Today we have a guy that has been nothing short of exactly what his coach said he'd be which is a very, very good player. His big week included weathering a (Red) Storm to seal an upset win and reaching 1000 career points. In short, we present to you this week's NC-Double-Eh Player of the Week ...
Player of the Week
Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, ON) – Junior, St. Bonaventure
This has been a great week for Andrew Nicholson. Despite the fact that his Bonnies went 1-1 in their games, he had hit a personal milestone for his career reaching 1000 points also. For the week, Nicholson averaged 18 points (on 11-of22 FGs and 14-of-16 FTs), 12.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a block in an iron man like 37.5 minutes per game on his way to his second NC-Double-Eh Player of the Week.
In St. Bonaventure’s game against the St. John’s Red Storm Dec. 7, Nicholson lead a second half charge that included him hitting the game winning shot to secure the 67-66 upset win for the Bonnies. He scored 19 points, grabbed 13 boards, dished 3 assists and had a block in 35 minutes of action. He went 6-of-13 from the floor as well as 7-of-8 from the free throw line to get the Bonnies’ first win over St. John’s since 1922.
In St. Bonaventure’s next game Dec. 11, Nicholson was equally great posting 17 points (on 5-of-9 from the field and 7-of-8 from the stripe), 12 rebounds and a block playing every minute in the 69-61 loss to Niagara. Nicholson’s first basket of the game put him into the 1000 career point club for the Bonnies making him the 38th player to do so putting him into some great company that includes NBA Hall of Famer Bob Lanier.
For the season, Nicholson is averaging 18.6 points, 10 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in 33.6 minutes per game. He’s also shooting 55.3% from the floor and 79.6 from the line. Aside from leading the team in both scoring and rebounding, Nicholson is also ranked in the top ten in the Atlantic-10 Conference in scoring (4th), rebounding (2nd), field goal percentage (5th), free throw percentage (9th), blocks (8th) and defensive rebounds (2nd).
Honorable Mention: Jared Mintz, Lafayette: 18.7 pts, 6.7 rebs, 2 asts, 20-of-35 FG, 16-20 FTs, 31.3 mins over three games.
Rookie of the Week
Melvin Ejim (Brampton, ON) – Freshman, Iowa State
Melvin Ejim has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Iowa State Cyclones and this week was another great one for him. In three games this past week, he averaged 13.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals in 33 minutes per game going 14-of-23 from the floor and 11-of-14 from the free throw line on his way to earning his second Big 12 Rookie of the Week as well as being The NC-Double-Eh Rookie of the Week.
In the Cyclones’ 85-58 blowout win against Southeast Missouri on Dec. 6, Ejim posted his second double-double of his young career with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with 2 steals and an assist in a team high 34 minutes. In the game, he went 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from the line.
In the next game against instate rival Iowa four days later, Ejim went for 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 37 minutes to help the Cyclones beat the Hawkeyes 75-72 on their home floor. He went 6-of-9 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from the three.
In his team’s last game of the week Sunday, Ejim had a less spectacular game but he still contributed a near double-double going for 8 points, 9 rebounds and an assist in 28 minutes in the 65-54 win over Texas Southern.
For the season, Ejim is averaging 13.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.5 steals. He’s currently shooting 62.1% from the field, 66.7% from the line and 37.5% from behind the arc in 29.2 minutes per game. He is currently one of a few first year players ranked among the Big 12 Conference leaders in several categories. He’s ranked 16th in scoring (3rd on the team), 12th in rebounding (2nd on team), 3rd in FG% (1st on the team), 9th in offensive rebounding (2nd on team) and 15th in defensive rebounds (2nd on team).
Honorable Mention: Christian Kabongo, New Mexico State: 21 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk, 7-of-15 FG, 6-of-9 3PT FGs, 31 mins in one game.
Line of the Week
Nemanja Mitrovic (Toronto) – Junior, Portland – 10-of-21 FGs, 10-of-18 3PT FGs
What more can I say about Mr. Mitrovic’s line above? Actually, is there any need to explain it at all? Really? Over a two game period, Mitrovic took 21 shots and he made 10 of them and they all happened to be threes. In fact, he only took three shots inside the arc and missed all of them. But at least he made ten of his treys. Crazy right?
Let’s put this stat into perspective.
Mitrovic happens to play on the same team as a very good outside shooter named Jared Stohl. He is averaging a West Coast Conference high 3.4 treys a game and leads the conference in total threes made so far at 37. In the same two games, Stohl took three less total shots from distance and made four fewer. He’s shooting a healthy percentage from out there too at 50%. So Mitrovic’s accomplishment is not bad I’d say.
For the season, Mitrovic has 30 made threes placing him third overall in the conference and his per game average of 2.7 made per contest puts him at tied at fourth. Oh yeah, he’s also dropping them in at 50% per clip. When he comes to your court, bring an umbrella raincoat for sure, feel me?