Photo by: Bobby R. Hester, (c) 2009
Kyle Austin Named Big West Men's Basketball Player of the Week
12/7/2009 1:11:12 PM | Men's Basketball
The Big West announced today that UC Riverside's Kyle Austin (pictured) is the conference men's basketball player of the week for games played from November 30 through December 6, 2009. The junior swingman led the Highlanders to a 2-0 week as UCR cruised past CSU Bakersfield 87-47 on Dec. 2 and came back from a 19-point second-half deficit on Dec. 4 to beat San Diego, 58-55. (Listen to the last three minutes of the San Diego win)
Austin scored 22 of his career-high 28 points against San Diego after the break outscoring the Toreros by himself over the final 20 minutes of play 22-15. He also grabbed 10 rebounds giving him three 20-point, 10-rebound games on the season.
Against CSUB, Austin scored 19 points in just 16 minutes of play, and UCR held the Roadrunners to just 10 first-half point—four points off of the NCAA benchmark for fewest points allowed in a half during the shot clock era.
For the week, Austin averaged 23.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and connected on 63.0 percent of his shots from the field. The Highlanders have won five straight games on the year setting a new program standard for consecutive wins.
This is Austin's third Big West Player of the Week honor as the Pasadena, CA native earned two nods last season on December 22, 2008 and March 2, 2009. At season's end, he became the first member of the Highlanders to earn All-Big West, First-Team honors.
Prior to the start of the 2009-10 campaign, Slam Magazine profiled Austin in their section entitled "Picture Me Ballin'—Under-the-radar players who demand your attention." In addition, three major preseason publications—Athlon Sports, Lindy's and Yahoo! Sports—listed Austin as the Big West Conference preseason MVP, while a fourth—The Sporting News—named him preseason First-Team All-Conference.
Austin currently ranks third in the conference in scoring (17.1) and is tied for second in rebounding (8.6).
Austin scored 22 of his career-high 28 points against San Diego after the break outscoring the Toreros by himself over the final 20 minutes of play 22-15. He also grabbed 10 rebounds giving him three 20-point, 10-rebound games on the season.
Against CSUB, Austin scored 19 points in just 16 minutes of play, and UCR held the Roadrunners to just 10 first-half point—four points off of the NCAA benchmark for fewest points allowed in a half during the shot clock era.
For the week, Austin averaged 23.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and connected on 63.0 percent of his shots from the field. The Highlanders have won five straight games on the year setting a new program standard for consecutive wins.
This is Austin's third Big West Player of the Week honor as the Pasadena, CA native earned two nods last season on December 22, 2008 and March 2, 2009. At season's end, he became the first member of the Highlanders to earn All-Big West, First-Team honors.
Prior to the start of the 2009-10 campaign, Slam Magazine profiled Austin in their section entitled "Picture Me Ballin'—Under-the-radar players who demand your attention." In addition, three major preseason publications—Athlon Sports, Lindy's and Yahoo! Sports—listed Austin as the Big West Conference preseason MVP, while a fourth—The Sporting News—named him preseason First-Team All-Conference.
Austin currently ranks third in the conference in scoring (17.1) and is tied for second in rebounding (8.6).
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