Dontay Caruthers named MAC Defensive Player of the Year, Nick Perkins named Sixth Man of the Year

In a week of naming Mid-American Conference accolades, Buffalo Bulls Men’s Basketball had two players receive high honors today. Rochester native Dontay Caruthers was named MAC Defensive player of the year and sophomore forward Nick Perkins was named MAC Sixth Man of the Year.

Caruthers achieves the honor in just his first season out of the JUCO ranks and as a player for Buffalo. Averaging 5.1 points per game this year, he’s been the lead defensive stopper for the Bulls’ back court while his offensive game has been coming along. Dontay’s skill at drawing charges with his innate speed and maximum effort made any guard in the MAC struggle on offense.

One of the best examples of Caruthers’ defense comes on UB’s road win against Central Michigan, where the nation’s leading scorer Marcus Keene was held to just 4 points on 0-6 shooting in the first half. Dontay is also currently 5th in the nation in steal percentage as he becomes the first player in UB history to win MAC DPOY.

Nick Perkins becomes the first UB player since Mark Bortz in 2005 to win MAC Sixth Man of the Year. Perkins finished the regular season averaging 12.4 points per game and a 9th best 6.6 rebounds a contest in the MAC. He is also 14th in blocked shots per game. Winning Sixth Man of the Year is a testament to the depth UB carries and how Perkins would be a starter on many rosters in the MAC.

Buffalo sees their first game of MAC Tournament action this Thursday at around 9:00PM at Quicken Loans arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN3.