kanderson01.jpg

Player of the Week

Kyle Anderson, UCLA

The offensive engine for the Bruins continues to stay red hot deep into the conference schedule. Anderson sets the tone on offense by keeping the game at a slow pace with the ball in his hands and his size as a 6-9 point guard gives him such an advantage on both ends of the floor. His ability to set up the offense smoothly and create plays may be second to none in the Pac-12.
The sophomore recorded his league-leading 13th and 14th double-doubles in victories over Colorado and Utah this week. Against Colorado, he dropped 22 points along with 11 assists, seven rebounds and a steal. He made both of his shots from behind the arc and went 6-7 (.857) from the free-throw line. The UCLA guard followed up that performance by posting 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the win over Utah. He averaged 19.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists over the course of the week and sported a .641 field-goal percentage. Also, he missed just two free-throw attempts (8-10).

Anderson has great vision, rarely making a bad pass or wrong decision. He has a 2.1 assist/turnover ratio while being the primary ball handler for his team basically every minute he spends on the court. He’s great at driving to the hole and picking up tough buckets, but he also draws the defenders in when he drives which allows him to kick it out to an open shooter if he feels. He seems to only shoot the 3-ball if he knows he’s going to make the shot, shooting .524 from downtown. The sophomore has eight 20-point games on the season and leads the conference in assists, averaging 6.8 assists per game.

Who’s Hot

Jermaine Marshall, Arizona State

The transfer is a great rhythm shooter, who really excels when he is catching and shooting the ball all in one motion. He is particularly good when the pressure is on, usually always coming up big in close games. In the Sun Devils double-overtime upset win over #2 Arizona, Marshall scored 29 points (matching his career-high) along with five rebounds, an assist and a steal. He shot 11-23 (.478) from the field and 4-8 from 3-point range, scoring eight of the teams 12 points in the final overtime. The senior now has 10, 20-point games this season with six during conference play and has averaged 22.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game over the last five games.

Jordan Adams, UCLA

The sophomore hasn’t scored as much in conference play as he had during the non-conference schedule, but looked like the Jordan Adams of old this week. He helped the Bruins pick up wins over Colorado and Utah, averaging 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game over the course of the week. Adams is a catch and shoot guy that is great at finding an open spot for a jumper without the ball. He also is athletic on defense, using his quick hands to pick off a lot of passes. The guard has nine 20-point games on the season and is leading the conference in steals per game, averaging 2.9 per game. He also leads his team in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game.

Who’s Cold

CJ Wilcox, Washington

The guard just couldn’t seem to get anything to fall for him shooting this week. He averaged just 12.5 points per game this week and was inefficient shooting from the field with just a .309 field-goal percentage and a .150 percentage from behind the arc. The senior is someone that demands attention each time he gets the ball and his opponents did a good job of getting to him quickly as he received the rock. In the Huskies loss to Calfornia, he managed just eight points on 4-12 shooting from the field and 0-6 from 3-point range. He also failed to get to the free-throw line once throughout the game. To make up for his shooting woes he passed the ball more and found open teammates when he became overwhelmed with defenders, finishing the game with five assists.

Brandon Taylor, Utah

In two games this week, the sophomore averaged 8.5 points per game. He shot just .363 from the field and .381 from behind the arc without making a single trip to the charity stripe. In the Utes loss to UCLA, Taylor posted only eight points on 3-10 shooting and made 2-6 shots from downtown. Taylor has mostly been efficient shooting the ball throughout the season (.412 FG %), but hit a little bump this week in the two road conference games. This was the first outing he failed to score in double figures in the last three games.

Top 5 Seniors

1. Roberto Nelson, Oregon State

The guard is leading the conference in scoring, averaging 21.3 points per game. He gets his points in a creative fashion with a nice jumper and the ability to drive to the basket, picking up fouls for shots at the free-throw line where he is shooting .848. Nelson is the first Beaver to score 500 or more points in back-to-back seasons since Gary Payton in 1989 and 1990. He also leads the conference with 15, 20-point games this season.

2. CJ Wilcox, Washington

Even with his cold spurt this week, you can’t deny that Wilcox is the best player on the Huskies. He leads his team and is third in the conference in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per game. He’s entertaining because he has the ability to erupt and go on massive scoring runs at any second. The guard has the most 3-point field-goals made in the conference with 75 and is third in the conference with a .866 free-throw percentage. He’s cashed in 11, 20-point games up to this point.

3. Justin Cobbs, California

Cobbs is the one that makes things go for the Golden Bear offense with the offense running through him. He is second in the conference in assists, averaging 6.0 assists per game with a 2.4 assists/turnover ratio (3rd in conference). The assists per game are also most on his team along with his 16.0 points per game.

4. Jordan Bachynski, Arizona State

The center leads the nation in blocks, averaging 4.6 blocks per game. He’s a problem down low for anyone trying to enter the paint, always altering the shots of his opponents. Bachysnki has logged 11 double-doubles on the season and has recorded 24 blocks over the last three games. The Sun Devil is also a good rebounder; he’s ranked second in the conference averaging 9.0 rebounds per game.

5. Richard Solomon, California

Solomon is the only player in the conference averaging a double-double each game with 11.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Most of his scoring output comes from close to the basket as a post player for the offense. He’s a good rebounder on both ends of floor, ranking first in the conference in defensive rebounding with 7.7 per game and fourth in offensive rebounding with 2.7 per game. The Golden Bear forward has registered seven double-doubles on the season.