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INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association
has selected Washington State guard Noah Williams
as its Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week
for games ending the week of Sunday, Feb. 21.
 As
the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, Williams 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. Once again, the USBWA will select a Division I men's
National Player of the Week each Tuesday throughout the season.
The USBWA has named Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
since the 2009-10 season.
Williams, a 6-5 sophomore from Seattle, Wash., averaged 28.0
points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists in a three-game week, including
a career-high 40-point effort Saturday in an 85-76 triple overtime
win over Stanford. It was the Pac-12's first 40-point performance
in a conference game since Andrew Andrews scored 47 for Washington
in March 2016. Williams hit a career-high eight 3-pointers against
Stanford, one of which came with six seconds left in regulation
to send the game into overtime.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak to Stanford and clinched
the Cougars' first winning season since 2010-11.
The big game came two nights after scoring a then-career-high
32 points, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, to go with nine
rebounds and seven assists in an 82-51 win against Cal as WSU swept
the Bay Area schools in a weekend for the first time since 2011-12.
His 72 total points over the weekend were the most in program
history, surpassing Bennie Seltzer's 68 in 1993, the last time a
Cougar posted back-to-back 30-point outings. Williams also scored
12 points with seven rebounds in a 65-63 loss at Washington last
Monday.
Williams is the third Washington State player to earn the honor
and the first since Robert Franks won it the week ending Feb. 10,
2019. The Cougars play at Arizona at 8 p.m. PT Thursday and at Arizona
State at 1:30 p.m. PT Saturday to conclude their Pac-12 schedule.
They added an additional game at Arizona State at noon next Monday
as a makeup for a previously-scheduled WSU home conference game
that was postponed. WSU has completed every regular season contest
that was scheduled at the beginning of the 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 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 Malcolm
Moran at 814-574-1485.
2020-21 Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week
•
Week ending Dec. 20: Boo Buie, Northwestern (Big Ten
Conference)
• Week ending Dec. 27: Corey Kispert,
Gonzaga (West Coast Conference)
• Week ending
Jan. 3: Liam Robbins, Minnesota (Big Ten Conference)
•
Week ending Jan. 10: Matthew Hurt, Duke (Atlantic
Coast Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 17: Matt
Lewis, James Madison (Colonial Athletic Association)
•
Week ending Jan. 24: Jared Butler, Baylor (Big 12
Conference)
• Week ending Jan. 31: Keve Aluma,
Virginia Tech (Atlantic Coast Conference)
•
Week ending Feb. 7: Terry Taylor, Austin Peay (Ohio Valley Conference)
•
Week ending Feb. 14: Drew Timme, Gonzaga (West Coast
Conference)
• Week ending Feb. 21: Noah Williams,
Washington State (Pac-12 Conference)
• Week
ending Feb. 28: Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
• All-time USBWA National
Players of the Week (Since 2009-10)
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