Valley Release | Tickets for Next Game
 
ST. LOUIS – Missouri State junior Alize Johnson (Williamsport, Pa.) has been named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon.
 
The transfer from Frank Phillips (Texas) College fired an amazing .824 clip from the field (14-of-17) in helping the Bears to a 2-0 start over the weekend. Johnson led MSU in scoring (18.0) and rebounding (8.0) in that span after posting his first double-double in Sunday's win over Jacksonville State with game highs 20 points and 10 rebounds. He was also 5-for-5 at the line against JSU with two assists.
 
In his debut, Johnson went 8-for-8 from the field, snagged six rebounds and tallied 16 points in the Bears' opening-night win over Alabama A&M.
 
Johnson currently leads all MVC newcomers in scoring and rebounding, is the conference leader in field goal percentage and is among the league leaders in seven categories.
 
He is Missouri State's first MVC Player of the Week in two years and continues the Bears' trend of accumulating Newcomer of the Week honors after MSU won the weekly award six times last season, including eventual Valley Newcomer of the Year Dequon Miller. Johnson is also the first MVC player to sweep both weekly awards -- Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week -- since Loyola's Milton Doyle on Dec. 16, 2013.
 
Johnson beat out an impressive list of 13 nominees for the two awards. His efforts helped Missouri State remain one of just four teams in the MVC to stay unbeaten through the opening weekend, along with Loyola (2-0), Wichita State (2-0) and UNI (1-0).
 
Missouri State concludes its three-game home stand to start the campaign on Thursday with a 7 p.m. visit from Fontbonne. Tickets for that game and all non-conference home games, are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Old Missouri Bank Ticket Window at JQH Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.