Racers' Stark OVC Player of the Week, Morant Freshman of
the Week
adidas® OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jonathan Stark, G • 6-0, 180, Sr. • Munford, Tenn. • Murray State
In a pair of games last week Stark averaged 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5
assists and 3.0 steals/game while hitting 42.4 percent (14-of-33) from the
field, 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the free throw
line. The Preseason OVC Player of the Year opened the week with 21 points on
5-of-11 3-point shooting in a home game against SEC foe Auburn. He had five
rebounds, five steals, five assists and a block in the contest. He followed that
by once again scoring 21 points, this time in a win at Detroit Mercy. Stark hit
3-of-6 3-pointers and added five rebounds, two assists and a steal. In 76 total
minutes of play, Stark committed only six turnovers. Stark currently ranks
second in the OVC in 3-pointers made/game (2.9), fifth in assists (4.0/game) and
minutes played (33.6/game), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and seventh
in scoring (16.3 points/game) and steals (1.5/game). He is the seventh different
player in seven weeks to earn OVC Player of the Week honors.
Others Nominated: Terry Taylor, Austin Peay; Dylan Windler, Belmont; Muusa Dama,
Eastern Illinois; Nick Mayo, Eastern Kentucky; Malcolm Drumwright, Jacksonville
State; Djimon Henson, Morehead State; Christian Ellis, SIUE; Christian Mekowulu,
Tennessee State; Fatodd Lewis, UT Martin.
CO-NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Averyl Ugba, F • 6-7, 225, Sr. • Silver Spring Md. • Austin Peay
Ugba, a transfer from Grambling, averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0
steals/game while hitting 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from the field and 70 percent
(7-of-10) from the free throw line. He had 16 points, five rebounds, an assist
and steal as the team overcame an 11-point second half deficit to defeat Troy
75-73. In that game he hit 6-of-11 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws. Ugba
closed the week with 10 points, nine rebounds and a steal against Western
Kentucky.
CO-NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Jackson Davis, F • 6-8, 220, Jr. • Lexington, Ky. • Eastern Kentucky
In two games last week Davis, a transfer from Butler, averaged 16.0 points, 4.0
rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks/game while hitting 59.1 percent (13-of-22)
from the field and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the free throw line. Jackson
opened the week with 15 points, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 18
minutes of action in a win over Norfolk State. He hit 6-of-9 field goals and
3-of-4 free throws in the game. Followed that with a season-high 17 points to go
along with six rebounds, four steals and an assist at Marshall; hit 7-of-13
(53.8%) from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line in the contest.
Others Nominated: D’Angelo Jackson, Eastern Illinois; Jason Burnell,
Jacksonville State; Terrence Parker, UT Martin.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Ja Morant, G • 6-3, 170, Fr. • Dalzell, S.C. • Murray State
In two games last week Morant averaged 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists
and 1.0 steals/game while hitting 80 percent (8-of-10) at the free throw line.
In the team’s 81-72 win at Detroit Mercy, the freshman nearly recorded a
triple-double as he tallied 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. In that
contest he hit 6-of-11 field goals, 2-of-4 3-pointers and all three of his free
throw attempts. He opened the week with nine points, seven rebounds, five
assists and a steal in an 81-77 home loss to SEC foe Auburn. Morant is the top
rebounding guard in the OVC (6.5/game), leads the OVC in assist-to-turnover
ratio (3.2) and is second in each assists (6.7/game) and free throw percentage
(87.5%).
Others Nominated: Terry Taylor, Austin Peay; Nick Hopkins, Belmont.
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: Conference play begins on Thursday; this
year marks a switch to an 18-game Conference schedule, as teams will now play a
pair of Conference games each week leading up to the OVC Tournament...After
being 3-8 heading into the Christmas break a season ago, Murray State is 8-3 in
non-conference play this season with a trio of road victories; it is the best
start to the season for MSU since 2012 (9-3)...Belmont senior Austin Luke now
has 526 career assists, first in the Bruins Division I history, and just 5 away
from 10th place in OVC history...Belmont junior Dylan Windler currently has nine
double-doubles, which ranks in the top five nationally...Austin Peay’s top two
scorers this season (Terry Taylor, Dayton Gumm) are freshman; only Kentucky (top
six scorers), Alabama, Houston Baptist and UTSA also can claim its top two
scorers are freshmen...Tennessee State capped a non-conference schedule that saw
it play two-nationally ranked teams (Kansas, Purdue) and two other teams (Texas,
Middle Tennessee) who were receiving Top 25 votes)...Eastern Illinois senior
point guard Terrell Lewis had started all 100 games of his career until
suffering an injury and missing the Dec. 16 game at South Alabama; he has now
missed three games but expected to return soon...UT Martin won a pair of games
last week and have now won four of its last five games overall.