Matt Howard Named Horizon League Co-Player of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Butler senior Matt Howard, who helped lead Butler to the championship of the 2010 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, has been named Horizon League Men’s Basketball Co-Player of the Week.  He earned the league’s weekly honor for the second consecutive week and for the fourth time during his Butler career.

Howard was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Bulldogs to victories over Utah, Florida State and Washington State.  He averaged 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in Butler’s three tournament victories.

The 6-8 forward from Connersville scored a game-high 23 points and shared the team rebounding lead with six in the Bulldogs’ opening round victory over Utah.  He then posted team-highs of 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Butler past Florida State.  Howard finished the tournament with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the championship game against Washington State.  It was his fifth double-double of the season.

Howard’s performance in Hawaii helped him continue his climb on Butler’s all-time scoring and rebounding charts.  He’s moved into eighth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,566 career points, 41 points behind Jermaine Guice (1990-94) in the No. 7 position.  Howard also stands eighth on Butler’s all-time rebounding chart with 706 career rebounds, six shy of Joel Cornette (1999-2003) in the No. 7 spot.

Also named Horizon League Co-Player of the Week was Brandon Wood of Valparaiso, who helped the Crusaders to a championship at the Lou Henson Award Tournament.  Wood scored 21 points in a victory over Eastern Michigan and 35 in Valparaiso’s 103-102 victory over Oakland in the tournament championship game.

Howard and Wood will meet this weekend when Butler hosts Valparaiso to resume Horizon League play.  The game on New Year’s Day will start at 2 p.m. (ET) at Hinkle Fieldhouse and will be televised on WNDY 23.