ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Wichita State junior forward Ben Smith and junior center Garrett Stutz received Missouri Valley Conference All-Bench Team recognition and junior guard David Kyles was named to the Valley's Most-Improved Team, the MVC announced today.

The teams, which were selected by the league's newspaper beat writers, are comprised of a minimum of five student-athletes (top five vote-getters, plus ties) on each squad.

Smith was named Team Captain for the MVC All-Bench Team. Smith, from Oklahoma City, Okla., averaged 7.1 points and 2.2 rebounds while starting three of 30 games for the Shockers this season. The 6-foot-5 Smith had 10 double-figure scoring games in Valley play and his overall scoring average ranked fourth for Wichita State.  He scored 8.3 points a game in Valley play.

Stutz, from Kansas City, Mo., averaged 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 30 games played.  The 7-foot-tall Stutz joined Smith on the MVC All-Bench Team. He started five games and averaged 14.2 minutes throughout the season. Stutz also added 21 blocks - second-most for the Shockers this season.

Kyles was named to the conference's Most-Improved Team. The 6-foot-4 junior guard from Dallas, Texas finished the regular season ranked second on the Shockers' roster with an average of 10 points a game. He led the Shockers with 64 3-pointers made, shooting 40.5 percent from behind the 3-point line. He started 21 of 30 games for Wichita State.

Smith and Stutz are joined on the All-Bench team by Creighton's Jahenns Manigat, Evansville's Ned Cox, and Indiana State's Jordan Printy.

UNI's Anthony James was named captain of the Most-Improved Team. James and Kyles are joined by Bradley's Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Creighton's Antoine Young and Missouri State's Will Creekmore on the Most-Improved Team.

2011 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE ALL-BENCH TEAM

Student-Athlete, School Yr. Pos. Ht. Hometown (High School)

*Ben Smith, Wichita State Jr. F 6-5 Oklahoma City (Okla.) Southeast High

Ned Cox, Evansville So. G 6-1 San Antonio (Texas) Judson High

Jahenns Manigat, Creighton Fr. G 6-1 Ottawa (Ontario) Regional Elite Dev. Acad.

Jordan Printy, Indiana State Jr. G 6-4 Marion (Iowa) Linn-Marr High

Garrett Stutz, Wichita State Jr. C 7-0 Kansas City (Kan.) North Kansas City High

2011 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MOST-IMPROVED TEAM

Student-Athlete, School Yr. Pos. Ht. Hometown (High School)

*Anthony James, UNI So. G 6-0 St. Louis (Mo.) Normandy High

Will Creekmore, Missouri State Sr. C 6-9 Tulsa (Okla.) Edison High

David Kyles, Wichita State Jr. G 6-4 Dallas (Texas) Kimball High

Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Bradley So. G 6-3 Peoria (Ill.) Washington High

Antoine Young, Creighton Jr. G 6-0 Bellevue (Neb.) West High

*--indicates team captain.

- Wichita State -