MAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Ryan Rollins, Toledo, Guard
Sophomore, Macomb, Mich. (Dakota)
Sophomore Ryan Rollins earned tournament MVP honors and helped Toledo win the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship by averaging 24.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg while shooting 49.1 percent from the field and knocking down 16-of-19 free-throw attempts in three contests. Rollins scored a career-high 35 points, connected on 4-of-5 three-point shots and tied his career high with three steals in the Rockets’ championship-game win over the Chanticleers. In the Rockets’ opening game in the Bahamas vs. Charlotte, Rollins tallied 22 points, six rebounds and four assists. Hen then scored 16 points and grabbed six boards in Toledo’s 68-67 semifinal victory over Tulane. In the win over the Green Wave, Rollins’ jumper from the free-throw line with 1:23 remaining gave the Rockets a 68-65 lead. Rollins’ strong defense then forced Tulane’s Jalen Cook to take a tough shot at the buzzer to send Toledo to the championship game.
Other Nominee
Enrique Freeman, Akron, Forward
Sophomore, Cleveland, Ohio (St. Martin De Porres)
Freeman averaged a double-double at the Gulf Coast Showcase, scoring 11.3 points and grabbing 10.3 rebounds per game. Freeman posted two double-double performances in three games and just missed a third by one point. He registered nine points (4-of-9) and 11 rebounds in the opener against Fordham (L, 63-43) and followed with 15 points (7-of-10), 10 rebounds against App State (L, 57-45) before wrapping up the tournament with 10 points (4-of-7) and 10 rebounds against Evansville (W, 69-60).
Tyler Cochran, Ball State, Guard
Junior, Bolingbrook, Ill. (Bolingbrook)
Tyler led Ball State with a 15-point game. He finished with nine rebounds and a team-high two steals. He played 25 minutes as BSU defeated in-state rival ISU. He has recorded double-digit points in two straight. He shot 50 percent from the field and from behind the 3-point line.
Daeqwon Plowden, Bowling Green, Forward
Fifth Year, Philadelphia, Pa. (Mastery Charter North)
Daeqwon Plowden was a force for Bowling Green over the last week of competition. Plowden began the week at the Fort Myers Tip-Off by putting up a team-high 26 points against Milwaukee, matching his career-high, while adding seven rebounds and two blocks to his stat line. The next day against Southern Utah, Plowden again led the team in scoring, this time with 18, and added six rebounds and two blocks. Plowden closed out the week against Chicago State by breaking the BGSU program record for games played in a career (130) and logging his second double-double of the season (17 points, 10 rebounds). Plowden added on three blocks to match his season-high, now with at least one block in every game so far this season.
Ronaldo Segu, Buffalo, Guard
Senior Orlando, FL (Orlando Christian Prep)
Senior Ronaldo Segu was named to the All-Tournament team at the Cancun Challenge after averaging 21.0 points per game over the two contests in Mexico. On Tuesday, Segu single handily brought the Bulls back from a big deficit against Stephen F. Austin as he scored a career high 25 points, including 22 of those coming in the second half. Segu helped UB take a late lead, but the Bulls couldn't hold on. On Wednesday, Segu scored 17 more points and had a season-high eight assists, while turning the ball over just once. He averaged 6.0 dimes per game in the two contests last week.
Monty Scott, Eastern Michigan, Guard
Senior, Union, N.J. St. Benedict's Prep Portland State
In a pair on games, Monty Scott average 17.0 points to game to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game against Western Illinois, Nov. 24, and DePaul, Nov. 28. Scott turned in 29.5 minutes per game, whle shooting 46 percent (13-of-28) from the floor. We was also 5-for-9 from the long-line for a 55 percent clip. In the win of WIU, Scott was 6-for-13 for 16 points and six caroms. He led the squad with 18 points at DePaul to go along with two assists and a steal. Of note, versus DePaul, Scott hit multiple threes (three) for the third consecutive game.
Sincere Carry, Kent State, Guard
Junior, Solon, Ohio
Sincere Carry was named to the Naples Invitational all-tournament team after leading the Flashes to a second-place finish and posting back-to-back season-highs in scoring. Carry started off the tournament with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists against JMU before posting 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in a semifinal win over George Washington. He followed up the 20-point performance with a season-high 21 points to go with nine boards in the championship. Carry did all of this while shooting 50+ percent from the field, 40+ percent from three and 90+ percent from the field. He led the Flashes with 19 assists in the tournament and was second on the team with 22 rebounds on the week.
Dae Dae Grant, Miami, Guard
Junior, Lorain, Ohio (Lorain)
Dae Dae Grant averaged 19.0 ppg, 3.0 apg, had a 6.0 assist/turnover ratio and shot a sizzling 53.6 percent from the floor over a pair of games last week. Grant amassed 16 points, sinking four triples, and notched four assists and three rebounds in a 99-47 win against Heidelberg, for the RedHawks fifth-straight win and the fifth-largest margin of victory in program history. He followed that with a 22-point effort at Western Illinois, his second 20-point scoring effort of the season and added two assists, two rebounds and a blocked shot. Grant committed no turnovers in 53:40 minutes of action last week.
Miles Brown, Ohio, Guard
Junior, Rochester, N.Y. / Northstar Christian Academy
Junior guard Miles Brown led Ohio last week, helping the Bobcats go 2-0 and start the season off 5-1. Brown averaged 15.0 points per game to go along with 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He shot .632 form the field, hit four threes and was 2-of-3 from the line. On Nov. 22 against Mount St. Mary's Brown scored 11 points, going 5-of-7 from the field, 1-of-3 from three , while grabbing one rebound, dishing out one assist and recording one steal. His best day came on Nov. 26 against Concordia. Brown scored a career-high 19 points, going 7-of-12 from the field, 3-of-8 from three and hit both of he free throws. He also grabbed six rebounds, dished out two assists and had two steals in 32 minutes on the floor in the 20-point victory inside the Convo.
Lamar Norman Jr., Western Michigan, Guard
Junior, Grand Rapids, Mich. (Godwin Heights HS)
Norman scored in double-figures in all four of WMU's games, averaging 22.0 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting ... The junior made 4.5 three-pointers per game (18-43 [.419]) ... Norman netted a career-high 31 points in an overtime win on Sunday over Southeastern Louisiana, scoring 10 points over the final seven minutes of regulation and another six points in the extra session.
