Following the brief holiday break, we need your help to decide our men’s player of the week for Dec. 22-28 by voting in the poll below.
Here are our top five men’s candidates and a recap of their outstanding performances from across week seven of the college basketball season.
Quinn Denker — Northern Colorado
Denker led Northern Colorado into Boulder this past week and lifted the Bears to the program’s first win over local rival Colorado since 1935 in an 86-81 upset of the Buffaloes. He finished with a game-high 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting and added eight rebounds to help secure the victory. His performance (rightfully) earned him Big Sky Player of the Week honors.
Under the leadership of head coach Steve Smiley, Northern Colorado has secured 10 wins in the non-conference for the first time since its transition to Division I back in 2004.
UC Irvine closed out the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas, on Monday of last week, taking home the hardware with an 89-70 win over Norfolk State. Leading the way was Evans, who managed 22 points and shot 8-of-12 from the field, in addition to eight rebounds and four blocked shots to earn tournament MVP honors.
Despite Buffalo’s only game of the week coming against a non-DI opponent in Penn State Behrend, a Division-III program from Erie, P.A., there was no let-up for Sabol amid a 10-2 start. He dropped a team-leading 31 points and connected on 7-of-8 from 3-point range, which marked a career-high, and propelled the Bulls to a 92-63 win.
Jaden Henley — Grand Canyon
Henley is having a career year since arriving at Grand Canyon this past offseason and has managed double-digit points in all but one of his 12 appearances and starts this season. He took the scoring to another level last Monday by managing a career-high 29 points, adding eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals to beat IU Indy 91-78.
AJ Dancler — Coastal Carolina
Coastal Carolina went up to Philadelphia last Monday and upset Saint Joseph’s 68-62 by erasing an early double-digit lead from the Hawks with a 16-5 first-half run. Pacing the attack for the Chanticleers was Dancler, who finished with a game-high double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds and four assists to see out the win.
The last time Coastal Carolina head coach Justin Gray faced St. Joe’s? When the Hawks knocked Wake Forest out of the NCAA Tournament back in 2004. Safe to say he got his revenge.
