Howard named Southland Conference Player of the Year
FRISCO, Texas — Central Arkansas senior guard Jordan Howard was announced Monday as the men’s basketball Player of the Year for the Southland Conference.
Ten of the conference’s 13 teams were represented on the three all-conference teams, but Howard was the only bear to earn All-SLC honors. Senior guard Mathieu Kamba was an honorable mention selection, while freshman center Hayden Koval was named to the SLC All-Defensive team.
Howard, a 5-foot-11 senior from Chandler, Ariz., had one of the best statistical seasons in league history. He led the conference in scoring at 25.8 points per game, 3-pointers with 104, free-throws made with 189 and free throw percentage at 89.6 percent.
Howard is third in the nation in scoring average, second in total points, 10th in three-pointers per game and 11th in total 3-pointers. His scoring average was 6.3 points higher than the No. 2 scorer and his 3-point total was 13 ahead of second-place.
The senior set the Central Arkansas and Arkansas Division I career records for points with 2,443 and set the Central Arkansas, Arkansas and Southland career records for 3-pointers with 377. He also owns the top three single-season 3-point marks at UCA with
104 this season, 101 last year and 95 as a sophomore. Howard is the current active scoring leader in the nation and is second in 3-pointers. He has scored in double figures in 116 of his
120 career games in Conway and has made at least one 3-pointer in
116 of 120. He has topped the 40-point mark twice this season and has 13 games of 30-plus points over his career.
Howard, who played at Perry High School, closed out his regular season on Saturday by leading the Bears (16-15, 10-8) with 26 points in a 61-58 victory over Northwestern State (4-25, 1-17). The Bears earned the seventh seed at the Southland Conference Tournament and will face No. 6 Lamar (19-12, 11-7) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
Kamba, a 6-foot-5 guard from Calgary, Alberta, is the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game and the Bears’ leading rebounder with 6.2 per game. He is in rare company in Central Arkansas history as a player to score 1,000 career points and pull down 600 career rebounds. He has 1,406 points and 687 rebounds, both Top 10 marks in the program’s record books.
Kamba is also a career 53-percent shooter from the field and has added 211 career assists, 96 career steals and 81 career blocked shots. He has eight career double-doubles and has scored in double figures in 73 games during his four-year career at UCA.
Koval, a 7-foot freshman from Prosper, Texas, leads the conference in blocked shots by a wide margin, averaging 3.1 per game, a better average than six teams in the SLC. He is ranked sixth in the nation in blocked shots per game and seventh in total blocks. Koval set the UCA single-game record with 11 blocked shots against Houston Baptist. His total of 92 this season is just seven short of tying the school record held by Durrell Nevels since 2007.
The Bears won a Division I-record 16 games this season and put together their best Southland finish with a 10-8 record. Central Arkansas will make its second consecutive appearance in the Southland Conference Tournament.