It’s time for the weekly Chicago awards. Every week, The Catch and Shoot will name a Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week from the six schools in the Greater Chicago Area: DePaul, Northwestern, UIC, Loyola, Chicago State and Valparaiso.
Here are the awards for the past week.
Player of the Week
UIC has been struggling, but senior guard Jay Harris turned in another high-level performance last week against Detroit. Harris shot just 4-of-11 from the field and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc, but he used 12-of-13 free throw shooting to reach 22 points. That is his third time in 15 games eclipsing the 20-point mark.
Harris also dished out eight assists.
There hasn’t been a ton to cheer about at the UIC Pavilion this year, but Harris ranks No. 6 in the nation in free throw shooting at 91.5%.
Honorable mentions:Alex Olah, Northwestern; Billy Garrett Jr., DePaul; Myke Henry, DePaul
Freshman of the Week
Northwestern fans will remember guard Bryant McIntosh missing an open floater that could have forced overtime against Michigan, but overall the freshman had another strong week.
McIntosh scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting in a loss to Illinois. He scored just four points in the loss to Michigan, but he still stood out with eight assists and zero turnovers.
McIntosh is currently averaging 11.9 points and 4.7 assists in 33.1 minutes per game.
Honorable mention: Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso
Team of the Week
DePaul is currently tied for second place in the Big East. The Blue Demons will not finish that high in all likelihood, but defeating St. John’s and sticking close with Georgetown to the end showed that their hot start was not simply a fluke.
If the Blue Demons made a few more plays down the stretch against Georgetown, they would be sitting atop the Big East with a half-game lead on Villanova.
DePaul has had a fairly Big East slate so far, but the team has taken advantage with a 4-2 conference record.
Game of the Week
There were several fun games involving Chicago teams last week, but the most exciting and intense was DePaul’s overtime victory against St. John’s. The Blue Demons erased a 10-point halftime deficit to force an extra period and then knocked the Red Storm off 71-67.
Hopefully St. John’s guard Rysheed Jordan does not go pro so we can see him face Billy Garrett Jr. for a few more seasons.
Honorable mentions: Northwestern-Michigan; UIC-Detroit
