MVP Lillard Heads All-Conference Team
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All-Conference Team
OGDEN, Utah (March 1, 2012) - For the second time in his career, Weber State’s Damian Lillard has been selected as the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball Most Valuable Player.
Lillard highlighted the individual award winners and the All-Conference Team, which was selected by the league head coaches and released by the conference on Thursday.
Lillard, a 6-foot-3, junior guard from Oakland, Calif., was one of three unanimous selections to the All-Conference First Team. Montana guard Will Cherry, who also captured Defensive Player of the Year, was a unanimous selection, as was Portland State senior guard Charles Odum.
Kareem Jamar, a sophomore from regular-season champion Montana, Portland State senior forward Chehales Tapscott, and Eastern Washington senior guard Cliff Colimon were also selected to the First Team.
Sacramento State point guard Dylan Garrity was selected as the Freshman of the Year. Collin Chiverton of Eastern Washington was tabbed the Newcomer of the Year.
Lillard won the league MVP as a sophomore in 2009-10. He played nine games last season before an injury cost him the remainder of the schedule. He applied for and received a medical redshirt, allowing him an extra season of eligibility.
Lillard leads the Big Sky and ranks second in the nation in scoring with an average of 24.5 points per game. He also leads the league in free-throw shooting percentage (.883), 3-point field goals made per game (3.1), is fourth in assists (3.9), sixth in steals (1.4) and 15th in rebounding (5.0). He was named Big Sky Player of the Week five times, captured the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week from the United States Basketball Writers Association once, and is a finalist for nearly every major national player of the year honor.
Lillard joins a select group of players to claim multiple Big Sky MVPs. Former Montana and NBA great Larry Krystkowiak won three MVPs from 1984-86. Idaho’s Orlando Lightfoot won back-to-back MVP honors in 1992-93 and 1993-94, and Weber State’s Harold Arceneaux followed suit in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
Lillard, who ranks ninth on the Big Sky’s all-time scoring list with 1,835 career points, is now the 19th player in league history to be named to the All-Conference First Team three times.
Cherry, a 6-1 junior guard from West Oakland, was tabbed to the First Team for the second consecutive season, and picked up his first Defensive Player of the Year honor. Cherry leads the Big Sky and ranks sixth in the nation in steals per game at 2.6. He also is tied for fifth on the Big Sky’s career steals list with 215.
Cherry guided Montana to a 15-1 conference mark, and the program’s first outright conference regular-season championship since 1991-92. Cherry ranks third in the league in scoring at 16.1 points per game. He also averages 3.3 assists per game and shoots 79.1 percent from the free-throw line. He spearheaded a UM defense, which allowed a league-low 61.4 points per game, allowed a league-low .398 shooting percentage, and a league-low .328 shooting percentage from 3-point range.
Odum, a 6-foot senior from Lakewood, Calif., finished second in the league in scoring with an average of 19.1 points per game. During the regular season, Odum shot .531 percent from the floor, and .833 percent from the free-throw line. He helped the Vikings to a 10-6 conference record, good enough for third place.
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Tapscott, a 6-5 forward from Hillsboro, Ore., led the Big Sky with an average of 9.2 rebounds per game. He tallied a league-high 11 double-doubles. Tapscott averaged 13.2 points per game, and also led the league in blocked shots (1.4 pg).
Jamar, a 6-5 sophomore from Venica, Calif., emerged as a terrific all-around player for Wayne Tinkle’s Grizzlies. He recorded the first triple-double by a Big Sky men’s player in 12 seasons with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a victory over Hawai’i on Feb. 18. Jamar averages 13.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. He ranks in the top 15 in the conference in all four categories.
Garrity, a true freshman from Huntington Beach Calif., capped the regular season leading the Big Sky and ranked sixth in the nation in assists at 6.9 per game. He recorded 16 assists in a victory over Montana State, tying the single-game high in the NCAA this season. Garrity recorded four point-assist double-double this season. He finished with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.3, tops in the league.
Chiverton, a 6-foot-6 junior from San Jose, Calif., played in 30 games, averaging 14.7 points and making 2.9 3-pointers per game. Chiverton transferred from City of College of San Francisco.
Montana placed senior forwards Derek Selvig and Art Steward on the Second Team. Idaho State senior guard/forward Chase Grabau and senior guard Kenny McGowen were also named to the Second Team, along with Weber State junior guard Scott Bamforth.
The 2012 Big Sky Conference Championship begins on Saturday with quarterfinal games. No. 5 seed Idaho State plays at No. 4 seed Eastern Washington. No. 6 seed Montana State is at No. 3 seed Portland State.
No. 2 seed Weber State will play in the first semifinal on Tuesday, March 6. No. 1 Montana will play in the second semifinal.
The semifinals and championship will be played at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.