ST. LOUIS  – Indiana State's Christian Williams and Jake LaRavia earned the program's second-ever sweep of the MVC Weekly Awards by taking the conference's player of the week and newcomer of the week as announced today by the league office. ISU was the only league team to go a perfect 2-0 over the last seven days with a home win over league-leading Northern Iowa and Sunday's thrilling 64-62 road victory over Evansville.

Christian Williams was named the MVC Player of The Week for the first time in his career. He is the first Sycamore to take the award since Jordan Barnes was honored on December 26, 2018 following his standout performance in wins over UNLV and Colorado at the Diamondhead Classic. LaRavia picks up his second MVC Newcomer Of The Week Award this season having being honored earlier this year following the conference-opening win against Southern Illinois.

Williams paced the Sycamores by averaging 15.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while hitting 9-of-14 shots for the week (64.3 percent), 2-of-4 from distance (50 percent) and was 10-of-11 from the free throw line (91.0 percent). He added three assists and a steal over the course of the two-game stretch. 

Williams scored 14 points and hit 4-of-7 from the field, with a pair of 3-pointers in the home win over Northern Iowa. He hit all four of his free throw attempts in the final 1:14 to help seal the victory, but also drew the defensive assignment on AJ Green on the final two possessions in which he forced Green to drive in for a two-point jumper instead of trying to the tie the game with 7.7 seconds left and also guarded Green as he looked at a 3-pointer which would have knotted the contest.

At Evansville, he led the way with 16 points and was 5-of-7 from the field and an impressive 6-of-7 from the free throw line. He scored five of the Sycamores points during a key 7-0 run which flipped a five-point deficit with 3:34 to play into a two-point Sycamore lead. Trailing by a point with 1:07 remaining, Williams converted a conventional 3-point play which gave the Sycamores a 58-56 lead. He was fouled with 24 seconds remaining and hit both at the line to stretch the advantage out to 60-57 and was again perfect at the line with five seconds remaining to make it 64-61 and helped seal the victory.

LaRavia averaged 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds as the Sycamores improved to 9-7 in MVC play. He was 11-of-17 from the field (64.7 percent), with a pair of 3-pointers and three assists as well as a trio of blocked shots. LaRavia scored eight points and pulled down four rebounds while battling early foul trouble in the win over Evansville. He scored the first bucket in both the first and second halves and his two free throws with 5:32 remaining knotted the contest at 48.

Against UNI, LaRavia tied for the team lead with 18 points and paced the Sycamores on the glass with seven rebounds while going 8-of-12 from the field, with a pair of 3-pointers. His first trifecta against the Panthers came in the early going to stake the Sycamores to an 11-4 lead, and hit another a minute later to stop the Panther momentum. He rebounded his own miss to keep a late possession alive and then converted the lay-up with 6:47 remaining which pushed the ISU lead out to 59-41. UNI trimmed the Sycamore lead down to just one point as the clock went under a minute and he scored inside with 38 seconds remaining to stretch the advantage back out to 65-62 to set up Christian Williams' defensive heroics.

It marks the first time that the Sycamores have swept the league's two weekly honors since Marico Stinson was named both the MVC's Player & Newcomer Of The Week on January 2, 2007. Christian Williams and Jake LaRavia sweeping the awards this week is only the 2^nd time in program history that ISU has taken both honors on the same day. The MVC Newcomer of The Week award began during the 2002-03 campaign.

Christian Williams is the first Sycamore to win MVC Player of The Week during conference play since January 25, 2016 when Devonte Brown took it. That week Brown scored 26 points as the Sycamores earned a win at Southern Illinois.
Next up for the Sycamores is a road trip to Carbondale, Ill., on Wednesday, February 26 as they take on Southern Illinois. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. (ET) and will be televised nationally on ESPN+.