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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association
has selected Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen as its Oscar
Robertson National Player of the Week for games ending the week
of Sunday, Feb. 20. The USBWA's weekly honor is presented by
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and has been handed
out each Tuesday this season.
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| Pullen |
As the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, Pullen was nominated
for the weekly award, which was chosen by a representative of the
USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players
of the week.
Pullen, a 6-0 senior from Maywood, Ill., averaged 32.5 points,
4.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.5 rebounds in 37 minutes in wins over
top-ranked Kansas and Oklahoma last week.
Pullen began the week with a career-best 38 points in an 84-68
win over Kansas. He was 9-for-17 from the field, including 5-for-6
from three-point range, to go with a career-high 15-for-19 effort
from the free-throw line. The 38 points were the most by a winning
player vs. a top-ranked team since Houston's Elvin Hayes scored
39 against UCLA in 1968.
In the 77-62 win over Oklahoma, Pullen posted a game-high 27
points on 8-of-18 shooting with a season-best five steals, three
assists and two rebounds in 37 minutes. He was also 8-for-8 from
the free-throw line. It marked the 37th 20-point game of his career,
including his 12th this season.
This is the second season that the USBWA has selected a national
player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of
the Week has been added to the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list.
Finalists for the 2011 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced
on Mon., Feb. 28.
Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player
of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University
of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year
Oscar Robertson. It is the nation's oldest award and the only one
named after a former player.
 At
the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists
for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the
USBWA. The winner of the 2011 Oscar Robertson Trophy will be announced
and presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the USBWA's annual
awards breakfast on Fri., April 1 in Houston, site of the 2011 NCAA
Men's Final Four.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in
1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers.
With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential
organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America
team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA
and the Oscar Robertson Trophy, contact executive director Joe Mitch
at 314-444-4300.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive
college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 30th
season, bigger and better in 2010-11. Blue Ribbon – long-known as
"The Bible of College Basketball" – gives its readers the most thorough,
up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Division I team in the
country. For more information about Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, visit
blueribbonyearbookonline.com.
2010-11 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
• Week of Dec. 5: Mike Glover, Iona
• Week of Dec. 12: Jimmer Fredette, BYU
• Week of Dec. 19: Khris Middleton, Texas A&M
• Week of Dec. 26: Doron Lamb, Kentucky
• Week of Jan. 2: Demetri McCamey, Illinois
• Week of Jan. 9: Vlad Moldoveanu, American
• Week of Jan. 16: Mike Muscala, Bucknell
• Week of Jan. 23: Jordan Hamilton, Texas
• Week of Jan. 30: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State
• Week of Feb. 6: Chandler Parsons, Florida
• Week of Feb. 13: Nolan Smith, Duke
• Week of Feb. 20: Jacob Pullen, Kansas State
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