Mid-American Conference

MAC East Division Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Shannon Evans, Buffalo, Guard
Sophomore, Suffolk, Va (Nansemond River)
Evans has made a strong case for one of the best weeks in school history by a single player as he averaged 23.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 7.5 assists in a pair of wins for the Bulls.  Evans began the week by recording the first triple-double in school history in a 76-50 win at Binghamton.  Evans finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as he recorded career highs in the latter two categories.  On Saturday afternoon, Evans found his shooting touch as he recorded a career-high 33 points, the most by a UB player this season.  Evans went 8-of-11 from behind the arc, tying for third in school history in three pointers in a game.  Evans also added five assists and four rebounds in a 92-73 win over Cornell.  Evans is now averaging 16.0 points and 5.4 assists per game.

MAC West Division Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
J.D. Weatherspoon, Toledo, Forward
Senior, Columbus, OH/Northland
Weatherspoon paced the Rockets with 16.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg in two games last week and was extremely efficient from the field with a 72.2 field-goal percentage (13-of-19), including a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point range.  Weatherspoon tallied 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds at No. 2 Duke on Monday and hit 6-of-8 shots from the field. He then followed that up with a team-best 18 points and eight boards and 7-of-10 shooting at Northern Kentucky.


Other Top Performers:

Noah Robotham, Akron, Guard
Freshman, Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman High School
Robotham helped the Zips to a 2-0 record to conclude non-conference play with a 9-4 mark. For the week, he averaged 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.0 assists per game while shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 77.8 percent at the line. In Akron’s 70-63 win over Marshall on December 30, he scored 13 points and tied his career high with four steals. He scored the final six points for the Zips over the final 2:42 to seal the victory. He helped Akron to a 79-62 win over Coppin State on January 3, scoring 10 points and grabbing three rebounds and two steals. 

Anthony Henderson, Bowling Green, Guard
Redshirt-Senior, Toledo, Ohio/Start
Henderson poured in a season-high 14 points to lead the Falcons to a 58-35 home win over Chicago State on Saturday, Jan. 3. Henderson, who was 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) from behind the three-point line for the game, led a Falcons’ three-point onslaught that included 11 three-point field goals, matching its season-high. Henderson also pulled down three rebounds in 25 minutes of play.

Rayshawn Simmons, Central Michigan, Guard
Junior, St. Louis, Mo. (Moberly Area CC)
Simmons had his best game as a Chippewa on Friday night, notching his first career double-double in leading Central Michigan to a dominating 125-80 win over Central Penn. Simmons paced the MAC’s top offense, setting career highs in points (20) and assists (12) to go along with 3 rebounds on the defensive end in just 26 minutes of court time. Simmons shot .643 (9-for-14) en route to establishing a personal best in points for the third time in the Chippewas’ last four games and his 12-assist performance ranks fourth in the CMU record book for a single game. The team co-captain nearly reached the double-double benchmark by halftime, posting 9 points and 9 assists, as CMU torched the Knights for 68 first half points. Simmons, who has started all 11 games this season, has proven to be one of CMU’s most versatile and well-rounded players. He ranks second in the MAC in free throw percentage (.885), fourth in assist turnover ratio (2.6) and fifth in assists (4.5). Simmons has been on fire of late on the offensive end, averaging 17.2 points per game over the last four games to up his season average to 9.4. He is also a key part of CMU’s team-rebounding approach, averaging 3.5 per game for the year.

Hall turned in two extremely effective performances this past week, averaging 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 block in just 24.0 minutes per game. Hall was a monster early on in a matchup at No. 2 RPI Kansas with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting with 5 rebounds and helping Kent State hold a 1-point lead before picking up his second foul at the 5:48 mark of the first half. He finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 3 assists. Hall then delivered his third double-double of the year with 19 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Texas-Pan American. He added 2 blocked shots and made al 5 of his free throw attempts in the game. For the week, Hall shot 56.5% from the field and 85.7% from the charity stripe.

Eric Washington, Miami, Guard
Junior, Columbia, S.C./Keenan
Washington spearheaded Miami to a pair of wins last week, the first back-to-back wins for the RedHawks since February 2014, and MU’s third straight home win. Washington poured in 23 points to lead all scorers and added a team-high seven boards in the RedHawks’ 66-61 win against UMKC. It was his second 20-plus point outing of the season and one off his career high. He shot a scorching 80 percent from the floor against the ‘Roos, hitting 8-of-10 field goals and notching a career high for field goals. His seven boards also were a career-best. Washington hit four free throws over the final 32 seconds to help seal the win. He was one of our RedHawks to score in double figures in Miami’s 69-46 win against Capital, posting 13 points and adding seven assists. For the week, Washington averaged 18.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 4.0 apg while shooting a sizzling 61.9 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Darrell Bowie, NIU, Wing
Junior, Milwaukee, Wis./La Jolla Prep (Calif.)
Bowie averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in a pair of wins over Hampton (Dec. 29) and UC Riverside (Jan. 2) last week. Against Hampton, Bowie recorded his second career double-double scoring a season-high 22 points with 10 rebounds. Bowie also added two steals, an assist and a block in the 83-51 victory. Against UC Riverside, Bowie played just 14 minutes before leaving the game with a shoulder injury, but the Milwaukee, Wis., native scored six points with four rebounds and three steals before leaving the contest.

Maurice Ndour, Ohio, F David Brown, Western Michigan, Guard

Redshirt Senior, Roscoe, Ill. / Hononegah
Brown continued his streak of double-digit scoring performances with a pair of strong efforts in wins over New Hampshire and Rochester College, tallying 10+ points in each contest to average 13.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game.  The sixth-year senior contributed 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field against the Wildcats on Dec. 30, including a 2-of-4 performance from three-point range.  He was similarly successful in the win over the Warriors on Jan. 2, pouring in 12 points on 4-of-8 from three-point range while playing just 24 minutes in the game.  Brown is averaging 13.7 points per game this season and is shooting 44.7 percent from the field.