ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Illinois State sophomore forward Chase Walker has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for his performance against Saint Louis on Sunday afternoon.
Walker earns his first career MVC honor and is the first Redbird to be named MVC Player of the Week since Johnny Kinziger earned the honor on February 19 after ISU wins over Indiana State and Evansville.
The Columbus, Ohio, native scored a career-high 27 points against the Billikens, making 10-of-15 shots from the field, both of his three-point tries, and 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc. He added eight rebounds – four offensive – with an assist and a blocked shot.
This season he is averaging 15.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, starting in all 10 ISU games this season. He has set a career-high scoring mark in three of his last four games, including 22 at home against Pacific on December 7 and then 27 against Saint Louis. He ranks eighth in the NCAA in the KenPom stat of Offensive Rebounding Percentage, and 23rd in the country in field goal percentage (.611).
The Redbirds, 6-4 on the season, have won their last two games, including an 81-77 win over Saint Louis on Sunday. ISU hosts Northern Illinois on Wednesday, December 18 in a 7 p.m. tip-off, before traveling to Ithaca, New York, to take on the Cornell Big Red in the non-conference finale for the Birds on December 22.
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