Malik Dia Named MVC Newcomer of the Week

ST. LOUIS - - Belmont University men's basketball forward Malik Dia has been Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Newcomer of the Week, the league office announced Monday.
 
Dia averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 61 percent shooting this past week as Belmont played Drake and Southern Illinois.
 
Dia scored a career-high 32 points on 10-for-16 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists vs. Drake. He had a game-high 25 points and seven rebounds at Southern Illinois.
 
For the week, the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native was 20-for-33 from the field and 6-for-13 from 3-point distance.
 
Dia ranks fourth in the MVC in scoring, having come off the bench in nine of 15 games. He has 13 double figure scoring games, including six games of 20 or more points.

This marks the second MVC Newcomer of the Week award for Malik Dia.
 
Belmont (10-5, 3-1 MVC) returns to game action Wednesday vs. Illinois State.
 
Belmont University men's basketball has been a postseason fixture the last two decades, including nine berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 20 conference championships since 2006 - third-most nationally over that span (Gonzaga, Kansas). Belmont has won 20 or more games in 13 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon) and 19 or game games in 18 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State). Belmont is among select programs with two or more first-round selections in the NBA Draft over the last five years (Ben Sheppard, Dylan Windler). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 19 CoSIDA Academic All-America selections since 2001 and is the only NCAA Division I program to make the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Honor Roll every year of existence