Published: December 21, 2017

Jimmer Fredette had a rough go of it against a very tough defense as the Shanghai Sharks fell to the Shenzhen Leopards 90-71 on Wednesday.

He totaled one of his lowest scoring outputs on the season finishing with 23 points on 6-for-22 shooting from the field, including 3-for-9 from beyond the arc and 8-for-9 from the foul line. He added six rebounds, two assists and a steal while playing 40 minutes.

Fredette wasn’t the only one who struggled to find his shooting touch as the Sharks shot just 26-for-77 from the field (33.7 percent), including 8-for-29 from 3-point range (27.6 percent).

Nick Minnerath was the only other player for Shanghai to score in double figures finishing with a team-high 27 points on 11-for-25 shooting from the field, including 3-for-10 from deep. He added 10 rebounds for the double-double as the Sharks dropped to 8-10 on the season.

Jared Sullinger and Keith Langford led a balanced scoring attack for the Leopards with 19 points apiece in the win. Sullinger also had a monster night on the glass with 18 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.

On the season, Fredette is averaging 38.6 on 44 percent shooting from inside the arc, 46 percent from 3-point land and 95 percent from the free-throw line. He is also averaging 7.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals in 41.1 minutes.

Up next for the Sharks is a matchup with the Qingdao Eagles who are 6-12 on the season, but come into the contest on a two-game winning streak.

The Eagles are led by Jonathan Gibson who is coming off a 60-point performance where he connected on 12 threes. He is averaging 36.2 points a game with 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 39.3 minutes.

In other Fredette news, the former BYU guard earned the Asia-Basket.com CBA Player of the Week for round 17 after his near triple-double while scoring 50 points in the win over the Shandong Golden Stars on Sunday.

It is the third time on the season that Fredette has taken home the weekly honor. He previously won the award during round 9 in an 87-72 win over the Bayi Rockets and in round 6 in a 123-119 win over Beikong Fly Dragons.

Photo credit: By Bagumba (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons