MAC Announces Men's Basketball Players of the Week

MAC Men's Basketball West Division Player of the Week
David Kool, Western Michigan, Guard
Senior, Grand Rapids, Mich. (South Christian)
Kool had the highest-scoring game of any player in the Mid-American Conference this season with 34 points in a road victory at Eastern Illinois. He made a career-high eight three-pointers among a career-high 11 field goals in just 18 attempts. Kool added three rebounds, three steals and one assist against the Panthers. Kool followed with 13 points, six rebounds and one steal at Illinois to move into sixth all-time at WMU in scoring with 1,560 career points. For the week, Kool averaged 23.5 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting from the field, 42.9 percent shooting from three-point range and 1.000 percent shooting at the free throw line.

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Other Nominees
Brett McKnight, Akron, Forward
Junior, Lancaster, Ohio (Lancaster)
McKnight tallied his second career double-double and first of the season in Akron's 62-30 defeat of Malone on Saturday (the Zips' only game of the week due to final exams), having a season-high 18 points and career-high-tying 10 rebounds in a season-long 25 minutes as a starter. He connected on 7-of-12 shots from the field, went 2-for-4 from 3-point range and added two points from the charity stripe (2-for-2 from the line). He also had a season-high three assists, one blocked shot and one steal.

Jarrod Jones, Ball State, Forward
Sophomore, Michigan City, Ind. (Michigan City)
Jones led the Cardinals as he averaged 17 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per contest over two games. Jones connected on 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the field in the two games and was a perfect four-of-four from the free throw line. In the Cardinals' victory at Indiana State, he scored a game-high 16 points and dished out three assists in only 27 minutes of play. He followed that up with his first double-double of the season at Tennessee Tech as he scored a game-high 18 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.

Dee Brown, Bowling Green, Guard
Sophomore, Detroit, Mich. (Country Day)
Brown scored a team-high 16 points and made 5-of-6 free-throws in the final 30 seconds to help Bowling Green defeat Canisius 58-54 Saturday for the Falcons' fourth win in a row. Brown, the MAC leader in three-point percentage, made 3-of-5 from long range and added a steal in the team's win.

Calvin Betts, Buffalo, Forward
Senior, Rochester, N.Y.
Betts had two solid all-around performances for the Bulls. In 30 minutes against Niagara, Betts had 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and added nine rebounds, an assist, two blocked shots and four steals. In only 21 minutes against Buffalo State, Betts had 14 points, a season-high 12 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals. He achieved his 11th career double-double by halftime.

Chris Kellermann, Central Michigan, Forward
Senior, O'Fallon, Ill. (O'Fallon)
Kellermann approached a double-double with 10 points, nine boards, three blocks, two steals and an assist in CMU's victory over USF. The victory is the Chippewas' first over a BIG EAST foe since the 2003-04 campaign, and the first road victory on the year. Kellermann hit a pair of threes as well in the contest.

Brandon Bowdry, Eastern Michigan, Forward
Junior, St. Louis, Mo. (Taylor (Mich.) Truman)
Eastern Michigan won its only game last week, 75-64, at home, Dec. 12, against James Madison. Bowdry recorded his fifth double-double of the year and 12th in his career with 20 points and 14 rebounds, three assists and two steals. He made 8-of-16 field goals, 1-of-2 threes, 3-of-6 free throws.

Justin Greene, Kent State, Forward
Sophomore, Brooklyn, NY (Lincoln)
Greene shot 7-12 from the field and led Kent State with 17 points and six rebounds in a 71-59 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday. The sophomore forward has been the Golden Flashes most consistent performer this season with double figures in seven of the nine games. He leads the team with 12.7 points per game this season a +10.5 ppg increase from his scoring average a year ago.

Kenny Hayes, Miami, Guard
Senior, Dayton, Ohio (Northmont/Cincinnati State)
Hayes led Miami, averaging 13.3 ppg and shooting 50.0 percent from the field over a rugged three-game, six-day stretch for the RedHawks last week. Hayes tallied 11 points, including the game-winning bucket, in a thrilling come-from-behind win against Wright State to snap a three-game losing skid for the RedHawks and halt Wright State's three-game win streak. He drove and hit the go-ahead layup with 22 seconds remaining against the Raiders, giving Miami its first lead since the 10-minute mark of the first half.He shot a solid 55.6 percent from the field (5-of-9) and was 1-for-1 from 3-point range. Hayes led all scorers in a narrow four-point loss to No. 19 Cincinnati with 19 points of 7-of-13 shooting (.538). He nailed three 3-pointers against the Bearcats and was 2-for-2 from the free-throw line shooting two of the RedHawks three total free-throws attempts for the game. Against Temple, Hayes tallied 10 points and added a season-high-tying four rebounds to his effort.