win at Temple on Monday night. He achieved his double-double by halftime (10 pts., 10 reb). Idibihi followed up that performance by scoring 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in UB's win over Niagara. He now has four double-doubles on the season.
MAC West Player Of The Week
Andre Ricks ? So. ? G ? Western Michigan
Detroit, Mich. ? Pershing
Ricks put on a show against San Diego State with a career-high 29 points in the Broncos' 84-73 win. Ricks helped the Broncos to a season-high in points that stopped the Aztecs' school-record 8-0 start. The 5-foot-9 Ricks hit 10-of-17 field goals, 3-of-6 three-pointers and 6-of-6 free throws in the win over the No. 34 team in the AP Poll and No. 27 in the coaches poll. Ricks also set a new career high with four steals to help Western Michigan set a new University Arena record with 16 steals. Ricks scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half before adding 16 more in the second half, including nine in the final 3:44 to help WMU clinch the game.
Additional East Nominees:
Dru Joyce, Sr., Akron, G, Akron, Ohio (St. Vincent-St. Mary)
Joyce scored a game-changing 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining in Saturday's 61-59 Zips win at Oral Roberts. With ORU leading 56-55 Joyce connected from behind the arc from the right baseline, keying the Zips decision over the Eagles. Joyce finished with 10 points, a season-high six rebounds and a season-best-tying six assists in a team-high 36 minutes in what was UA's only game of the week.
Martin Samarco, Sr., Bowling Green, G, Ypsilanti, Mich. (Belleville)
Samarco hit an off-balance jumper from the corner as time expired to give BGSU a 71-69 win over Troy and its second straight victory over a Sun Belt squad at the buzzer. Samarco finished with a game-high 29 points and set career-bests for free throws made with 11 and attempted with 15. He also had four rebounds and three steals. He has now scored 20 points or more in three straight games for the first time in his career.
Julian Sullinger, So., Kent State, F, Columbus, Ohio (Northland/Fork Union Military Academy)
Recorded career highs of 12 points, eight rebounds (tie) and 29 minutes at Cleveland State Wednesday night. Playing significant minutes due to an injury to starter Haminn Quaintance, Sullinger went 4-of-9 from the field and 4-of-6 from the foul line. He also recorded two steals on defense. His previous career high in scoring was 10 points, set in the season opener this year against South Dakota State.
Nathan Peavy, Sr., Miami, F, Dayton, Ohio (Chaminade-Julienne)
Peavy had another solid outing, amassing 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead all players against Xavier in Miami’s lone game of the week. It was his second double-double of the season and the ninth of his career and also was the third Miami double-double in a six-game stretch. Peavy scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and hauled in seven of his 11 rebounds over the final 20 minutes of play. He shot a solid 53.3 percent from the field.
Sonny Troutman, Sr., Ohio, G, Indianapolis, Ind. (Brebeuf Jesuit Prep)
In two games last week the Bobcat wing averaged 22.0 points, 5.0 rebound, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals. In a road loss at Samford, Troutman lit up the Bulldogs for a career-high 29 points, including 23 in the second half. He also collected a season-best five steals in the contest and set a new career high with 10 field goals made. In helping the Bobcats to an overtime victory over Marshall this past Saturday, Troutman tallied 15 points and a season-best six rebounds. In that game Troutman went 11-of-12 at the free throw line and for the week he shot 90% (18-20) from the charity stripe.
Additional West Nominees:
D’Andre Peyton, Sr., Ball State, F, Indianapolis, Ind. (Shores Academy)
Peyton scored a career-high 22 points, shot 50 percent from the floor (8-of-16), grabbed seven rebounds (six offensive) plus managed one assist and two steals in a season-high 29 minutes of action in BSU’s win over Indiana State. He hit only the second three-pointer of his career with :15 remaining in overtime to give BSU the 73-70 win over the state rival Sycamores.
Carlos Medlock, So., Eastern Michigan, G, Detroit, Mich. (Murray Wright)
For the third time in five games, Medlock led all EMU scorers with double digits tallying 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in EMU’s setback at Detroit.
Giordan Watson, Jr., Central Michigan, G, Southfield, Mich. (Birmingham Groves/Bridgton Academy (Maine))
Watson averaged 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in CMU's two games last week. He scored a career-high tying 30 points against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an NCAA Tournament team last season. He then had a game-high 17 points and nine assist against San Diego. Watson shot .538 from the floor in the two games and went 18-for-23 from the line (.783).
Florentino Valencia, Sr., Toledo, F, Chicago, Ill. (Crane)
Valencia registered his first two double-doubles of his career averaging 15.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game with a 72.2 field-goal percentage for the week. He posted the Rockets’ first double-double since the 2003-04 season in UT’s 57-52 loss at Drexel with a team-high 13 points and a career-best 10 rebounds while shooting 6-of-7 from the field. Valencia then topped that performance with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in a 98-93 (OT) setback at Vanderbilt. He shot 7-of-11 from the field and tied his career high with three assists.
