After scoring 56 points on a combined 20-of-31 shooting last week against USC and UCLA, Oregon senior point guard Aaron Brooks was named the Pacific-10 Conference’s Player of the Week for Jan. 1 to 7, commissioner Tom Hansen announced Monday.
In addition, Brooks was named Player of the Week in Dickie V’s Weekly Awards, announced by popular college basketball commentator Dick Vitale.
Brooks scored 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting in a heartbreaking 84-82 loss to USC last Thursday but missed key free throws late that would have tied the game. He redeemed himself on Saturday by nailing the go-ahead baseline jump shot with 13 seconds remaining to shock No. 1 UCLA and hand the Bruins their first loss of the season. Brooks scored 25 points against UCLA on 9-of-13 shooting.
The Seattle-native also shot 9-of-11 from the free-throw line, 7-of-10 from three-point range, and averaged four assists, three steals and 2.5 rebounds per game during the two contests.
Brooks leads the Ducks and the Pac-10 in scoring at 18.1 points per game and earlier this season became just the 25th Duck to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career. He is now 18th on that list.
Brooks is the second Duck to earn Pac-10 Player of the Week honors this season after Bryce Taylor won the title for the week of Dec. 18.
Brooks is also the second Duck to appear on Dickie V’s Weekly Awards. Freshman point guard Tajuan Porter earned Player of the Week on Nov. 13.
Ducks in the Polls
After a loss to unranked USC Thursday and a victory against top-ranked UCLA Saturday, the Ducks moved up just one spot to No. 15 in the Associated Press Poll. Oregon did not move from its No. 17 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Poll.
Following its first loss of the season, UCLA dropped to No. 4 in the AP Poll and No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll.
Four Pac-10 teams are in the AP Poll, including UCLA, Arizona (10), Oregon and Washington State (22), which enters the poll for the first time since Feb. 1, 1983. The Cougars recently defeated Arizona, the highest ranked team Washington State has beaten in 24 years.
“It’s a sign of where our program is headed, but it doesn’t mean we have arrived,” Washington State’s sophomore forward Daven Harmeling said.
Five Pac-10 teams boast ESPN/USA Today rankings led by UCLA, Arizona (8), Oregon, Washington State (23) and Washington (24).
USC earned 13 votes in the AP Poll and 10 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. Washington earned 61 votes in the AP Poll.
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