Wiggins and Williams Highlight Men's Basketball Player of the Week
MAC East Division Player of the Week
Demajeo Wiggins, Bowling Green
Forward, Junior, Toledo, Ohio (Springfield)
Junior forward Demajeo Wiggins, the only MAC East player in the conference that averaged a double-double over a 2-0 week, averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds as the Falcons earned home wins over Ohio (Jan. 30) and Kent State (Feb. 3). Wiggins also shot a robust 58.3 percent from the field. The Toledo native tied a season high with eight made field goals (8-for-15) while posting 18 points and 11 rebounds versus Ohio. He then registered 13 points (6-for-9) and nine rebounds in a victory over Kent State. In conference play, Wiggins is averaging 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds, and is shooting 60.0 percent from the floor. Wiggins has nine double-doubles in 2017-18 after posing six last season.
MAC West Division Player of the Week
Cecil Williams, Central Michigan
Forward, Senior, Columbia, Mo. (Moberly Area Community College)
Senior forward Cecil Williams played an instrumental role in two Central Michigan MAC wins last week, averaging 20 points and 7.5 rebounds. On Tuesday against Northern Illinois, Williams just missed out on his fourth double-double of the season, totaling 13 points and nine rebounds to go along with two blocks and an assist in the Chippewas 81-67 victory. On Saturday, in a double-overtime marathon road win over Ohio, Williams scored a career-high 27 points, including going 11-for-12 (92%) from the free throw line. His biggest shot came with six seconds remaining in the first overtime. With CMU down three points, Williams banked in a 3-pointer to re-tie the game and send it to a second extra session. Williams also had six rebounds and three steals to help the CMU cause in sweeping the Bobcats for the season. A starter of all 23 games this season, Williams ranks second on the team in scoring (14.8 ppg), rebounding (6.5 rpg), assists (54), steals (24) and blocks (24). He is tied for the team lead with 19 double-digit scoring games.
Other Nominees
Trey Moses, Ball State
Center, Junior, Louisville, Ky. (Eastern)
Trey Moses averaged a double-double last week at 16.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. He also added 3.5 assists per game. Moses went for 15 points, 14 rebounds and four assists Tuesday to lead Ball State to a road victory over MAC West Division leader Toledo, snapping the Rockets seven-game winning streak. He had 10 rebounds in the first half alone on the way to his fifth double-double in conference play, just one off the league lead. The junior big man then posted 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists Saturday at Eastern Michigan, leading the Cardinals in all three categories for the third time this season. In MAC play, Moses ranks among the league leaders in offensive rebounds (3.3, 2nd), total rebounds (9.7, 3rd), field goal percentage (.563, 6th) and blocks (1.0, 7th).
Jeremy Harris, Buffalo
Guard, Junior, Greensboro, NC (Paige)
Junior Jeremy Harris again led the Bulls this past week as he averaged 18.0 points in a pair of tough MAC contests. In their first conference defeat of the year at Kent State, Harris led the Bulls with 20 points as he was perfect from the floor in the first half. In all, he went 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three-point range at the M.A.C. Center. UB came back on Friday night in a 92-86 win over Western Michigan where Harris had 16 points, going a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc. In all, Harris hit eight of his 10 threes for the week. He also had two assists and two blocks against the Broncos. He is averaging 16.8 points per game in MAC play.
James Thompson IV, Eastern Michigan
Center, Junior, Baton Rouge, La. (Parkview Baptist)
James Thompson IV had yet another dominating performance in the paint for Eastern Michigan, notching his 15th and 16th double-doubles of the campaign thanks to a 24-point, 18-rebound domination of Western Michigan, Jan. 30, and an impressive 14-rebound, 11-point game in just 27 minutes of play in the Eagles' win over Ball State, Feb. 3. He missed just one shot from the floor on the week, connecting on 10-of-11 shots taken, bringing his league-leading shooting percentage to .680 on the season. The Baton Rouge, La. native anchored the middle of the zone of a defense that allowed a season-low 41 points to Ball State, coming away with three blocks in the contest. The junior leads the conference in double-doubles by a margin of six, and also leads the league in total rebounds per game (12.2), offensive rebounds per game (4.5), defensive rebounds per game (7.7), and field goal percentage (.680).
