Kansas Wesleyan's Alex Littlejohn and Jun Murdock have earned the KCAC Men's Basketball Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively, the conference office announced Monday.
The two student-athletes were selected for their performances from January 1-7 by a vote of conference sports information directors. All KCAC Player of the Week honors are presented at the conference level by Equity Bank.
Littlejohn had two monstrous games last week as the Coyotes went 2-0, defeating No. 6 ranked and unbeaten at the time Southwestern, and then beating Tabor.
Littlejohn dominated the Southwestern game, scoring 31 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and handing out five assists and two steals. He followed that performance with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals against Tabor. For the week, he put up some impressive numbers, shooting 67.9 percent from the field, and 78.9 percent at the line, and nailed the lone 3-pointer he took during the week. Littlejohn ranks fourth in the NAIA in rebounding and is closing in on 1000 points for his career for the Coyotes. This marks the second time this season Littlejohn has been named the KCAC Men's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week.
Murdock was huge for the Coyotes on the defensive side of the ball in a pair of victories. He helped KWU come away with a road win over No. 6 ranked and unbeaten at the time Southwestern, and then a win at home over Tabor. Against Southwestern, he was charged with guarding Cevin Clark, where he forced Clark into shooting 23 times to get 22 points, and just 2 of 7 on 3-point tries. He also blocked a pair of shots in the game against Southwestern. Against Tabor, Murdock guarded Kalep Crane primarily, holding him to 6 points (half of his season average of 12.5) on just six shots, and no 3-point tries (season average - 3.4 per game). He also tallied two steals in the game as KWU posted a 2-0 week and moved into a first-place tie in the conference. This is the second weekly award of the season for Murdock, as he was named the KCAC Men's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week on November 6.
Last week's wins vaulted the Coyotes to 10-4 overall and 7-1 in the KCAC. KWU sits tied for first place with Oklahoma Wesleyan in the latest KCAC standings.
The Coyotes head to York on Wednesday, before hosting Avila on Saturday inside Mabee Arena.