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DENVER - UMKC senior forward Kyle Steward has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of his career.
The Detroit native averaged 20.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, 46.7 percent from three-point range and 81.8 percent from the free throw line in leading UMKC to a pair of victories last week. Steward opened the week with 20 points, five rebounds and one block in a win over Ottawa. He shot 7-of-10 from the field and drained a career-best five three-pointers. At UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, he led a furious comeback from down 16 points, recording his first double-double of the season with 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds along with a career-best four assists. In the second half alone as the Roos outscored UTRGV 42-18, Steward scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists. He entered the week averaging 9.2 points on 39.2 percent shooting and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Brent Wrapp finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists in a win at Grand Canyon ... Clemmye Owens V of Chicago State finished with a WAC-best 23 points to go with two assists and one rebound in a loss at NM State ... Grand Canyon's Joshua Braun averaged 16.5 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 54.5 percent from three-point range to go with 7.5 rebounds as the Lopes went 1-1 on the week ... Jermaine Haley of NM State averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds as the Aggies extended their win streak to 20 games ... Seattle U's William Powell finished with 13 points, five rebounds and one block in a win over Utah Valley ... Lew Stallworth of UT Rio Grande Valley finished with 16 points, six rebounds, one assist and one block in a loss to UMKC ... Utah Valley's Brandon Randolph finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists in a loss at Seattle U.