After playing the role of hero in the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team’s improbable, come-from-behind victory at Illinois State on Saturday night, Javon Freeman-Liberty (Chicago, Ill. / Whitney Young) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
Freeman-Liberty averaged 19.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game during the week, lifting Valpo to a pair of victories. His performance helped the team notch back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference wins for the first time this season. He started the week with 14 points, two steals, three assists and a team-high seven rebounds in a 55-38 victory over Southern Illinois on Wednesday.
Freeman-Liberty followed with an incredible individual performance on Saturday night at Illinois State, helping Valpo erase a 17-point halftime deficit in a 65-62 victory. Freeman-Liberty finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a career-high-tying five steals. He scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the second half alone. His fifth and final steal of the night allowed him to increase his season total to 63, moving into a tie with Lubos Barton’s 2001-02 season for the program’s single-season record. Saturday was his seventh game this season with 25 points or more, his 13th game with 20+ points and his 27th straight games with 10 points or more.
Freeman-Liberty is up to 524 points for the season, putting him in position to break the Valpo record for points by a sophomore. That mark is currently held by Alec Peters, who scored 570 points in 2014-15. That is also the threshold for entrance into the Top 10 in program history for points in a single season. Freeman-Liberty is at 888 career points, the second most among active Missouri Valley Conference sophomores behind UNI’s AJ Green (1,034).
This marks the third time this season Freeman-Liberty has received MVC Player of the Week honors. The only other player in the league with three or more is UNI’s A.J. Green (four). Freeman-Liberty and Green have combined for seven of the 14 MVC Player of the Week awards this season.
