BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball senior Jakob Braaten has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division Player of the Week on Monday following his play in three Mustang victories this past week, including two conference wins on the road.
 
A 6-foot, 200-pound guard from Byron, Minn., Braaten had a big week averaging 16.3 points, 10 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.5 steals, while shooting 68 percent (19 of 28) from the field and a perfect 9 of 9 from the free throw line.
 
Braaten dished out a single-game school record 17 assists, while scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds in last Monday's home victory over North Central University.  
 
In SMSU's 80-71 road victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, Braaten scored a career-high 27 points on 9 of 12 shooting, while making 8 of 8 from the free throw line and registering a team-high eight rebounds, a team-high six assists and two steals. It was his fourth 20-point scoring game this season and 10^th of his career.
 
On Sunday, Braaten scored 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting with a game-high seven assists, while grabbing four rebounds and recording three steals in SMSU's 76-56 road victory over Winona State.
 
For the season, Braaten is averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game, while shooting a team-leading 53 percent (61 of 115) from the field. He also leads the team in assists (57), rebounding (5.9) and steals (21).
 
A 2021 graduate of Byron High School, Braaten has played in 95 career games with 69 starts and has scored 922 points, while shooting 50 percent (341 of 681) from the field, including 39 percent (63 of 160) from 3-point range. He ranks seventh in team history with 292 assists and is seventh all-time in steals with 133.
 
SMSU, 6-4 overall, 4-1 NSIC, returns home this week for a pair of games inside the R/A Facility. The Mustangs face Minnesota State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before taking on St. Cloud State on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.