ST. LOUIS – Missouri State men’s basketball standouts Alize Johnson (Sr., Williamsport, Pa.) and Obediah Church (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) were recognized Tuesday by the Missouri Valley Conference in its first round of 2017-18 postseason awards.
Johnson earned All-MVC first-team honors for the second straight season, while Church was named to the five-man MVC All-Defensive Team, also for the second time.
Johnson is averaging 15.1 points and a league-best 11.4 rebounds per game through the Bears’ first 31 games. He has also registered 19 double-doubles during the 2017-18 season. He enters the week ranked fourth nationally in total rebounds (354), sixth in rebounding average, fourth in defensive rebounds (8.39) and fourth in double-doubles — all tops in the MVC.
He was named MVC Player of the Week three times this season and was named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year this fall after being named its Newcomer of the Year a year ago. With 954 points, he is tied for 31st on MSU’s career scoring list, while his 705 rebounds rank No. 6 all-time for the Bears, despite playing just two seasons.
He is the first Bear to earn All-MVC first-team honors in back-to-back seasons since Kyle Weems (2011-12) and joins Weems, Johnny Murdock (1993-94) and Blake Ahearn (2006-07) as the only Bears to achieve that milestone.
Church is just the second Bear, joining Merrill Andrews (2003-04), to earn MVC All-Defensive Team honors twice. The high-flying junior leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 1.9 blocked shots per game. His 59 blocks this season rank 42nd nationally, while his 181 career blocks is the most-ever by a Missouri State player.
Church enters postseason play with 99 career dunks and is averaging 6.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season for MSU. He has also converted a team-best 66.4 percent of his field goal attempts during the 2017-18 campaign.
Missouri State (17-14) enters this week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis as the No. 7 seed. The Bears open Arch Madness on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. against No. 10 seed Valparaiso.
