Youngstown State sophomore Kendrick Perry (Ocoee, Fla.) has been Horizon League Player of the Week for Feb. 6, the Horizon League announced on Monday. Perry led the Penguins (13-10, 8-5 Horizon) to a 2-1 road record last week, averaging 25.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 steals per game while shooting 60 percent from the field.

This is the first player-of-the week award of Perry’s career and it marks the first time in Horizon League history and YSU history five different players from one school have earned the accolade. Earlier this season, senior DuShawn Brooks (Dec. 5), junior Damian Eargle (Jan. 2), senior Ashen Ward (Jan. 9) and junior Blake Allen (Jan. 23) all garnered the award.

Coach Jerry Slocum talked about the accomplishment of having five players from his team given the award.  “I am very happy for those guys.  It speaks well of how much they have improved and have worked very hard to get better.  They have committed to all of the hard work and they deserve what they are getting.”

Perry scored a career-high 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, including four 3-pointers, and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line. He also dished out four assists and had two steals.  His 30-point effort was the first since DeAndre Mays scored 30 points against Loyola on Jan. 9, 2010. He is also the first sophomore to score at least 30 points since Mike Alcorn scored 35 against Pitt-Bradford on Feb. 24, 1992.

In the 72-68 loss at UIC, which was the Penguins third game in six days, Perry scored 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. He almost rallied YSU to a frantic comeback scoring eight points in 35 seconds to cut a nine-point deficit down to two.

Perry connected on 11-of-14 from the field with two 3-pointers for a game-high 28 points in an 80-63 win over Loyola. He also dished out six assists and collected a career-high seven steals against the Ramblers.  He is the first player to record at least six steals in a game since Marlon Williamson tallied six against UMKC on Dec. 21, 2002.

With 11 steals on the week, Perry set a new Youngstown State sophomore record with 56 on the year. The total is the second-best single-season mark in school history, trailing only the 64 of Marlon Williamson in 2002-03. Perry’s 2.4 spg ranks second in the Horizon League, while the point guard ranks second in scoring (15.7 ppg), third in assists (4.1 apg) and first in assist-turnover ratio (2.2).

This is quite an accomplishment for the team picked to finish seventh by the Horizon League voters.  YSU hosts Butler this Thursday with the tipoff set for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be carried on the ESPN3 internetwork.