University of Missouri-St. Louis senior forward Aareon Smith has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week in men’s basketball, it was announced by the league office Monday. 

Smith averaged 33.0 points on 24-of-35 attempts from the floor (68.6 percent) and snagged 7.5 rebounds per game in helping UMSL to a pair of conference wins over Quincy and Truman State last week, which put the Tritons in a tie for second place in the GLVC West Division.

In the 65-63 win over Quincy on Thursday, Smith scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-18 (55.6) shooting, and added the two game-winning free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining in the game for the two-point victory.  He hauled down seven rebounds in the win as well.

In the 76-71 road victory at Truman State on Saturday, Smith shattered his newly set career high with 38 points, which is the second-highest scoring output by a GLVC player this year.  He was 14-of-17 (.824) from the floor in 36 minutes of action, which included a perfect 10-of-10 second-half stretch.  He scored 29 points in the final 20 minutes, including 19 in the first nine minutes after halftime.  In addition, Smith netted his 1,000th career point, becoming he 16th player in program history to accomplish the feat and the first since Jonathan Griffin in 2002-06.

In addition to shooting nearly 70 percent from the floor for the week, Smith was also 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from three-point range and 88.2 percent (15-of-17) at the free throw line.

The St. Louis, Missouri, native earns his first career weekly honor and is the first Triton to be recognized by the league since Darian Cartharn on Feb. 25, 2013.