Dec. 1, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball player Gary Wilkinson has been named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week it was announced by the league office on Monday.

Overall, it is the 10th time in the last four years that USU has received the weekly honor, including the second time this season as Wilkinson was also named WAC Player of the Week on Nov. 17 after scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in USU's 71-50 home win against Montana State-Northern.

Wilkinson, a 6-9 forward from South Jordan, Utah (Salt Lake CC) led Utah State to a 2-0 record last week with a 75-49 win against Weber State and a 97-57 win against Cal Poly. Against the Wildcats, Wilkinson scored a game-high 18 points and added six rebounds as he was 6-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Against the Mustangs, he had game-highs with 21 points and nine rebounds in just 21 minutes as he was 6-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He also had career-highs with four assists and two steals against Cal Poly.

For the week, Wilkinson averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 75.0 percent from the field and 88.2 percent from the free throw line.

On the season, Wilkinson is averaging 18.5 points and 8.8 rebounds and is shooting 76.5 percent from the field and 81.5 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double-figures in 12 straight games dating back to last year and has two 20-point outings this season. Overall, he ranks second in the nation in field goal shooting and first in the WAC in scoring.

Utah State (4-0) returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 2 when it hosts UC Irvine (0-5) at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.