Caner-Medley Named National Player Of The Week By ESPN's Andy Katz
2/1/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2005
BRISTOL, Conn. - Terrapin junior forward Nik Caner-Medley was named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week after leading the surging Terrapins to a pair of victories over Top 25 ACC teams.
Andy Katz honored Caner-Medley in his "Weekly Watch" on the website for his key role in the Terps' wins last week, a 75-66 victory over No. 2 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and a 79-71 home win over No. 22 Georgia Tech.
Caner-Medley willed the Terps to victory with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting in Durham, to go along with five rebounds, four steals and three assists. He drilled three 3-pointers and made all six of his free throws.
Against the Jackets at home, the Portland, Maine, native paced four double-figure Terps with 19 points. He nailed three 3-pointers as well and grabbed three boards.
For the week, Caner-Medley averaged 22.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. He was 16-for-32 (.500) from the floor and 6-for-15 (.400) from downtown.
Caner-Medley has led the Terps in scoring for six-straight games and nine on the season, and is averaging 24.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks over the last five games. The Terps are 4-1 across that stetch, during which the junior has scored at least 20 points in four of five games, shot 52 percent from the floor, fired 38 percent from long range and hit at an 88 percent clip from the free throw line.
He currently ranks among league leaders in scoring (5th, 17.4 ppg), rebounding (17th, 5.4 rpg), field goal percentage (6th, .509) and free throw percentage (8th, .795). Caner-Medley is averaging 18.1 ppg in conference games, good enough for fifth in the ACC.
Salim Stoudamire of Arizona, Chris Paul of Wake Forest and Francisco Garcia of Louisville are all among Andy Katz's former players of the week.
