Jan. 25, 2016
CHICAGO -- Dikembe Dixson continued his sensational freshman season last week, and for his outstanding effort the UIC forward was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week for the fifth time in his young career, the conference announced Monday (Jan. 25).
In UIC's three games last week, Dixson averaged 22.7 points per game while shooting over 40 percent (23-of-57) from the field. He was also a force on the boards as he hauled in 8.3 rebounds per game for the Flames. Dixson led the team in both categories.
On Jan. 22 at Northern Kentucky, Dixson registered his third double-double of the season when he led all players with 24 points and matched teammate Najeal Young with a game-high 10 rebounds. He also added a pair of steals and played a career-high 42 minutes in an overtime thriller against the Norse.
On Sunday at Wright State, Dixson posted the most prolific offensive output of his career as he netted a career-high 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. The dynamic forward added a career-high 11 points from the free-throw line and a personal-best four offensive rebounds against the Raiders. Dixson led the Flames in rebounding once again with seven boards, and he played at least 40 minutes for the third time this season.
By picking up his fifth recognition of the season, Dixson moves joins some elite company in both the UIC and Horizon League record books. The Freeport, Ill., native joins Mark Miller and Cedrick Banks as the only Flames to ever earn five weekly awards of any kind from the conference. Miller picked up his first Player of the Week nod during the 1996-97 season, and added four more during the 1997-98 campaign. Banks, the program's all-time leading scorer, was named Player of the Week once in 2002-03, twice in 2003-04 and once more in 2004-05.
At the conference level, Dixson is just the third player in Horizon League history to earn Freshman of the Week plaudits at least five times. Oakland's Jalen Hayes received the award five times last season, while his teammate Kay Felder was honored seven times during the 2013-14 season.
Dixson leads the conference with five HL Freshman of the Week nods this season, while no other newcomer has won more than twice. He has started all 19 games of his collegiate career at UIC and he is the team's leading scorer and top rebounder with 16.5 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game; he ranks in the top seven among all players in the Horizon League in both categories. The newcomer is currently fourth in scoring in conference games with 19.6 ppg, while he plays a league-best 38.9 minutes per game.
After playing six of its first eight conference games on the road, UIC will return to the Windy City to begin a five-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 28, when the Youngstown State Penguins visit the UIC Pavilion at 7 p.m. Make plans to cheer on the home team; tickets are available for all remaining home games and can be obtained by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or visiting Ticketmaster today.
