Missouri Basketball junior guard Jordan Clarkson was named the Southeastern Conference’s Player of the Week on Monday, earning the weekly honor for the third time this season.
Clarkson has led No. 25 Mizzou to an 11-1 start, including a thrilling, 68-64, road win at North Carolina State on Saturday night. The win was just Missouri’s second ever on the road in ACC country, accompanying an 87-73 win at Maryland on Jan. 24, 1989.
Clarkson scored a team-leading 21 points and dished four assists with just one turnover in the win at PNC Arena. Clarkson was masterful in the final 8:29, scoring 11 of his 21 points to help eliminate a 53-43 deficit and lift the Tigers to the four-point win.
Clarkson banked home a three-pointer to ignite an 11-1 run to tie the game. He then gave Missouri its first lead of the night on a three-point play with 3:50 remaining. His second three-pointer countered a Ralston Turner trey and put Mizzou back up, 60-59, with 2:55 left. The San Antonio native concluded his 11-point surge with two free throws with just 19 seconds left to push Missouri’s lead to 65-62.
Clarkson is the SEC’s first three-time winner of the Player of the Week honor this year. He also won the recognition on Nov. 18 following a 31-point night against Southern Illinois and on Dec. 9 after averaging 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in wins against West Virginia and UCLA.
Not to be overlooked was strong play from Jabari Brown, Earnest Ross, Johnathan Williams, III and Ryan Rosburg. Rosburg helped the Tigers win the battle on the boards for the ninth time this year, as did Williams, who had 10 points and seven rebounds. Ross contributed his first double-double of the season with 11 points and a career high-tying 13 rebounds and Brown again showed his mettle late in the ball game, hitting a back-breaking trey to put Mizzou up 63-62 with less than a minute to go. It was the second consecutive game the Oakland native has hit a late-game triple with the Tigers trailing in the final seconds. Brown finished with 17 points and three boards.
Missouri returns to action on Saturday afternoon at 4p.m. against an improving Long Beach State club. The 49ers have won three straight games thanks to the addition of former UCLA guard Tyler Lamb. Lamb is averaging 22.0 points in his three games with LBSU and has helped the club to wins over USC and a road win at Nevada.
— MU Sports Information —