2 Bradley Braves honored on MVC Most Improved and All-Bench teams
PEORIA — The Bradley Braves kicked off awards week in the Missouri Valley Conference with a couple of wins on Tuesday.
Braves sophomore point guard Jaquan Johnson earned a spot on the Most Improved Team and freshman point guard Montana Wheeler landed on the All-Bench Team.
Johnson, also a lead candidate for Player of the Year, was named captain of the MVC Most Improved Team as its top vote-getter.
Johnson finished with a 17.4 scoring average, second-best in the Valley. His 80 steals in 31 games were 30 more than any other player in the Valley, making him a prime candidate for Defensive Player of the Year as well.
Johnson's 80 steals were third-most in the NCAA Div.-I this season.
Wheeler had 89 assists in 31 games, the ninth-highest total in the Valley. He made no starts, yet came off the bench in all 31 games to play 22.2 minutes per game, average 8.4 points and shoot 34.4% from 3.
Here's a look at the two honor squads (*denotes team captain):
MVC Most Improved Team
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*Jaquan Johnson, Bradley
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Rolyns Aligbe, Southern Illinois
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Will Hornseth, UNI
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Justus McNair, Valparaiso
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Drew Scharnowski, Belmont
MVC All-Bench Team
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*Roman Domon, Murray State
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Justus McNair, Valparaiso
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Brigham Rogers, Belmont
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Jack Smiley, Belmont
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Montana Wheeler, Bradley
The Missouri Valley Conference will release its all-Valley first, second and third teams, Player of the Year and other awards on Wednesday.
More: 'Leave ... a legacy': Bradley Braves basketball's four seniors finish as winners at home
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: MVC awards: Bradley lands players on Most Improved, All-Bench teams
