Triple-double earns Thompson 1st C-USA Player of the Week Award

Published 7:57 am Tuesday, January 9, 2018

The second triple-double in program history earned Western Kentucky guard Darius Thompson his first Conference USA Men’s Basketball Player of the Week award, the league office announced Monday.

This is the first C-USA weekly award for the graduate senior Thompson and WKU’s third of the season. Jake Ohmer and Taveion Hollingsworth were named Freshman of the Week on Nov. 27 and Dec. 18, respectively.

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Thompson compiled career highs of 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in WKU’s 112-87 rout at Marshall on Saturday.

It just was the second triple-double in program history, followed only by Orlando Mendez-Valdez against Troy on Jan. 1, 2009.

It was the 19th triple-double in Conference USA history, joining the likes of Dwyane Wade, Hassan Whiteside and Kenyon Martin.

Thompson is just the second player in the nation this season and the fifth since at least 2010 with a game of at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, according to Basketball Reference.

Thompson went 11-of-16 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range – both of which were career highs. He also made 5-of-6 free throws, blocked one shot and had just two turnovers in 36 minutes.

Thompson is WKU’s first C-USA Player of the Week since Justin Johnson on Feb. 6, 2017.

The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native is averaging 15.2 points, 5.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds this season for the Hilltoppers. He ranks second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.8-to-1 and third in minutes per game (36.8).