Hunter Named NEC Player of the Week

Junior guard Matt Hunter was named the Northeast Conference men's basketball Player of the Week on Monday.  Hunter and the Blue Devils went 1-1 last week with a road win at New Hampshire followed with a loss at #1/1 Indiana on Saturday night.

Hunter made history on Saturday night, matching the Assembly Hall record (41 seasons) for points by an opponent with a career-high 40 points against the Hoosiers.  The 40 points is a league-high this season, and marked the first time since 2007 that a Blue Devil reached 40 points in a game.  It is the third-highest single game point total in school history, and the second-highest single game total in the entire country this season.

After recording 14 points in the first half, Hunter completed his big night that saw him go 13-of-25 from the floor and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc with 26 points after halftime. He went 8-of-8 from the foul line and added seven boards and two assists in 39 minutes worth of work.

Earlier in the week, Hunter scored 18 and pulled in eight boards in a three-point triumph over New Hampshire, 87-84. He was perfect from the free-throw line in that game as well, hitting all six attempts. Hunter, who averaged 29.0 points and 7.5 rebounds on the week, is now second in the NEC in scoring (19.9), and third in rebounding (7.6) and steals (2.4).  He is also one-half of the nation's highest scoring tandem along with NEC leader Kyle Vinales (23.5).