ST. LOUIS – Led by two players on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team and three on the MVC All-Newcomer Team, Missouri State was well represented Tuesday with the release of the league’s first round of postseason men’s basketball awards.
Earning All-MVC honors are first-team selection Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) and third-team selection Keandre Cook (Jr., Baltimore, Md.). Missouri State also had three selections on the MVC All-Newcomer Team with Da Silva and Cook joining fellow transfer Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) on the five-member team.
Da Silva led the Bears this season with 14.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while converting 56.2 percent of his field goal attempts. He ranks among the league’s top 10 players in four statistical categories and is 40th nationally in field goal percentage. He led the Bears in scoring 10 games this season and in rebounding 18 times. He has also scored in double figures in 22 of 26 games at MSU.
Da Silva, a transfer from South Florida, is just the third Bear (Kyle Weems 2011 and 2012; and Alize Johnson 2017 and 2018) over the last 10 seasons to earn All-MVC first-team distinction. He and Loyola sophomore Cameron Krutwig are the only non-seniors on this year’s MVC first team. He is a two-time MVC Player of the Week (Jan. 14 and Feb. 18) and also won MVC Newcomer of the Week the same two weeks.
Cook is averaging 13.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is second on the club with 48 3-pointers this season. He has also converted 39.2 percent of his 3-point attempts in Valley play. He has been MSU’s top scorer 11 times in 2018-19 with five 20-point efforts.
The transfer from Odessa (Texas) College has scored in double figures 23 times this year and earned MVC Player of the Week honors once (Jan. 28) and MVC Newcomer of the Week distinction twice (Nov. 12 and Jan. 28).
Webster leads the Missouri Valley Conference in assists per game (5.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.06). His assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks 12th nationally. The Texas Tech transfer is also averaging 7.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game with 35 steals.
Webster has been MSU’s top assist man in 26 of 31 games this season while scoring in double figures 10 times.
Joining the three Missouri State players on the 2019 MVC All-Newcomer Team are UNI freshman A.J. Green and Drake senior Brady Ellingson.
Coach Dana Ford and the Bears begin the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon in St. Louis. The No. 4 seeded Bears take on fifth-seeded Bradley at 2:30 p.m. at Enterprise Center (formerly Scottrade Center) in St. Louis.
— MSU Athletics —