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 Kevin Martin was named College Insider's National Star of the Week after leading WCU to a win at Arkansas. |
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Dec. 30, 2003
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina's Kevin Martin, who is leading the nation in scoring, led the Catamounts to a big win at Arkansas, which earned the 6-foot-7 junior College Insider (CI) national Star of the Week honors.
Martin, who already has a 44-point effort on his resume this season, dropped in 33 points, including 26 after halftime, and scored eight of Western's eleven points in overtime in a win at Arkansas. It marked just the second time in 28 chances that Western Carolina had beaten a Southeastern Conference team, also defeating Tennessee in 1993. It marked the 13th time in his career that he had eclipsed the 30-point mark.
In addition to being honored by College Insider, Martin's performance got a mention on Dick Vitale's weekly honors on espn.com as part of the Tri-Shocks of the Week. They included, "Georgia State over Auburn; Western Carolina over Arkansas; Cal-Poly over USC Three stunners in one night, baby!" Vitale added, "Western Carolina guard Kevin Martin scored 33 points to lead coach Steve Shurina's Catamounts to a win at Arkansas."
For more college basketball coverage, visit www.collegeinsider.com or http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/BestofWeek031229.html.
Martin will lead Western Carolina and the Catamounts in the championship game of the Holiday Stores/Big R Classic tonight. Western will face host team Montana State with tip-off set for 8 pm (MT), which is 10 pm (ET). Fans may listen to Montana State's broadcast of the game at www.msubobcats.com.
The Cats, winners of five straight, got the title game after Martin had game highs with 19 points and seven rebounds in a win over Southeastern Louisiana, ending a four-game win streak for the Lions. Martin was held in check most of the night, but he shined down the stretch for the Cats, scoring 10 of WCU's final 15 points, including six of the Cats' nine points in overtime. Western's final three points came from a Martin pass. With 30 seconds left, the defense collapsed on Martin. The junior guard found an open Kyle Greathouse in the corner, who drilled what proved to be the game-winning trey.
