ST. LOUIS - Missouri State senior forward Jesus Barea was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday afternoon.

Barea, last year's MVC Player of the Year, earned the award following a career performance in Missouri State's 5-2 road win over Bowling Green last Friday. The Spaniard matched a career-high four points in a match thanks to a goal and two assists against the Falcons, all of which came in the first 64 minutes. He started by getting a quick assist in the fifth minute on sophomore forward Gijs Hovius' team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Just 10 minutes later. Barea drew a foul in the penalty box in the 15th minute and scored Missouri State's first penalty goal of the season by drilling it into the upper-right corner for his fourth goal in 2023. Barea earned his first career multi-assist game by finding senior Alejandro Lopez for the game-winning goal and assist.

This week's award marks the fifth time a Missouri State player has won one this season. The previous four were all Defensive Player of the Week nods with junior defender Michael Peck most recently winning it on October 3.

This is Barea's third Player of the Week award in his career. His first two came in the 2021 season on October 12 and November 8.

Missouri State (9-2-3, 5-1-1) ends its regular season during Senior Day against Drake (3-9-3, 1-5-1) on Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00 p.m. at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium. Admission is free and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.