SEWARD, Neb. – The accolades keep coming for senior star Tristan Smith. On Tuesday (Jan. 28), the league office named Smith the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Men’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Week. Smith has been tabbed as a GPAC Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. His three other weekly honors were offensive awards. As a team, Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball has earned seven GPAC Player of the Week awards in 2024-25.
The latest honor for Smith comes courtesy of his efforts at the 72nd Concordia Invitational Tournament. The Elizabeth, Colo., native was named the CIT MVP after leading the Bulldogs to wins over Concordia Chicago, 90-71, and Concordia Ann Arbor, 88-45. Over those two games, Smith totaled 36 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists, four blocked shots and four steals. He made 15-of-17 shots from the floor at Cardinal Fieldhouse, which went wild in response to Smith’s series of highlight reel dunks.
The CIT championship marked the 100th career game for Smith, who has tallied 1,326 points, 639 rebounds, 190 assists, 113 blocks and 101 steals as a Bulldog. On the season, Smith is averaging 20.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. He leads the GPAC in field goal percentage (.703).
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad (17-4, 10-3 GPAC) will carry a 10-game winning streak into Wednesday’s matchup at Midland. Tipoff is slated for 7:45 p.m. CT in Fremont, Neb.