NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Redshirt freshman Brandon Brekke (East Grand Forks, Minn.) was named the Great West Conference men's basketball Player of the Week after leading the Fighting Sioux to two conference wins last week. The award was announced by league officials on Monday.
Brekke averaged 16.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in those two victories for a UND squad that finished its six-game homestand with a 5-1 record and moved to 3-1 in Great West play.
“Brandon has been playing at a high, high level since we moved him into the starting lineup (six games ago),” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “He can really rebound and score it well down in the low post and his growth and maturity have helped our team take another step forward.”
Brekke had a career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds in the 91-82 victory over Texas-Pan American on Thursday. That effort was his second straight double-double, and he added 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the 83-73 victory over Houston Baptist on Saturday. Brekke scored the go-ahead basket against HBU with five minutes to play to break open a tight contest.
He is the only GWC player averaging a double-double in league play (13.3 ppg and 10.0 rpg) this season. In the two victories last week, Brekke made the most of his scoring opportunities, going 11-15 from the field (73.3 percent) and 10-13 from the free throw line (76.9 percent). He currently ranks second among GWC players in field goal percentage (21-31, 67.7 percent) in league play. Defensively, he also added three blocks and a pair of steals.
Brekke's award is the third GWC weekly honor earned by a Fighting Sioux player this season. His classmate, Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) picked up the first two awards (Dec. 27 and Jan. 10). UND has won three of the last six honors overall.
Others nominated for the weekly honor were Jonathon Montgomery (Chicago State), Louie Krogman (South Dakota) and Justin Baker (Utah Valley).
– Go Sioux –
