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East: Javon McCrea, Buffalo senior forward
LW: Maurice Ndour, Ohio junior forward
The Kraken has been released. Buffalo's star forward is known for putting up impressive stats. Almost to a point where it's held against him. We expect a double-double out of him to the point where at times it feels even attaining so is not worthy of significant recognition. That, factored with some talk about how no matter how many stats he puts up he hasn't helped Buffalo really win anything, and it's easy to see why he sometimes gets looked over.
But this past week McCrea shut all doubters up. Yes, Buffalo played the two worst team's in the MAC, but McCrea didn't just put up good numbers in wins over Ball State and CMU, he DOMINATED (caps necessary). The big man averaged 22 points, 17 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game, while shooting 56 percent from the field. Against Ball State McCrea put up 19 and 14, then followed it up with a career-performance against CMU on Saturday. Against the Chippewas McCrea put up 25 and 20, besting his career high for rebounds in a game by four. He was a one man wrecking crew, grabbing down boards as if he had tentacles growing out of his back. No one could have stopped him this past week.
His game against CMU marked his 11th double-double on the year, and his third straight. Clearly it's McCrea's world, the rest of the MAC just plays in it.
West: David Brown, Western Michigan senior guard
LW: Julius Brown, Toledo junior guard
I've been close to giving this award to Brown multiple times, but either due to the Broncos losing, or someone else putting up slightly better numbers, he always seems to just miss out. Not this week. The MAC's leading scorer upped his season average to 18.5 a game thanks to two stellar performances, this award is all his this week.
Sunday night against NIU, Brown's 20-point first half was crucial to the Broncos being able to hold off the Huskies rally attempts. He wound up scoring 26 and six boards on the game, but was lights out in the first half literally not missing a single shot. But what really earns him this award was his roll in the stomping of Ohio on Wednesday. The 'Cats, known for slow starts and strong finishes, were buried under Brown's 20 points and five steals. The beautiful thing about Brown's scoring is unlike many players who put up those kind of numbers, his scoring actually helps other players. When you have the bigs that WMU has, Brown lighting teams up from outside makes it easier for them to score. Not something that can be said about a lot of other -high-point production, low-assists guys.
A few more games like he had this past week and he can wrap the MAC scoring title in a bow.
