Missouri Basketball swept weekly awards from the Big 12 Conference on Monday, as senior forward DeMarre Carroll was named the Big 12’s Player of the Week, while transfer Zaire Taylor shared the Newcomer of the Week honor with Kansas’ Mario Little.
Carroll led Missouri to a pair of road wins as the Tigers were victorious at Texas (69-65) and Iowa State (82-68). The senior forward averaged 22.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the floor. He opened with 13 points and four boards at UT despite playing in foul trouble, as MU won in Austin for the first time since 1998-99. He followed that with a career-high 31 points and nine boards at ISU, while dishing out five assists. Carroll also played outstanding defense against Cyclone standout Craig Brackins, limiting him to 16 points.
Taylor is the second Missouri player in the last three weeks to capture rookie recognition (along with Keith Ramsey). The junior guard played a versatile role in the Tigers’ two road wins. He opened the week with a season-high tying 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting at Texas. Taylor hit 3-of-4 from 3-point range, including the game-winning "and-1" lay-up with 5.5 seconds remaining. He followed that effort by dishing out five assists with zero turnovers in the victory at Iowa State. Taylor added five rebounds and five steals in two games and has now scored in double digits six times in 2008-09.