For the second consecutive week, the Valparaiso University men’s basketball program received recognition from the Missouri Valley Conference office, this time in the form of Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]) being named the league’s Freshman of the Week.

Schwieger played a key role in Valpo’s 2-0 week, helping lead the Beacons to home wins over Western Illinois and Southern to improve the squad’s early-season record to 4-2. Schwieger averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game over the two triumphs, going 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

The Valpo rookie shared game-high honors with 17 points in Saturday’s win over Southern while also achieving seven rebounds. He had season highs in the scoring column in both games this week, tallying a personal-best 13 in Tuesday’s triumph over Western Illinois before outdoing that total against the Jaguars. He went 4-of-5 at the free-throw line and 11-of-20 (.550) from the floor this week.

For the season, Schwieger has started the first six games of his collegiate career and is averaging 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3-point range and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line. In the month of November alone, Valpo has already won two MVC weekly awards this season, one away from tying last year’s total for the entire year.

Valpo will open conference play by hosting Drake on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Athletics-Recreation Center. For ticket information, visit valpoathletics.com/tickets.