Adonis De La Rosa, Kent State
Center, Junior, Bronx, N.Y. (Christ the King High School)
Junior center Adonis De La Rosa averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game this past week and aided Kent State in its upset win over Buffalo. Against the previously unbeaten in league play Bulls, De La Rosa poured in 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He also dished out a career-best five assists in the 82-79 victory. He had the pivotal pass to Danny Pippen sucking in the defense and then shoveling it to Pippen for the go-ahead bucket. On Saturday against Bowling Green, De La Rosa again scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6-for-8 on free throws in Kent State's 70-62 setback to Bowling Green. It is the first time that De La Rosa has scored 20 points in back-to-back games. He ranks third in the conference shooting 58.9% from the floor this season.
Nike Sibande, Miami
Guard, Freshman, Indianapolis, Ind. (Crispus Attucks)
Sibande led the offensive charge as Miami went 2-0 this past week. He averaged 16.0 points per game to go with 5.5 rebounds per contest. He also was key from behind the arc, draining four 3-pointers. Against Akron on Tuesday Sibande had 12 points in 30 minutes as the RedHawks won by 15. He was even better against Northern Illinois on the road on Saturday. He went 6-for-13 from the field, scoring 20 points and bringing in seven rebounds. He also finished with two assists and a steal in 33 minutes of action.
Teyvion Kirk, Ohio
Guard, Freshman, Joliet, Ill. (Joliet West)
Freshman guard Teyvion Kirk (Joliet, Ill.) produced another big week for the Ohio men's basketball team (9-13, 2-8 MAC), averaging a team-high 22 points and three steals and tying for the team lead with 6.5 rebounds per game over two contests last week. He shot 45.2 percent (14-of-31) from the field and a team-best 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the free throw line. Kirk matched his career high with 20 points in a 66-50 loss to MAC East Division rival Bowling Green last Tuesday (Jan. 30) at the Stroh Center. He shot 7-of-18 from the field and 5-of-12 from the free throw line. He also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds and tallied a team-high three steals in 34 minutes. Kirk then scored a career-high 24 points before fouling out with 1:26 to play in regulation in a 101-98 loss to MAC West Division foe Central Michigan in double overtime on Saturday (Feb. 3) at the Convocation Center. He went 7-of-13 from the floor with a trey and made nine free throws. He also chipped in six rebounds, three steals and two assists in 36 minutes.
Tre'Shaun Fletcher, Toledo
Guard, Senior, Wilmar, Ark. (Univ. of Colorado)
Senior guard Tre’Shaun Fletcher averaged a team-high 19.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.5 assist in the Rockets two games last week. Fletcher opened the week with his 10th double-double of the season but his 16-point, 10-rebound, six-assist performance wasn’t enough to prevent Ball State from snapping the Rockets season-high seven-game winning streak with a 75-63 victory. Fletcher then helped UT return to its winning ways with a team-high 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a convincing 77-56 win over Akron. Fletcher was part of a strong defensive effort against the Zips as UT allowed a season-low 56 points.
Thomas Wilder, Western Michigan University
Guard, Senior, Montgomery, Ill. (Quakerdale Prep)
Wilder led the Broncos in two road games over the week with 22.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Wilder helped WMU clinch a 71-57 victory at Eastern Michigan with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. The win was the first victory in Ypsilanti for the Broncos since 2011. Wilder was a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line against the Eagles and scored all 10 of his points in the second half. On Friday night against Buffalo, Wilder led all scorers with 34 points on 58 percent (10-of-17) shooting from the field. Wilder against the Bulls also grabbed six rebounds. It was Wilder's fourth 30-point performance this season. From the free-throw line against the Bulls, Wilder went 11-of-14 and over the two game stretch went 14-of-17 for an impressive 82.4 FT percentage. Wilder leads WMU with 19.2 points per game this season and ranks third in the MAC.
