The Missouri Valley Conference has announced that University of Evansville freshman D.J. Balentine has been named the Newcomer of the Week in an announcement on Monday afternoon.Balentine solidified his position as one of the top freshmen in the Missouri Valley Conference as he averaged 15 PPG in the two games this week for Evansville and improved his scoring average to 12.1 PPG, the top scoring frosh in the league.
He began the week with 15 points versus Miami Ohio, hitting five out of six three-pointers while notching three assists and two steals. He followed that up with another 15-point outing where he knocked down three more treys while hitting 5-of-11 shots.
For the week, he shot 52.6% overall but was even better beyond the arc, hitting eight out of 14 treys for a 57.1% shooting effort for the week.
The Kokomo, Ind. native has had a stellar beginning to his UE career. After scoring nine points in his first two outings, Balentine has chipped in over 14 points per game since, including a 26-point effort at Colorado State where he connected on 10-of-15 shots while knocking down six three-pointers. He is Evansville’s long range leader, notching 23 thus far.
This is the first collegiate honor for Balentine and the first UE men’s basketball honor this season.
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