It is the guard’s fifth such honor this season
Round 17 MVP: Jared Harper, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
Awards
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Hapoel Bank Yahav guard Jared Harper added another feat to an already historic season by becoming the BKT EuroCup MVP for Round 17. Harper led Jerusalem to a 67-94 road win at Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse, which clinched a playoff berth for the club, with 31 points and 4 assists. He made 4 of 6 two-pointers, 3 of 4 threes and 14 of 15 free throws in racking up a performance index rating of 36, which was the most of all players in Round 17. This is Harper’s fifth MVP of the round this season, which is the most ever in the EuroCup Regular Season.
The second-highest PIR of Round 17 was authored by Umana Reyer Venice center Mfiondu Kabengele, who posted a 33 in his team's 84-81 loss at Turk Telekom Ankara. The big man scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, which was a career-high, club record and the most of any player in the competition all season.
The Veolia Towers Hamburg duo of Kur Kuath and Brae Ivey had the third and fourth-best PIR of the round, respectively, in beating Aris Midea Thessaloniki 88-90 in overtime. Kuath had personal bests of 19 points and 13 rebounds for a PIR of 31 and Ivey scored 25 points on 6-of-10 three-point shooting for a PIR of 30. Rounding out the top performers of Round 17 were Johnathan Motley of Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv and Zavier Simpson of U-BT Cluj-Napoca, each with PIRs of 27.
Individual highs: Mfiondu Kabengele, Umana Reyer Venice, 18 rebounds
The EuroCup leaders were at their best in Round 17 with Jared Harper, Zavier Simpson and Mfiondu Kabengele each posting the best numbers in scoring, assists in rebounds, respectively.
Harper's 31 points raised his average to 22.8 per game for the season, which are 4.5 points more than second-placed Anthony Brown of Turk Telekom.
After Simpson dished 10 assists, he is averaging 7.4 dimes per game. Jaleen Smith of Bahcesehir College Istanbul is a distant second with 5.8.
Kabengele collected 18 boards on Wednesday, which marked the most of any player all season. His per-game average is now 9.8, with Kyle Alexander of Turk Telekom second with 7.2.
Hamburg’s Ivey was the Round 17 leader with 5 steals. He is now sixth with 1.6 steals per game. Andrew Albicy of Dreamland Gran Canaria remains the season-long leader with 2.1 per game.
Aris's Josh Roberts rejected 5 shots, which were Round 17's high. He is 11th-best on the season with 0.9 blocks per game. Kyle Alexander tops the charts with 2.2 blocks per game.
Seven players recorded double-doubles in Round 17. Simpson (24 points, 10 assists) was the lone player with a point-assist double-double. The remaining six were: Kabengele, Kuath, Motley (22 points, 10 rebounds), Martynas Varnas (10 points, 10 rebounds) of 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys, and the Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana duo of Devin Robinson (12 points, 12 rebounds) and DJ Stewart (11 points, 12 rebounds).