For most teams, the LSC Player of the Year award is as big as it gets.

        For Tarleton State, a program that thrives on playing the best defense year in and year out, that Defensive Player of the Year award has always been viewed equally, if not with more importance.

        And this year, the award is headed back to Stephenville as Tarleton junior forward Jon Cathey-Macklin was the recent recipient of the LSC’s top defensive player.

        And in his first outing since getting the award Tuesday at the LSC Championship banquet, Cathey-Macklin showed why he was truly deserving of the honor. He pulled down 10 rebounds, scored nine points and had two blocks in the Texans’ 72-59 win over Eastern New Mexico.

        “We just wanted to come here and play focused,” Cathey-Macklin said. “We had a team meeting a couple of days ago to get everyone on the same page. I thought we came out fired up.”

        And maybe a little too fired up. Cathey-Macklin actually got off to a slow start Thursday, missing an easy layup and then dropped a pass in the post for another turnover. That’s when point guard and floor-leader Chuck Guy had some choice, but encouraging words for the junior center.

        “Jon takes it the right way, and that’s important,” TSU head coach Lonn Reisman said. “He didn’t pout about it. He didn’t talk back. Chuck was motivating him to get him in the game.”

        And it worked. Cathey-Macklin started producing on both ends of the court. He blocked a shot two possessions later, had two straight rebounds and then notched an offensive board and a put-back as the Texans jumped out to a big lead and never looked back.

        In fact, that game was somewhat indicative of Cathey-Macklin’s entire season. As a recruit from Wabash Valley Junior College, the 6-9 junior has improved dramatically from the start of the season.

        “It’s night and day,” Reisman said of his development. “He’s got a great motor and he plays hard. He’s got great endurance. We knew that when he got here. But he was very raw when we recruited him. He’s learned about scouting reports and defensive rotation. He’s actually getting better offensively.”

        But his main role is to play defense and he Cathey-Macklin admitted he was rather proud to be considered the best in the league.

        “It was very big to me to win that,” he said. “Coach (Reisman) has been pushing me very hard, in a good way. When he yells, I use it to my benefit. It pushes me to go harder.”

        After leading the nation in scoring defense the last two years, Tarleton ranks sixth this year and second in the LSC to West Texas A&M.

        “It’s something we work so hard on defensively,” Reisman said. “The last two years we’ve been best team in the nation defensively. But it’s hard to keep up when we’ve lost six seniors. (Playing great defense) means a lot to me in this conference and nationally. We might not be the best team in the nation defensively but we’ve got the best defensive player in our conference. And he’s very deserving.”

        Cathey-Macklin becomes the seventh player to win the Defensive Player of the Year under Reisman and first since Corin Henry won the honor in 2011.

        The Texans will need the muscles and strength Cathey-Macklin even more Friday against West Texas A&M in the semifinals in a game that pits two of the nation’s best defenses.

        “It’ll be a good battle,” he said. “That’s my type of game right there.”