Sacramento State’s Nick Hornsby and Eastern Washington’s Jacob Wiley shared Big Sky Conference player of the week honor after posting stellar performances in games last week.
Wiley, a senior from Newport, Wash., had two huge offensive performances as EWU split the week with a win at Idaho State and a close loss at Weber State. In Thursday’s 92-85 win at ISU, Wiley scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also pulled down seven rebounds and dished four assists in the win.
In Saturday’s 70-67 loss at league-leading Weber State, the senior eclipsed his career-high with 36 points on 15-of-20 shooting including 2-of-2 from 3-point territory. He was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine and he led the Eagles with three assists.
Wiley has scored in double figures in 16 of 18 games this season, and is averaging 16.6 points per game overall on 62.1 percent shooting which is good for 15th in the nation and third in the league.
Hornsby, a senior from Irvine, Calif., led Sacramento State to two road wins over Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. The victories marked the Hornets first back-to-back Big Sky road wins since the program beat Idaho State and Weber State in January of 2015. Hornsby posted double-doubles in both contests, and finished the week averaging 22.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks. He shot .519 (14-27) from the field, .400 (2-5) from the behind the arc and .714 (15-21) from the free-throw line.
In Thursday’s 88-83 win at SUU, the senior forward dropped a career-high 28 points to go along with 14 boards and a pair of assists and steals. The 14 rebounds were one shy of his career-high which he set earlier this season. On Saturday, Hornsby scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Hornets topped NAU 74-62. At NAU, he went 7-for-13 from the field with a 3-pointer.
The Big Sky’s overall leading rebounder, Hornsby, has started 74 of his last 79 games, and is currently averaging career-highs in both points (11.5) and rebounds (8.4).
Others Nominated: Jordyn Martin (NAU), Brandon Boyd (ISU), Ahmaad Rorie (UM), Kyndahl Hill (WSU), Geno Crandall (UND), De’Sean Parsons (PSU), Victor Sanders (UI)
