Senior forward scored career-high 22 points against Vanderbilt

NEW ORLEANS - Senior forward LaRon Dendy was tabbed as the Sun Belt’s Player of the Week, as announced on Monday by the league office. Dendy picks up his first career weekly honor and the second of the season for the Blue Raiders after averaging 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in Middle Tennessee’s pair of games last week.

Dendy put together back-to-back double-digit scoring performances in MT’s last two games, including a career-high 22 points against Vanderbilt on Saturday. He finished the week shooting an impressive 70 percent from the field while hitting 10-of-13 from the line. In addition to the 22-point performance against the Commodores, Dendy notched 17 points at Troy on Thursday.

The Greenville, S.C., native was especially effective in the second half of each contest, scoring 10 in the latter frame against the Trojans and 15 against Vandy. The 6-9 forward has now reached double figures in 16 games, including six performances of 20 or more points. He leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg), rebounding (6.8 rpg) and blocks (38) and ranks third in assists (43).

Dendy joins Marcos Knight as the Blue Raiders who have received weekly honors this season. Knight was named the league’s player of the week on Nov. 22 following his first career double-double against Belmont. Dendy becomes the fifth different Blue Raider to earn the award. It marks the eighth weekly accolade in program history and the first time since the 2001-02 season MT has had multiple player of the week awards.

Dendy and the Blue Raiders resume conference action with a pair of road tests this week. MT will travel to North Texas for a 7 p.m. CT contest on Thursday then wrap up the road swing at Denver on Saturday. The Blue Raiders and Pioneers will square off at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Courtesy of Athletic Communications, GoBlueRaiders.com