Bobby Hunter has averaged 7.5 points per game for Illinois State this season. (Photo courtesy GoRedbirds.com)
By ISU Sports Information
ST. LOUIS – Redshirt senior guard Bobby Hunter is one of five selections to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench Team, as voted on by the Valley's newspaper beat writers and announced Wednesday.
Hunter has played in 27 of Illinois State’s 30 games, averaging 7.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.7 steals in 21.1 minutes per contest. The Reno, Nevada, native is shooting a team-best 41.4 percent (36-fo-87) from beyond the arc, which ranks No. 5 in the MVC. Hunter is also shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 71.1 percent at the free throw line.
The redshirt senior guard has scored in double-figures nine times this season, including two games with 20 or more points. He netted a career-high 23 points earlier this season versus Seton Hall (Nov. 24, 2014) and was an NABC Good Works Team nominee. Hunter is the first Redbird since 2012 to earn MVC All-Bench accolades.
Hunter joins fellow postseason award-winning teammates DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (Newcomer of the Year, All-Newcomer Team), Daishon Knight (Second Team All-MVC), Reggie Lynch (Second Team All-MVC, All-Defensive Team) and Paris Lee (All-Defensive Team).
Hunter and the Redbirds open the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament as the No. 4 seed Friday, at 2:30 p.m., against No. 5 Evansville.