Conference USA's Men's Basketball Players of the Week
WKU and North Texas land players on the weekly honors list.
Conference USA
IRVING, Texas -- WKU junior forward Justin Johnson earned the C-USA Player of the Week honor after averaging 17.5 points and 12.5 boards in the Toppers’ road trip to Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss. The Hazard, Kentucky, native now has four consecutive double-doubles.
North Texas guard A.J. Lawson claims his second C-USA Freshman of the Week honor of the season after pouring in a career-high 30 points against Rice. Awards are chosen by a vote from a media panel representing the 14 member schools.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JUSTIN JOHNSON, WKU
Junior, 6-7, 240, F, Hazard, Kentucky
Johnson moved to four straight double-doubles this week in a road split, averaging 17.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists across trips to LA Tech and Southern Miss. Johnson has averaged a double-double for two straight weeks, and his four straight double-doubles is the longest streak of his career. It’s the most consecutive double-doubles by a WKU player since George Fant had eight in a row in 2014-15.
Johnson tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday’s loss at LA Tech, then scored 12 points and tied a career high with 15 rebounds in Saturday’s victory at Southern Miss. He shot 56 percent from the field during the week and averaged 33 minutes per game with just one turnover.
Johnson now has nine double-doubles this season and 19 in his career. This is the first career C-USA Player of the Week award for Johnson, but he did earn C-USA Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 15, 2014.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
A.J. LAWSON, NORTH TEXAS
Freshman, 6-5, 185, G, Bryan, Texas
Lawson had a career game against Rice on Saturday, scoring a career-high 31 points with seven rebounds, a block and a steal. Lawson went 10-of 15 from the field and also hit a career-high 10-of-12 from the free throw to become the first North Texas player to score 30-plus points this season.
Lawson had a spectacular first half with 17 points off 6-for-7 shooting and converted three and-1 baskets. This is Lawson’s second C-USA Freshman of the Week honor.
C-USA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
N14: Egor Koulechov, Rice
N21: Dominic Artis, UTEP
N28: JaCorey Williams, Middle Tennessee
D5: Marcus Evans, Rice
D12: Jon Elmore, Marshall
D19: JaCorey Williams, Middle Tennessee
D26: Stevie Browning, Marshall
J2: Reggie Upshaw Jr., Middle Tennessee
J9: Ryan Taylor, Marshall
J16: William Lee, UAB
J23: Jon Davis, Charlotte
J30: Matt Willms, UTEP
F6: Justin Johnson, WKU
C-USA FRESHMEN OF THE WEEK
N14: DaQuan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
N21: Byron Frohnen, UTSA
N28: Jailyn Ingram, Florida Atlantic
D5: Najee Garvin, Charlotte
D12: Deon Barrett, UTEP
D19: A.J. Lawson, North Texas
D26: Byron Frohnen, UTSA
Jalen Harris, Louisiana Tech
J2: Quentin Jackson Jr., Charlotte
J9: Giovanni De Nicolao, UTSA
J16: DaQuan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
J23: DaQuan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
J30: Byron Frohnen, UTSA
F6: A.J. Lawson, North Texas