Three members of the SIU men’s basketball team were awarded with All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, the league announced Wednesday.

Senior guard Tyler Smithpeters was named to the MVC All-Bench team and was awarded the title of Team Captain.

This season, Smithepeters averaged 7.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He was also named the Sixth Man of the Year by the league on Tuesday.

Two more Salukis, sophomore guard Aaron Cook and junior guard Sean Lloyd, were recognized as members of the MVC Most-Improved Team.

Limited to bench duties last season, Cook earned a spot in the Salukis’ starting lineup in the 2017-18 campaign.

Cook improved his offensive game this season and posted an average of 9.9 points per game compared to 3.0 points per game last season. In 31 games, he tallied 45 steals, 78 assists and gathered 2.3 rebounds per game.

Lloyd, who was named to the MVC All-Defensive team on Tuesday, brought home his second all-conference award.

This season, Lloyd improved his scoring to 11.9 points per game — over a four-point increase from last season. He also improved his field-goal percentage to 0.475 and logged 66 assists and 47 steals this season.

In total, the Salukis have now claimed seven All-MVC awards. The MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced on Thursday.

Sports editor Nathan Dodd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @NathanMDodd.

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