As national attention continues to pour onto the Arizona men’s basketball team, so do the awards.
UA point guard Nic Wise received the Pacific 10 Conference’s Player of the Week award for Feb. 9-15, league commissioner Tom Hansen announced Monday.
This came just one day after ESPN.com heralded the Wildcats as “”team of the week”” for sweeping the Los Angeles schools at home over the weekend.
Wise led the Wildcats by averaging 26.5 points over two games against USC and then-No. 11 UCLA. The junior shot a combined 70.8 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from 3-point land during the week.
“”I can’t believe some of the shots he made,”” UA forward Chase Budinger said Saturday after the UCLA victory. “”He’s just been a clutch player for us.””
Wise dropped 27 points (8-of-11 from the field) on Thursday against USC, the game where he made a three-pointer with 43.8 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 79-76 lead and the eventual win.
Wise is averaging 20.3 points in UA’s seven-game winning streak, including a career-high 29 points against Washington.
“”The biggest thing with me is confidence,”” Wise said Saturday. “”If you don’t think you can do it, you’re not going to do it.
“”I’m just more confident,”” he added. “”The way we’ve been as of late has been suiting my game. I have much more freedom, similar to coach (Lute) Olson’s style, the way he had his point guards playing.””
Added UA interim head coach Russ Pennell: “”Sometime he sees (UCLA point guard Darren) Collison and some of these great point guards he plays against, and I think he quietly gets revved up for that.
“”You never hear him talk about it, but it’s something within him that burns. It seems that every time he plays a real good point guard, he steps his game up. This week, he was absolutely tremendous.””
Wise is the third Wildcat this season to earn Pac-10 Player of the Week honors.
On Dec. 15, UA forward Jordan Hill won the award. Then Dec. 29, UA forward Jamelle Horne did too.