Nic Moore named AAC Player of the Year
AAC names Nic Moore 'Player of the Year.' Also honors Markus Kennedy and Yanick Moreira.
From SMU Athletics
 Nic Moore |
HARTFORD, Conn. (The American/SMU) - Unanimous first-team all-league selection Nic Moore was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, league officials announced at the conference awards banquet on Thursday. Moore helped lead SMU (24-6, 15-3) to The American regular season championship, the Mustangs' first conference title since 1992-93.
Moore becomes the eighth Mustang to earn the honor and the first since Quinton Ross, who was named the Western Athletic Conference player of the year for the 2002-03 season. This is the 10th honor, overall, with Gene Phillips picking up the accolade three times (1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71) during his career.
The junior has started all 30 games for the Mustangs (24-6, 15-3), and leads the team in scoring (14.4), assists (5.3), free-throw percentage (.875) and minutes (34.0). Both his free-throw percentage and three-point field goal percentage top The American, while he is second in assists and fourth in scoring.
This season, Moore tied his career-high in points with 28 against Houston (Jan. 24), including eight three pointers, which ties both the SMU and American record. At Michigan on Dec. 20, he reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career with 17 points in the road win.
The American Names Kennedy 'Sixth Man' And Moreira 'Most Improved'
 Markus Kennedy |
 Yanick Moreira |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (The American/SMU) - Junior Markus Kennedy was named Sixth Man of the Year and senior Yanick Moreira was named the Most Improved Player as the American Athletic Conference announced it specialty awards Wednesday. The duo helped SMU to a 24-6 overall mark and a 15-3 conference mark.
Kennedy, a Philadelphia native, is averaging 11.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 22.4 minutes off the bench for the Mustangs. In only conference games, Kennedy was fourth in steals (1.4), fifth in shooting (.567), seventh in rebounding (6.2), 11th in scoring (11.8) and 13th in blocks (1.0). He was named AAC Player of the Week on Feb. 12 and has three AAC Honor Roll selections this season.
A Luanda, Angola, native, Moreira started all 30 games for the Mustangs. His 2013-14 averages of 6.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.5 blocks and 13.5 minutes jumped to 11.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 24.5 minutes. He finished fourth in the AAC in shooting (.563); seventh in blocks and rebounds; and 15th in scoring. Moreira has one AAC Player of the Week (Dec. 20) nod this season.
Nic Moore Named First-Team All-AAC;
Moreira, Kennedy Second-Team Selections
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (American/SMU) - Three SMU men's basketball players earned all-league awards as junior Nic Moore was named a unanimous selection to the American Athletic Conference first-team and senior Yanick Moreira and junior Markus Kennedy were named to the second team, league officials announced on Tuesday. The trio helped SMU to a 24-6 overall record and a 15-3 conference mark, earning the team its first league title in 22 years.
Moore, a guard from Winona Lake, Indiana, has started all 30 games for SMU this season and leads the Mustangs in scoring with 14.4 points per game as well as 5.3 assists per contest. From the line, Moore is the conference leader in free-throw percentage (.875) and also holds the top spot in three-point percentage (.429).
A unanimous preseason All-AAC selection, Moore was named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50, the Naismith Trophy 50 Watch List and the Lute Olson Award Mid-Season Watch List. This is the second-straight year Moore has earned a first-team nod making him the first player at SMU to earn back-to-back honors since Jeryl Sasser (All-Western Athletic Conference first team 1998-99 and 1999-2000).
Moreira, who has started all 30 games for SMU, picked up second-team all-league honors as the teams' leader in rebounds (6.4) and is second in points (11.3). The Luanda, Angola, native is fourth on the conference field goal percentage list (.563), while his rebounding total places him seventh and his blocked shots total (1.3) is tied for seventh.
Philadelphia native Kennedy is third on the team in scoring (11.2) and second in rebounding (6.0) in 20 games played en route to a second-team selection. The forward averaged 22.4 minutes off the bench and was second on the team in blocks. Last season, Kennedy was named to the league's second-team in its inaugural year.
