Weekly Awards: Nebrask-etball has arrived, Bruce Thornton's statement week
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
Thornton has been one of the best point guards in college basketball over the course of the last three seasons, but the fact that he hasn’t won anything with the Buckeyes has kept him off of the national radar. Case in point: This season. Thornton is averaging 21.6 points, 5.1 boards and 4.4 assists while shooting 59 percent from the floor, 49 percent from three and 86 percent from the line, but no one is including him in any All-American conversations because the assumption is that Ohio State isn’t that good.
This week, Thornton had 34 points in a loss at Illinois before following that up with 21 points and the game-winning bucket in a win over West Virginia.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Nebraska
The Cornhuskers picked up a massive win on Saturday, knocking off Illinois in Champaign, blowing out Wisconsin and lending some legitimacy to their start to the season. Fred Hoiberg has a team that is capable of making some noise in the Big Ten this season because they do the little things well. Rienk Mast is one of the best players you haven’t seen play, and there is enough around him to make this group really dangerous.
COACH OF THE WEEK: Nick Irvin, Arizona State
Bobby Hurley was ejected at the end of the first half against Santa Clara on Saturday night. Nick Irvin came into the game to coach down by 15 points. He led the Sun Devils back to an 82-79 win. That’s pretty impressive!
MID-MAJOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Trevian Carson, North Dakota State
There is not much in this world that is better than a road win, and North Dakota State picked up two of them this week, winning at Cal-St. Bakersfield and at Drake. Carson had 29 points, seven boards, three assists and three steals in the win at Drake.
MID-MAJOR TEAM OF THE WEEK: Hofstra
The Pride locked up back to back wins over ACC foes, going into Pittsburgh and beating the Panthers last Sunday before turning around and knocking off Syracuse in the Dome on Saturday. In between, they beat Old Westbury by 69 points. Not a bad seven day run.
MID-MAJOR COACH OF THE WEEK: Travis Steele, Miami OH
There are seven undefeated teams left in college basketball, and Miami Ohio is one of those seven. Steele’s club is now 10-0 on the season after winning at UNC Asheville in overtime on Wednesday and following that up with a win at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.
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