Nova Southeastern University Athletics

Matthews and the Sharks rung in the New Year with two notable Sunshine State Conference wins over both Eckerd and No. 14 Florida Southern this past week. The redshirt senior showed why he was an All-American a year ago, averaging 29.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the contests. Matthews finished just one rebound shy of a double-double in NSU's comfortable 100-82 victory over Eckerd, finishing with a team-high 22 points on 7-of-11 from the field. He then followed it up by proving to be the best player on the floor in Saturday's overtime road win in a matchup between two nationally-ranked programs. Matthews poured in a career-high 36 points in the effort, tallying 12 just midway through the first half to get the Sharks off to a strong start in Lakeland. The victory is already the second over a nationally-ranked team this season for NSU. Matthews currently leads the SSC in scoring (22.5 ppg).