Diagne Named Big South Co-Player of the Week
12/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BigSouthSports.com) - Coastal Carolina senior forward Badou Diagne (Dakar, Senegal) and Winthrop junior guard Keon Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) have been named the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Men's Basketball Co-Player of the Week, while Campbell guard Chris Clemons (Raleigh, N.C.) has been named The Crons Brand Freshman of the Week for games played Dec. 14-22, it was announced today by the Conference office.
Diagne averaged 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in leading the Chanticleers to a 2-1 record on the week. He opened with 13 points and seven rebounds in Coastal's victory at Wofford, and followed with 24 points and seven boards at Wake Forest. He scored seven of CCU's final 13 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers, to keep game pressure on the Demon Deacons. Diagne rounded out his week with 11 points and eight rebounds in a win over Alabama State. He went 18-of-29 from the field ( =62.1 percent), 6-of-11 from long range ( =54.5) and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe ( =75.0) in the three games.
Johnson averaged 23.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in leading the Eagles to a 2-1 record. He opened with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting at Alabama, then scored a game-high 30 points to lead Winthrop to a road win at Georgia Southern. He scored 19 of his points in the second stanza and drained 6-of-9 three-pointers on the night. Johnson capped his week with 14 points and five rebounds in a victory over Alabama State. In the three games, he was 22-of-40 from the floor ( =55.0), 8-of-20 from beyond the arc ( =40.0) and 17-of-20 from the free throw line ( =85.0).
Clemons averaged 18.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals in leading the Camels to a 2-1 week. He had 11 points in a win over Johnson & Wales, then erupted for 31 points (25 in the second half) and eight rebounds in Campbell's win over The Citadel. Clemons added 14 points (12 in the final half) against the College of Charleston. He went 17-of-18 from the free throw line ( =94.4 points) and averaged 3.0 three-pointers per game.
Coastal returns to the hardwood New Year's Eve at Gardner-Webb for a 6 p.m. tipoff against the Runnin' Bulldogs. The teams last met in the 2015 Big South Tournament semifinal round, which was won 73-70 by the Chants.
