MAC Men’s Basketball Players Of The Week (Dec. 24, 2007)
East Division Men’s Basketball Player Of The Week
Tim Pollitz, Miami, F, Senior, Ottawa, Ohio (Ottawa-Glandorf)
Pollitz averaged 18.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg, shot 54.2 percent from the field and added 14 assists to lead the RedHawks to a 2-1 week with wins against Chicago State and at Illinois and a loss at No. 3 Kansas. Pollitz scored a career-high 26 points against Chicago State, going 13-for-22 from the field (.591). He scored 18 points in the second half. It was the 17th 20-point scoring effort of his career and his 14th over a 25-game stretch. Pollitz narrowly missed achieving a triple-double against the Cougars, adding a career-high nine assists and eight rebounds. At Illinois, Pollitz recorded his sixth career double-double and his second of the season with 17 points and a team-leading 13 rebounds in a tremendous overtime effort. The loss was just the eighth home loss for the Illini over the past 10 years, who had the nation’s best homecourt winning percentage. It was Miami’s first win in the all-time series with Illinois and the first win by a MAC school at Illinois. The win also was Miami’s first at a Big Ten opponent’s since defeating Purdue in the 1984-85 season. Against the No. 3 Jayhawks, Pollitz was tied for the team lead with 11 points and six rebounds.
West Division Men’s Basketball Player Of The Week
Joe Reitz, Western Michigan, C, Senior, Fishers, Ind. (Hamilton Southeastern)
Reitz averaged 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game to lead Western Michigan to a split last week with a 57-41 win over Southern Illinois and 67-62 defeat at Iona. Reitz connected on 13-of-21 field goals (.619) and 13-of-16 free throws (.813) for the week, while also passing out two assists and picking up two steals. Reitz notched his 21st career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the victory over previously nationally-ranked Southern Illinois. He then followed that up with a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds at Iona. Reitz climbed up the career record book in several categories, including setting a new school record for made free throws (454). He also moved into sixth place in scoring (1408 points) and eighth in rebounds (770).
Others Nominated:
Nick Dials, Akron, G, Senior, New Haven, Ohio (Willard HS/Ohio State)
Dials helped Akron to wins over North Carolina A&T and Youngstown State this week, averaging 14.5 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including a 5-of-9 showing from behind the 3-point arc, and went 12-of-12 from the free throw line. He scored a season-high 21 points and had two assists and two steals in 31 minutes versus NC A&T, going 6-of-10 from the floor, 5-of-8 from 3-point land and 4-of-4 from the line against the Aggies. Versus Youngstown State, he scored eight points, all from the charity stripe, and had four assists but logged just 23 minutes due to back spasms. He went 0-for-1 from the field against the Penguins (one 3-pointer attempt).
Darryl Clements, Bowling Green, G, Junior, Detroit, Mich. (Rogers Acad.)
Led the Falcons in scoring for the second straight game, with 12 points at Indiana State. Was 5-for-10 from the field, including a 2-for-4 effort from three-point range. Also had two rebounds, an assist and two steals in 38 minutes. On the season, is averaging 8.1 points and 3.6 rebounds, and is second on the team in steals (1.0 spg).
Sean Smiley, Buffalo, G, Sophomore, Erie, Pa. (McDowell)
Smiley averaged 12 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists and was named to the All-Tournament Team of the Sun Bowl Classic last week. He had 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal against Wyoming. He followed that performance with a 14-point effort, including three three-pointers in the Bulls' 80-66 victory over USC Upstate. Smiley added two rebounds and an assist against the Spartans.
Mike Scott, Kent State, F, Senior, Indianapolis, Ind. (Northwest)
Scott extended the KSU winning streak to six straight with career highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds. In the final five minutes he had three offensive rebounds and put backs. He past his previous career highs of 20 and 15 in the final 1:30 on two spectacular plays. With the Golden Flashes down 68-66 and 1:30 to play, he tipped in a miss to tie the game, then on and identical play he tipped in another missed on the next KSU possession to tie the game again at 70 with 40 seconds left. He shot 7-11 from the field and 78 from the foul line.
Marcus Van, Central Michigan, C, Junior, Chicago, Ill. (Wabash Valley CC)
Van pulled down 16 rebounds at Milwaukee and added nine at Cleveland State. The 16 boards tied a MAC season high (Pollitz) and only twice since 2000 had a Chippewa pulled down more (22 and 21 by Chris Kaman. Van also had three blocks at Milwaukee and scored eight points in each game. He had 13 offensive boards and 12 defensive on the week.
2007-08 Men’s Basketball Players Of The Week
Nov. 12 – Chris Knight, Bowling Green (East); Derek Drews, Western Michigan (West)
Nov. 19 – Tim Pollitz, Miami (East); Joe Reitz, Western Michigan (West)
Nov. 26 – Michael Bramos, Miami (East); Justin Dobbins, Eastern Michigan (West)
Dec. 3 – Cedrick Middleton, Akron (East); Tyrone Kent, Toledo (West)
Dec. 10 – Al Fisher, Kent State (East); Giordan Watson, Central Michigan (West)
Dec. 17 – Nate Linhart, Akron (East); Giordan Watson, Central Michigan (West)
Dec. 24 – Tim Pollitz, Miami (East); Joe Reitz, Western Michigan (West)
