The Mid-American on Monday announced its Men’s Basketball Players of the week. Bowling Green’s Richaun Holmes and Western Michigan took honors in their respective divisions.
MAC Men's Basketball East Division Player of the Week
Richaun Holmes, Bowling Green, Forward
Senior, Lockport, Ill./Lockport
Holmes led the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding in BGSU's 79-70 non-conference road win at South Florida last week. The senior had a team-high 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. He had five offensive rebounds in the game as well. The 6-8 forward had a put back dunk over two USF defenders with less than three minutes to go in the contest to help seal the road win for the Falcons. Holmes has now scored in double figures in seven different contests for the Falcons on the season.
MAC Men's Basketball West Division Player of the Week
Connar Tava, Western Michigan, Forward
Junior, Macomb, Mich. / Warren De La Salle
Tava filled nearly every column of the stat sheet in the Broncos' 71-62 win over Alabama A&M on Monday, tying for the game-high with 20 points on an 8-of-11 shooting night while also providing a little bit of everything in the other facets of the game. Tava notched his third 20-point performance of the season in the win over the Bulldogs while also pulling down a team-high six rebounds and dishing out a team-best six assists. He was also strong on the defensive end, swiping a career-high five steals and blocking a shot. Tava leads the Broncos in scoring (16.0 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (3.9 apg) and field goal percentage (.594).
MAC Men's Basketball East Division Player of the Week
Richaun Holmes, Bowling Green, Forward
Senior, Lockport, Ill./Lockport
Holmes led the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding in BGSU's 79-70 non-conference road win at South Florida last week. The senior had a team-high 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. He had five offensive rebounds in the game as well. The 6-8 forward had a put back dunk over two USF defenders with less than three minutes to go in the contest to help seal the road win for the Falcons. Holmes has now scored in double figures in seven different contests for the Falcons on the season.
MAC Men's Basketball West Division Player of the Week
Connar Tava, Western Michigan, Forward
Junior, Macomb, Mich. / Warren De La Salle
Tava filled nearly every column of the stat sheet in the Broncos' 71-62 win over Alabama A&M on Monday, tying for the game-high with 20 points on an 8-of-11 shooting night while also providing a little bit of everything in the other facets of the game. Tava notched his third 20-point performance of the season in the win over the Bulldogs while also pulling down a team-high six rebounds and dishing out a team-best six assists. He was also strong on the defensive end, swiping a career-high five steals and blocking a shot. Tava leads the Broncos in scoring (16.0 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (3.9 apg) and field goal percentage (.594).
(CLICK READ MORE FOR OTHER TOP PERFORMERS . . . )
Other Top Performers:
Sean Sellers, Ball State, Forward
Freshman, Greensburg, Ind./Greensburg
Sellers went 4-for-4 from 3-point range and scored 15 points Sunday to lead Ball State to a 69-64 victory over Longwood. His final trey of the afternoon came as part of a crucial four-point play late in the game. After Longwood cut a 10-point Ball State lead down to two with 2:13 left, Sellers knocked down the three and added the free throw to push the Cardinals' lead back to six. The freshman forward raised his 3-point percentage for the season to .594, the best in the Mid-American Conference.
Justin Moss, Buffalo, Forward
Junior, Detroit, MI/Romulus
Moss picked up his fourth straight double-double and sixth of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds against #6 Wisconsin on Sunday night. The 12 rebounds were a game high. Moss continues to lead the MAC in both scoring and rebounding.
Karrington Ward, Eastern Michigan, Forward
Senior, Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township
Ward led the Eagles to a perfect 2-0 week, helping EMU to its best non-conference record since joining the Mid-American Conference prior to the 1974-75 campaign. Eastern used an 87-54 win over Coppin State, Dec. 23, and a 100-42 victory against Concordia, Dec. 28, to complete an 11-2 non-conference slate. Ward started the week by dropping 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while pulling down four boards in the Eagles' win over CSU. On the other end of the floor, the Lockport, Ill. native posted a pair of steals and a career-high six blocks, helping the Green and White hold Coppin State to a 29.3 shooting percentage. The six blocks ties for the 10th most in a single game at EMU. In the EMU victory over Concordia, Ward connected on five of his seven shot attempts, including going a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, recording 15 more points in just 21 minutes of play. The 6-foot-7 senior also pulled down eight rebounds, blocked two shots and recorded three more steals.
