HUNTSVILLE, Texas — It's been quite the week for Zach Nutall.
The Bryan High School product had 28 points in the Bearkats Southland Conference home opener against Lamar on Wednesday and followed that up with 33 points against Houston Baptist on Saturday. Sam Houston won both of those games.
On Saturday, Nutall drilled a three-pointer from the right wing which made him the 26th Bearkat in school history to reach the 1,000 point club.
On Monday, Nutall received word he'd been named the Lou Henson National Player of the Week for his efforts. He was also named the Southland Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season.
The Bearkats junior appreciates the recognition, but says he'd trade it all in for a second Southland Conference Championship.
"I appreciate my teammates, they're awesome," Nutall says. "We don't care how we win, we just want to win so bad. To see them express their love and gratitude means a lot. I don't know a lot of people who played at Sam who have two rings. I got one my freshman year and to be the leader on this team and have the same opportunity, I want to take full advantage of that."
Here's the Southland Conference release on Zach Nutall winning its Player of the Week award:
Sam Houston’s Zach Nutall is the Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, the league announced Monday. Weekly awards are presented by Hercules Tires.
Nutall became the 26th student-athlete in Sam Houston program history to surpass 1,000 career points, averaging 30.5 points per game to help the Bearkats extend their win streak to eight games. He shot 22-of-32 (.688) from the field and 11-of-16 (.688) from long-range and averaged 9.5 rebounds per game. Sam Houston defeated Lamar 96-71 on Wednesday and improved to 7-0 at home with an 87-80 win over Houston Baptist on Saturday.
The Bearkats (11-5, 5-0 SLC), off to a 5-0 start in league play second time in the last three seasons, host second-place Abilene Christian (11-2, 3-0 SLC) at 8:30 p.m. CT Wednesday. The showdown between two of the three teams with undefeated marks in Southland play can be seen on ESPN+.
Men’s Basketball Player of the Week – Zach Nutall – Junior – Guard – Bryan, Texas
The Southland Confence scoring leader (20.4 PPG) posted his first double-double of the season with a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds against Lamar. By halftime, Nutall was well on his way to double-digits in both categories with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and six rebounds. He finished the game 11-of-14 from the field and 5-of-7 from three, his third-straight game with five three-pointers made.
Nutall followed up with another game-high scoring output with 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting and a career-high six three-pointers made. With just one made field goal through the opening 13:20 of the game, Nutall flipped the switch and shot 10-of-13 the rest of the way. Four of his nine rebounds came on offense, translating to eight second-chance points and six of his own. Nutall matched a career-high with three steals and tallied a block and an assist.
The Bryan, Texas, native was also named the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week by College Insider. Nutall becomes the first Southland student-athlete to win a second player of the week award after he earned the honor on Dec. 21, and the Bearkats have claimed two straight awards with teammate Demarkus Lampley winning the vote last week.
