Houston freshman guard Emanuel Sharp Named AAC Freshman of the Week; Sophomore Ja'Vier Francis earns place on AAC's Honor Roll

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Sophomore big man Ja'Vier Francis earns place on AAC's Honor Roll

POSTED: December 26, 2022 -- 1:48 p.m. CT

After leading the University of Houston Men's Basketball program to a big win to close its non-conference regular-season schedule, redshirt freshman guard Emanuel Sharp and sophomore center Ja'Vier Francis earned the first American Athletic Conference weekly awards of their careers.

Sharp was honored as The American Freshman of the Week while Francis was named to the league's Honor Roll following the Cougars' 83-44 win over McNeese inside the Fertitta Center on Wednesday.

With that victory, the Cougars closed the regular-season non-conference schedule with a 12-1 mark. It tied the 1954-55 team for the second-most regular-season non-conference wins in school history and trailed only the record 13 by the 2018-19 squad.

Sharp scored a career-high 18 points, thanks to another personal-best six 3-pointers. Sharp connected on 6-of-10 3-pointers in the game as he doubled his previous personal single-game highs in both points and 3-pointers made.

This season, Sharp is tied for second among the Cougars with 14 3-pointers and leads the team with a 45.2 3-point field goal percentage.

Francis enjoyed a career day against McNeese. Francis led all players with a career-high 23 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds for his team-leading third double-double of the season.

Francis connected on all nine shots from the field, thanks to a game-high seven dunks, and blocked a shot against the Cowboys. It was the ninth game this season in which the Montverde Academy product swatted at least one opposing shot.

This season, Francis leads the Cougars with 1.7 blocked shots per game and ranks third on the team with 4.9 rebounds per contest.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Emanuel Sharp * Guard * Houston

Sharp had his best game in a Cougar uniform, scoring 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range against McNeese on Wednesday.

HONOR ROLL

Darius Johnson * Sophomore * Guard * UCF

Johnson recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists against Stetson on Wednesday night.

Ja'Vier Francis * Sophomore * Center * Houston

Francis had a big double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds against McNeese. The sophomore center was 9-for-9 from the field.

DeAndre Williams * Senior * Forward * Memphis

Williams was 11-for-14 from the field and recorded 25 points and seven rebounds against Alabama State on Wednesday.

Tyler Harris * Senior * Guard * South Florida

Harris led the Bulls to a 2-0 week while averaging 20.5 points and 5.0 assists per contest.

Jalen Cook * Sophomore * Guard * Tulane

Cook recorded a game-high 27 points against Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday night.

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