Jimmy Hall, Kent State, Forward
Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Anthony's
Hall earned a spot on the WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational All-Tournament Team after nearly leading Kent State to a comeback in a 78-75 road setback to UTEP. Hall recorded his third double-double of the season, totaling 20 points and 10 rebounds against a talented Miners frontline in spite of logging only 25 minutes on the court due to early foul trouble. Facing a 13-point deficit with 6:51 to play, Hall took over the Golden Flashes' offense by scoring 10 points down the stretch and gave his team two shots at tying the game in the final 10 seconds. Hall also made an impact on the defensive end down the stretch, drawing a crucial charge call when UTEP's Omega Harris drove down the lane for a dunk attempt with 1:20 on the clock.
LJ Livingston, Jr., Miami, Center
Junior, Upper Marlboro, MD/Patterson
Livingston amassed career highs of 17 points and eight rebounds as Miami fell at No. 21/18 Ohio State on Monday. Livingston shot a scorching 7-of-8 (.875) from the field with his lone miss of the night coming with under three minutes to play. His seven field goals were a career high. He also hauled in a game-high-tying eight rebounds, three more than his previous career best, and added one blocked shot against the Buckeyes. Livingston scored 15 of his points in the second half, including Miami's first 11 of the second half. He also hauled in all eight of his rebounds in the final stanza.
Javarez Willis, Ohio, G
R-Sr., Homer, La./Humble Christian Life Center Academy
Willis helped lead the Ohio men's basketball team (4-6) to a sixth-place finish at the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 1-2 record at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honoulu, Hawai'i. He led the Bobcats with 18.3 points and 4.0 assists per game. Willis powered Ohio to a dominating 99-78 victory over DePaul in a Diamond Head Classic consolation game last Tuesday (Dec. 23). He scored a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers and matched his career high by dishing out a game-high six assists. He also grabbed two rebounds and collected a steal. Willis went 11-of-18 from the field -- including 7-of-14 from three-point land. Willis matched the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic record with seven three-point field goals made, sharing distinction with Marshall Henderson of Ole Miss, who achieved the feat in 2012. He is the first Bobcat to make seven threes in a game since D.J. Cooper did so on March 1, 2011, in an 80-55 thumping of Akron. Willis is the first Ohio player to attempt 14 three pointers in a game since Tommy Freeman did so on March 7, 2010, in an 85-77 win at Ball State in the first round of the FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament. He is the first Bobcat to score 30 or more points in a game since Nick Kellogg scored 30 against VMI in 92-90 loss on March 26, 2014, in the College Insider Tournament. Willis followed that effort up by finishing in double figures for a second straight game with 15 points in Ohio's 71-58 loss to Nebraska on Thursday (Dec. 25) in the fifth-place game. He knocked down a game-high three treys, dished out a game-high four assists and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds. Willis reached double figures for the seventh time this season and 16th time in his career and led Ohio in points for the fifth time this season and assists for the seventh time. Through 10 games in 2014-15, Willis leads in scoring (16.2 points per game), field goals made per game (56), three-point field goals made per game (3.3), three-point field goal attempts per game (8.1), assists per game (3.2), three-point field goal percentage (.411) and free throw percentage (.941). He ranks second on the squad in field goal attempts per game (12.6), free throws made per game (1.8), steals per game (1.1) and minutes per game (33.0)
Sean Sellers, Ball State, Forward
Freshman, Greensburg, Ind./Greensburg
Sellers went 4-for-4 from 3-point range and scored 15 points Sunday to lead Ball State to a 69-64 victory over Longwood. His final trey of the afternoon came as part of a crucial four-point play late in the game. After Longwood cut a 10-point Ball State lead down to two with 2:13 left, Sellers knocked down the three and added the free throw to push the Cardinals' lead back to six. The freshman forward raised his 3-point percentage for the season to .594, the best in the Mid-American Conference.
Justin Moss, Buffalo, Forward
Junior, Detroit, MI/Romulus
Moss picked up his fourth straight double-double and sixth of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds against #6 Wisconsin on Sunday night. The 12 rebounds were a game high. Moss continues to lead the MAC in both scoring and rebounding.
