STARKVILLE — Mississippi State men’s basketball players Gavin Ware and Quinndary Weatherspoon were named finalists for the C Spire Howell Trophy, while women’s basketball player Victoria Vivians was named a finalist for the Gillom Trophy on Monday.

The men’s award, named after former MSU great Bailey Howell, is presented annually to the top collegiate male player in the state of Mississippi. The women’s award, named after former Ole Miss great Peggie Gillom-Granderson, is presented annually to the top collegiate female player in the state. Both awards will be presented Monday at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson.

Vivians won the award as a freshman last season. The other two finalists are Ole Miss’ Shandricka Sessom and Delta State’s Chelsea Rhodes.

The other men’s finalist is Ole Miss’ Stefan Moody, who won the award last year. An Ole Miss player has won the award each of the last three seasons.

A native of Kissimmee, Florida, Moody leads the Southeastern Conference (ninth in the nation) in scoring at 22.8 points per game. He became the fifth-fastest player in Ole Miss history to reach 1,000 career points this season, and posted a streak of 14-consecutive 20-point games, which is the third-best streak in school history.

Ware and Weatherspoon are the first Bulldogs named as finalists for the award since Arnett Moultrie and Dee Bost in 2011-12. Moultrie won the award that season. It marks the third time since the award’s inception in 2004-05 that MSU has produced multiple finalists.

Ware, a former Starkville High School standout, is having a career year as a senior. He has scored a career-high 412 points, which has helped him reach other career-best marks, including scoring average (15.6 ppg.), field goals made (167), and assists (24). The center leads the SEC and is 14th nationally with a field goal percentage of 61.9.

Weatherspoon leads the Bulldogs in scoring (14.8 ppg.) and steals in league games (23). The two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree is sixth in scoring average (12), seventh in steals (37) and 3-point field goals made (36), and ninth in points (336) and field goals (124).

Vivians will try to become the third back-to-back winner of the Gillom Trophy. She helped MSU (24-6) finish the regular season tied for second in the SEC (11-5).

The Carthage native is second in the SEC in scoring at 16.7 ppg. and sixth in league play (15.4).

Sessom is averaging a team-best 15.5 ppg. She has posted a team-best 24 games in double figures and has led the team in scoring 14 times. The No. 6 scorer in the ever-competitive SEC, Sessom has topped 20 points seven times, including a career-best 28 points against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

A statewide panel of media that covers college basketball selected the finalists and will vote for the winner. Their votes accounted for 90 percent of the final voting and fan voting, conducted by C Spire, and accounted for a weighted 10 percent of the final voting.

Fan voting started today and will end at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Fans can vote for their favorite player by visiting www.csopavoting.com, providing an email address and name, or connecting through Facebook or Twitter. Once an account is created, voting can begin and fans can choose their first-, second-, and third-place winners. Fans will be able to vote via Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging and can submit up to three votes per day during the six-day voting period.

For ticket information, contact the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum at 1-800-280-FAME (3263). All proceeds benefit the private, non-profit museum.

MSU’s men take on Ole Miss at 6 p.m. Wednesday (SEC Network). The women will play 7:30 p.m. Friday (SEC Network) in the SEC tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. The women will play Georgia, Ole Miss, or Vanderbilt.

n In related news, Vincent (Ala.) High School’s E.J. Datcher committed to MSU on Sunday night.

The three-star power forward becomes the seventh player in the 2016 signing class for the Bulldogs and coach Ben Howland. MSU has received letters of intent from the six others.

This past season, Datcher averaged 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 3.1 blocked shots. It was his first full season since his sophomore year as a torn meniscus kept him out of most of his junior season.

He chose MSU over Alabama-Birmingham, South Alabama, Troy, Chattanooga, and others.

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.