ST. LOUIS – Jaylon Brown and Dru Smith earned Missouri Valley Conference honors on Tuesday in an announcement by the league.

Brown earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team while Smith garnered All-Freshman honors.

"It is good for our program to have these guys recognized by the MVC," head coach Marty Simmons said.  "They are both well-deserving of the honors.  Jaylon has been great for us all year long while Dru has done an excellent job of adjusting to the college game."

Brown finished as the top scorer in the MVC with 20.6 points per game.  He has hit double figures in all but one of UE's 31 games this season.  He also led the league with 36.6 minutes per game and was tied with teammate Ryan Taylor, hitting 86% of his free throws.

Against one of the top teams in the conference and one of the best atmospheres in the nation, freshman Dru Smith was on fire last Tuesday at Wichita State.  Smith connected on 5 of his 7 shots from outside while finishing with a career-high 19 points against the Shockers.  A tenacious defender, he has tallied 21 steals while blocking 11 shots.  The freshman has done an excellent job of taking care of the ball, posting 76 assists on the season against just 31 turnovers.

Brown, Smith and the rest of the Purple Aces are ready to take on Indiana State on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the opening game of Arch Madness.

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