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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association
has selected Air Force guard Michael Lyons as
its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for games
ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 17. The USBWA's weekly honor
is presented by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook
and has been handed out each Tuesday this season. Lyons is the
season's final recipient.
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| Lyons |
As the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, Lyons 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.
Lyons, a 6-5 senior from Newport News, Va., averaged 36.0
points per game while shooting 60.9 percent from the field as
the Falcons split a pair of conference outings last week. On
Wednesday, he scored a game-high 27 points as the Falcons
snapped an 11-game losing streak to UNLV in a 71-56 victory.
He followed that performance by scoring more points in a game
than any Air Force player in over half a century when he scored
a career-high 45 points on 17-25 from the field in an 89-86 loss
to Colorado State. The 45 points, the third-highest scoring
effort by a Division I player this season, were the third-most
in a Mountain West game in league history and tied for the
fifth-most in a single game overall. In addition, it was the
fifth-best scoring effort in program history and the most points
scored by a Falcon since Bob Beckel's school-record 50 vs.
Arizona on Feb. 28, 1959. It was also the most points ever by a
Falcon in a conference game.
This is the fourth season that the USBWA has selected a national
player of the week. The weekly Oscar Robertson National Player of
the Week will be considered for the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch
list, which will be released at mid-season.
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. The winner
of the Oscar Robertson Trophy presented by Aflac
will be presented by its namesake, Oscar Robertson, at the
Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April
15, 2013, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in
Oklahoma City. The Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award
and the Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award
will also be presented at the gala to be held annually the Monday
following the 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 314-795-6821.
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, the most comprehensive
college basketball publication in the world, returns for its 32nd
season, bigger and better in 2012-13. 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.
2012-13 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
• Week of Dec. 9: Brandon Paul, Illinois (Big Ten Conference)
• Week of Dec. 16: Doug McDermott, Creighton (Missouri Valley Conference)
• Week of Dec. 23: Victor Rudd, South Florida (Big East Conference)
• Week of Dec. 30: Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA (Pac-12 Conference)
• Week of Jan. 6: Trey Burke, Michigan (Big Ten Conference)
• Week of Jan. 13: Elston Turner, Texas A&M (Southeastern Conference)
• Week of Jan. 20: Roosevelt Jones, Butler (Atlantic 10 Conference)
• Week of Jan. 27: Darrun Hilliard, Villanova (Big East Conference)
• Week of Feb. 3: Shane Larkin, Miami (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week of Feb. 10: Mason Plumlee, Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
• Week of Feb. 17: Michael Lyons, Air Force (Mountain West Conference)
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