BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the second consecutive week, a University of Tennessee at Martin representative won the Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week award as Jordan Sears received the award today.
This recognition marks the 10th time that the Skyhawks have claimed back-to-back OVC Players of the Week and first instance since Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, 2017.
Sears helped guide UT Martin to a 2-0 week, defeating North Alabama at home by a 105-103 margin in double overtime on Wednesday before turning away Chicago State (94-71) on the road Saturday. The 5-11, 185-pound guard poured in 30.5 points per game on a sizzling 61.8 percent shooting (21-for-34) while also adding 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per outing. He sank six of his nine 3-point attempts (66.7 percent) while adding 13 free throws.
The Daytona Beach, Fla. native started the week with a career-best 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting against North Alabama, a 2023 College Basketball Invitational participant. The 34 points are the most by any OVC player so far in the 2023-24 campaign. Sears scored the final six points down the stretch while adding a season-high seven assists, four rebounds, a block and a steal in a career-best 39 minutes.
Three days later at Chicago State, Sears collected a game-high 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting with a season-best four trifectas, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He had 20 points in the first half alone, outscoring the Cougars by himself (15-14) through the game’s first nine minutes, guiding the Skyhawks to their largest nonconference road margin of victory since March 19, 2015 in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament at Northwestern State.
Sears leads the OVC in scoring (22.3 points per game) while ranking third in assists (3.9 per outing), fifth in field goal percentage (.527), ninth in steals (1.3 per contest), 10th in free throw percentage (.750). He has also knocked down a team-best 53.3 percent (16-for-30) of his tries from three-point range while grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game.
UT Martin puts the finishing touches on its road swing this week when it travels to Rice on Thursday, Nov. 30 and McNeese on Saturday, Dec. 2.