Mid-American Conference

MAC Men’s Basketball East Division Player of the Week
Xeyrius Williams, Akron, Guard       
Senior, Springfield, Ohio       
Williams led the Zips to the Mid-American Conference Championship and No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament with two spectacular performances. Williams averaged a double-double in the final week of the season scoring 21.0 points and grabbing 10.0 rebounds per game. He tallied 42 points with 20 rebounds while shooting 52.0 percent (13-of-25) from the field, including a 35.7 percent (5-of-14) effort from deep. In addition, Williams was perfect from the free throw line, knocking down 11 courtesy buckets. He added two steals and a blocked shot. Against Ohio, Williams recorded 20 points and eight rebounds to lead Akron to a 74-67 triumph. He shot 6-of-13 from the floor, 2-of-7 from deep and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Williams added one steal as the Zips claimed at least a share of the MAC regular season championship. Against Kent State, Williams posted his 12th double-double performance of the season with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. He led all players in both categories while connecting with 7-of-12 shots from the floor and 3-of-7 from long distance. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line with a steal and a block. Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to lift the Zips to a one-point advantage which led to Akron’s 79-76 win to secure the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament.
 
MAC Men’s Basketball West Division Player of the Week
Tahjai Teague, Ball State, Forward  
Senior, Indianapolis, Ind. (Pike)       
Teague recorded double-doubles in both games last week to lead Ball State to a pair of decisive wins, a share of the MAC West Division championship and a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Teague scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds in Tuesday’s 85-68 victory over Central Michigan. He then notched 18 points and 11 boards Friday at Northern Illinois, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers as the Cardinals blew the game open in the second half. The win pulled BSU even with NIU atop the final West Division standings, gave the Cardinals a season sweep of the Huskies and secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament. Teague finished the conference season averaging a near double-double at 14.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. The fifth-year senior surpassed 1,500 career points and 950 career rebounds last week.
 
Other Top Performances
Jayvon Graves, Buffalo, Guard         
Junior, Malvern, OH (St. Vincent-St. Mary's)
Graves averaged 20.0 points per game during a pair of Buffalo victories this past week to cap off the regular season. Graves opened the week on Tuesday against Miami where he just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.  He led all scorers on Friday night at Bowling Green as the junior had 25 points, going 11-of-19 from the floor.  Graves leads the Bulls in scoring at 17.1 points per game.
 
Dallas Morgan, Central Michigan, Guard     
Senior, Peoria, Ill. (Moberly Area CC)          
Morgan had a standout week for the Chippewas leading them to a 1-1 record. He averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 steals over the two games. At Ball State, Morgan tied for the team lead in points with 19. Versus Western Michigan, on Senior Night, Morgan paced CMU with 20 points, making 4 3-pointers. Morgan ranks No. 2 on CMU in scoring (13.8 ppg) and has made a career-high 72 3-pointers.
 
Yeikson Montero, Eastern Michigan, Guard
Junior, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Redemption Christian Academy)  
Yeikson Montero averaged 11.0 points per game last week, as the Eagles dropped their two final MAC contests of the regular season. The guard also contributed 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 assists per game, while shooting 8-of-19 from the field (42.1 percent). Montero finished the week with a 71.4 free throw percentage on 5-of-7 shooting. The junior tallied 10 points with two rebounds and a steal in a loss at Western Michigan, March 3. On Friday, Montero co-led the Eagles with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe at Toledo. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native ranks third on the team averaging 9.6 points per game.
 
Eugene German, NIU, Guard
Senior, Gary, Ind. (21st Century Charter)    
German averaged 19.5 points per game for the week as the Huskies clinched a share of the MAC West Division title for the first time since 2006. The Gary, Ind., native opened the week with 22 points and three assists in a 71-50 victory over Toledo (March 3) that gave the Huskies their 11th conference win of the season and clinched a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. German then scored 17 points, with three rebounds and three assists, in the regular season finale against Ball State (March 6). The leading scorer in the MAC, and 23rd nationally, German is averaging 20.5 points per game.
 
Jason Preston, Ohio, Guard  
Sophomore, Orlando, Fla. (Boone)  
Preston led the Bobcats this past week to a 1-1 week, Overall, Preston averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.5 assists. He went 16-of-30 from the field, 6-of-12 from three-point range and was 5-of-9 from the free throw line. On March 3 at Akron, Preston scored 19 points, going 8-of-15 from the field, 1-of-3 from three-point range and 2-of-4 from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds and eight assists. On March 6 at Miami, Preston was spectacular, scoring 24 points, going 8-of-15 from the field, a career-high 5-of-9 from three-point range and 3-of-5 from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds and seven assists in the 67-65 come from behind victory that was sparked by Preston's fourth three of the night, before he tied it with his fifth with just under a minute to go in the game.
 
Willie Jackson, Toledo, Forward      
Senior, Cleveland, Ohio (Garfield Heights)  
Jackson helped Toledo earn a home game in the 2020 MAC Tournament by splitting games at Northern Illinois and vs. Eastern Michigan. Jackson averaged 15.5 ppg, 12.5 rpg and 4.0 apg in the two contests. Jackson paced Toledo with 15 points and 10 rebounds against the Huskies before tallying 16 points, a team-high 15 rebounds and a team-best seven assists vs. Eagles.
 
Brandon Johnson, Western Michigan, Forward      
Redshirt Junior, Chicago, Ill. (Thea Bowman Leadership Academy)
Johnson guided WMU to a split over in-state foes last week defeating Eastern Michigan and falling to Central Michigan. Johnson averaged 32.5 minutes in two games and averaged a double-double with 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. Johnson also registered 1.5 blocks per game and shot 37.5 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line. In WMU’s home finale vs. Eastern Michigan, Johnson notched his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds on a staggering 12-of-14 shooting night from the free-throw line. Johnson followed up that performance with a 15-point, 9 rebound effort in 31 minutes at Central Michigan. Against CMU, Johnson was 5-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. Johnson is now just three points away from clinching 1,000 for his career.