Josh Bannan has been named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week following his MVP performance in the Zootown Classic, the league announced Tuesday.
Bannan did a little bit (or should we say a lot) of everything in leading the Griz to a share of the tournament title. He averaged a double-double, scoring 14.3 points, grabbing 13.3 rebounds while also dishing out 5.7 assists per game. The complete performance paced Montana to a 2-1 record on the week.
In the opener against St. Thomas, Bannan put together one of the best performances of his career. He scored 23 points on 70 percent shooting from the floor. He pulled down 17 rebounds, including four on the offensive end, and he also had six assists without a single turnover.
He is one of just eight players in all of D-I basketball to have a 23/17/6 game since 2010. The performance helped seal Montana’s first win of the season against a talented Tommies team.
Bannan backed it up with another double-double the next night against Merrimack. As the Warriors keyed in on him by throwing doubles all night long, Bannan went into more of a playmaker role. He scored 12 points on just seven shots but hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds. Again, he had a nice day facilitating with five assists and a single turnover.
In the final game he put up an 8/8/6 stat line. He shot 50 percent from the floor and the arc on the weekend, also making 78.9 percent of his 19 free throw attempts. His season numbers are staggering so far this season.
He averages a double-double for the year, scoring 14.8 points per and pulling in 10.4 rebounds. He leads the Big Sky in rebounding, is sixth in scoring, and is third in assists. He also has the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the conference. Bannan is one of 20 D-I players to average a double-double this season.
This is the first Big Sky Player of the Week honor in Bannan’s career. He is the first Grizzly to win the award since Cameron Parker on Dec. 14, 2021.
