For the first time in program history, Washington State men’s basketball swept the weekly media awards with senior Isaac Jones and redshirt-freshman Myles Rice earning Pac-12 Player and Freshman of the Week, respectively, the Pac-12 Conference announced Monday afternoon. The honor is Rice’s third-career Conference recognition, following back-to-back weekly Freshman of the Week awards at the beginning of December. A two-time Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, Jones earned his first-career Pac-12 Conference weekly honor.
Jones tallied back-to-back 20-point, 10-rebound double-doubles to lead the Cougs in wins at Southern California and over No. 8 Arizona. Jones averaged 60% (15 of 25) shooting on the week and grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds in the win over Arizona, WSU’s first victory at home over the Wildcats since 2010. As the Cougars leading scorer, Jones scored 26 points at USC, the most of his brief Pac-12 career, and added 24 points in the top-10 win over U of A. The Spanaway, Wash., native and Idaho transfer has scored in double figures 15 times. Against Arizona, Jones matched a season-high with two blocks and facilitated three assists in the win at USC.
Rice delivered another standout week, scoring 12 points with five assists in a win at USC, before adding 18 points and five assists in a win over No. 8 Arizona. Rice delivered in the clutch Saturday, with a 3-pointer and mid-range basket to clinch the victory in the final minute. Rice has dished 5+ assists in three-straight games and has scored in double figures 13 times. In both games this week, Rice led the team with two steals and four rebounds and is the Conference’s second-leading freshman scorer.
The duo of Rice and Jones led WSU to its first AP top-10 wins in back-to-back seasons since beating No. 10 Washington in 2006 and No. 7 Arizona in 2007. The Cougs have beaten USC in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011-12 and Arizona in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2009-10.
WSU earned just the seventh weekly award sweep in Pac-12 history since the freshman award began in 2019-20.
Washington State looks to carry momentum into a road trip to the Bay Area this week, facing Stanford, Thursday, Jan. 18, with tipoff from Maples Pavilion at 8 p.m. PT and on Pac-12 Network.
