ST. LOUIS — Missouri State guard Alston Mason (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, the league announced Monday (Jan. 29).
Mason’s performance last week pushed the Bears to a pair of critical victories, including a double-overtime home win over Drake (Jan. 24) and a road win at Valparaiso (Jan. 27). He averaged 29.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.5 three-pointers per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field (22-of-45) and 50 percent from three (9-of-18).
He started the week with a career-high (and game-high) 36 points against Drake, helping MSU match its third-largest deficit overcome in school history after trailing the league co-leaders by 16 points. Mason accounted for 23 points in the second half and 29 after halftime, including the overtimes. He also snagged seven rebounds to go with five 3-pointers, three assists and a pair of steals against DU. His scoring outburst matched the 18th-best single-game scoring effort in MSU history.
He followed that effort with a game-high 22 points at Valpo, racking up a career-high nine assists to go with four more threes and six rebounds in the victory.
It marks Mason’s second MVC Player of the Week this season after his previous honor on Dec. 27.
Also honored by the league this week were Newcomer of the Week Isaiah Swope of Indiana State and Freshman of the Week Johnny Kinziger of Illinois State.
The Bears take a two-game MVC winning streak to Carbondale on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup at Southern Illinois before returning to Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday (Feb. 3) against Belmont at 1 p.m. Kansas Chiefs mascot KC Wolf will be on hand for Saturday’s home game with tickets starting at $5.