Karrington Ward, Eastern Michigan, Forward
Senior, Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township
Ward led the Eagles to a perfect 2-0 week, helping EMU to its best non-conference record since joining the Mid-American Conference prior to the 1974-75 campaign. Eastern used an 87-54 win over Coppin State, Dec. 23, and a 100-42 victory against Concordia, Dec. 28, to complete an 11-2 non-conference slate. Ward started the week by dropping 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while pulling down four boards in the Eagles' win over CSU. On the other end of the floor, the Lockport, Ill. native posted a pair of steals and a career-high six blocks, helping the Green and White hold Coppin State to a 29.3 shooting percentage. The six blocks ties for the 10th most in a single game at EMU. In the EMU victory over Concordia, Ward connected on five of his seven shot attempts, including going a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, recording 15 more points in just 21 minutes of play. The 6-foot-7 senior also pulled down eight rebounds, blocked two shots and recorded three more steals.
Jimmy Hall, Kent State, Forward
Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Anthony's
Hall earned a spot on the WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational All-Tournament Team after nearly leading Kent State to a comeback in a 78-75 road setback to UTEP. Hall recorded his third double-double of the season, totaling 20 points and 10 rebounds against a talented Miners frontline in spite of logging only 25 minutes on the court due to early foul trouble. Facing a 13-point deficit with 6:51 to play, Hall took over the Golden Flashes' offense by scoring 10 points down the stretch and gave his team two shots at tying the game in the final 10 seconds. Hall also made an impact on the defensive end down the stretch, drawing a crucial charge call when UTEP's Omega Harris drove down the lane for a dunk attempt with 1:20 on the clock.
LJ Livingston, Jr., Miami, Center
Junior, Upper Marlboro, MD/Patterson
Livingston amassed career highs of 17 points and eight rebounds as Miami fell at No. 21/18 Ohio State on Monday. Livingston shot a scorching 7-of-8 (.875) from the field with his lone miss of the night coming with under three minutes to play. His seven field goals were a career high. He also hauled in a game-high-tying eight rebounds, three more than his previous career best, and added one blocked shot against the Buckeyes. Livingston scored 15 of his points in the second half, including Miami's first 11 of the second half. He also hauled in all eight of his rebounds in the final stanza.
Javarez Willis, Ohio, G
R-Sr., Homer, La./Humble Christian Life Center Academy
Willis helped lead the Ohio men's basketball team (4-6) to a sixth-place finish at the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 1-2 record at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honoulu, Hawai'i. He led the Bobcats with 18.3 points and 4.0 assists per game. Willis powered Ohio to a dominating 99-78 victory over DePaul in a Diamond Head Classic consolation game last Tuesday (Dec. 23). He scored a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers and matched his career high by dishing out a game-high six assists. He also grabbed two rebounds and collected a steal. Willis went 11-of-18 from the field -- including 7-of-14 from three-point land. Willis matched the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic record with seven three-point field goals made, sharing distinction with Marshall Henderson of Ole Miss, who achieved the feat in 2012. He is the first Bobcat to make seven threes in a game since D.J. Cooper did so on March 1, 2011, in an 80-55 thumping of Akron. Willis is the first Ohio player to attempt 14 three pointers in a game since Tommy Freeman did so on March 7, 2010, in an 85-77 win at Ball State in the first round of the FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament. He is the first Bobcat to score 30 or more points in a game since Nick Kellogg scored 30 against VMI in 92-90 loss on March 26, 2014, in the College Insider Tournament. Willis followed that effort up by finishing in double figures for a second straight game with 15 points in Ohio's 71-58 loss to Nebraska on Thursday (Dec. 25) in the fifth-place game. He knocked down a game-high three treys, dished out a game-high four assists and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds. Willis reached double figures for the seventh time this season and 16th time in his career and led Ohio in points for the fifth time this season and assists for the seventh time. Through 10 games in 2014-15, Willis leads in scoring (16.2 points per game), field goals made per game (56), three-point field goals made per game (3.3), three-point field goal attempts per game (8.1), assists per game (3.2), three-point field goal percentage (.411) and free throw percentage (.941). He ranks second on the squad in field goal attempts per game (12.6), free throws made per game (1.8), steals per game (1.1) and minutes per game (33.0)
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