Michigan State Basketball: Nick Ward named Big Ten Player of the Week
Michigan State basketball received some good news on Monday as Nick Ward was named both the Big Ten Freshman and Player of the Week.
It’s hard to believe that Nick Ward didn’t even play 20 minutes on Sunday to earn himself Big Ten Player of the Week honors. The freshman big man finished with just 19 minutes because of his foul trouble, recording 22 points and nine rebounds.
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Guarding guys like Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ made for a tough day on defense, but he held his own. He combined Sunday’s impressive performance with a big win over Nebraska on Thursday and won the conference’s top weekly honors.
Not just that, but he was also named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Week for the fourth time on the season while fellow freshman Miles Bridges has also won the honor multiple times.
Nick Ward becomes the first freshman to earn B1G Player of the Week this season and is named Freshman of the Week for the fourth time! pic.twitter.com/baMVhOQncp
— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) February 27, 2017
During the week, he averted 21 points and nine rebounds while only putting together about 22 minutes per game. He shot an impressive 68 percent from the floor and looked like the conference’s most dominant big man.
Oh yeah, and he was on the receiving end of a couple of impressive alley-oops like this one:
Before you get upset about the #Oscars, remember that #MichiganState beat Wisconsin today. pic.twitter.com/kmUyluWqRm
— Spartan Avenue (@SpartanAvenueFS) February 27, 2017
Is the freshman class maturing and becoming a sophomore class before our very eyes?
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What a week for the Spartans and, most notably, Ward. If they can continue to play like they did against Wisconsin and Nebraska, they will be a tough out in March.