This week, Andrew Nicholson played in a game for the ages that went to qaudruple overtime and had a matching line for the ages as well on his way to being named to his third NC-Double-Eh Player of the Week honor ...
Player of the Week
Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, ON) – Junior, St. Bonaventure
Andrew Nicholson has been nothing short great all this season. Nicholson only played in one game last week but he had the best game by a Canadian in the NCAA in a very, very long time. Playing like a player possessed, Nicholson single-handedly kept the Bonnies in the longest game in St. Bonaventure storied history on his way to winning not only Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week honors but also this week’s NC-Double-Eh Player of the Week.
Playing at home in against Ohio University before a raucous crowd, Nicholson dropped a career high 44 points, eighth most in the program’s history, playing an incredible 60 minutes of action to help his team pull out a win in quadruple overtime, 112-107. He also added 12 rebounds, 5 assists and a block to his impressive point total. The 12 boards gave Nicholson his thirteenth double-double of his career and fifth in a row this season (seven in nine games this year). He shot a very efficient 14-of-18 from the floor and 16-of-25 from the line, which was also a career high.
For the season, Nicholson is averaging 21.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and an assist playing in 36.6 minutes. He’s shooting 58.4% from the field and 74.7% from the line. Nicholson is currently the Atlantic 10 Conference’s leading scorer while placing in the top ten in rebounding (2nd), FG% (3rd), blocks (T-9th), defensive rebound per game (2nd at 8.4) and minutes played (T-7th).
Honorable Mention: Olu Ashoalu, Louisiana Tech: 16.5 pts, 11.5 rebs, 1.5 asts, 1 stl, 2 blks, 13-of-19 FGs, 1-of-3 3-PT FGs, 6-of-8 FTs, 31 mpg, 2 games, Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
Rookie of the Week
Cory Joseph (Toronto, ON) – Freshman, Texas
This week was a great week for Cory Joseph. He seems to be settling into this game nicely after starting a little rocky early on but he’s now looking like the star he was meant to be. In the two games that the Texas Longhorns played, Joseph was averaged 19.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in 32 minutes of action on his way to being named NC-Double-Eh Rookie of the Week.
In the Longhorns’ 70-48 win over North Florida Dec. 14, Joseph dropped 18 points, 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal in 29 minutes. He shot 6-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc, and was 2-for-2 from the line.
In the Longhorns’ next game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill four days later, Joseph would have an excellent game that included hitting the winning shot as time expired to steal the 78-76 win in hostile territory. He would tally 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal in 35 minutes of action. In that time, Joseph went 8-for-14 from the field, including 1-of-3 from the three, and 4-of-6 from the stripe on his way to breaking the hearts of many Tar Heel faithful.
For the season, Joseph is averaging 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.89 assists and a steal. He’s shooting 46% from the floor, 42.3% from downtown and 69% from the free throw line. Joseph is currently the leading assist man for the Longhorns as well as the second leading scorer, fourth leading rebounder and is second in thefts.
Honorable Mention: Christian Kabongo, New Mexico State: 13 pts, 2 asts, 10-of-21 FGs, 26.5 mins, 2 games.
Line of the Week
Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, ON) – Junior, St. Bonaventure
For this we are going back to Andrew Nicholson and his numbers from the quadruple overtime win he led the Bonnies to over Ohio. Nicholson’s line is pretty incredible. He went 14-for-19 from the floor (good for 73.7%) and an equally impressive 16-of-25 from the free throw line on his way to matching his point total with his jersey number, 44 if you didn’t read above. All the numbers were career highs. His 25 free throw attempts were more than the entire Ohio team took that game (Andrew’s 25 to Ohio’s 24) and he nearly made as many at the entire team too (Ohio made 18). Nicholson’s point total was the eighth most in Bonnies history behind names like Bob Lanier and Tom Stith. On top of that he also was the team’s leading assist man for the game with five. Oh yeah, did I mention that he didn’t sit the entire 60 minutes of the game! That alone deserves a mention as the line of the week.