Mid-Major Madness Player of the Week (Feb. 13-19): Merrimack forward Jordan Minor

For the week of Feb. 13-19, Mid-Major Madness has selected Merrimack forward Jordan Minor as the Mid-Major Player of the Week following a pair of career-high performances by Minor to help push the Warriors atop the Northeast Conference.

In just the program’s fourth season at the Division I level, Merrimack is once again leading the NEC behind veteran senior Jordan Minor who’s been with the team all four years since the transition and now averages 17.1 PPG and 9.3 RPG.

On Thursday, Minor led the Warriors to a 67-59 victory at Hartford as he tied his season-high with 25 points and added 12 rebounds, one assists, two steals, and a blocked shot, for his 11th double-double this year.

The Kingston, Massachusetts, native followed the performance Saturday with yet another double-double of 15 points, a career-high 20 rebounds, three assists, and two steals to earn a 67-55 win at Sacred Heart.

This defeat of the Pioneers marked Merrimack’s sixth straight win and its fifth in a row in conference play, which was enough to move the Warriors just ahead of Stonehill in the NEC standings at 10-4 heading into this week.

Minor’s 12th double-double performance gave him the conference lead in double-doubles, rebounds, and blocks while additionally sitting tied for 14th in the nation in double-doubles.

With the end of the season fast approaching, Merrimack have grabbed the lead in the NEC and are quickly heating up behind a top-15 win streak in the nation.

Under head coach Joe Gallo, and with the veteran leadership of Minor, the Warriors will have a real chance to win a second regular-season championship in four years but will have to wait on that illustrious NCAA Tournament bid due to the old reclassification schools (sorry Never Made The Tourney Club readers).

Honorable Mentions:

Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara) - Managed two double-doubles while averaging 21 PPG, 13.5 RPG, and four APG with just two turnovers for road wins at Portland and BYU — the latter was the Broncos first victory in Provo since 1972.

Flynn Cameron (UC Riverside) - Averaged 22.5 PPG, five RPG, and five APG to carry the Highlanders to wins over Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara, which marked the program’s first 18-win season at the Division I level. Shouts to everyone’s favorite coach Mike Magpayo.

Enrique Freeman (Akron) - With back-to-back double-doubles averaging 21.5 PPG, 12.5 RPG, and 2.5 APG, the Cleveland, Ohio, native dominated in wins at Eastern Michigan and Buffalo to keep the Zips in contention in the MAC.