University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Aaron Holiday (photo by Percy Anderson)
Photo by: Percy Anderson
Holiday Named Pac-12 Player of the Week
March 05, 2018 | Men's Basketball
SAN FRANCISCO โ UCLA junior Aaron Holiday has secured Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the third time this season, as announced Monday by the Pac-12 Conference office.
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Holiday, a 6-foot-1 guard from Chatsworth, Calif., has become UCLA's first men's basketball player since Norman Powell in 2014-15 to have earned the league's weekly award at least three times in one season. Previously this season, Holiday was honored as the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Dec. 26 and Feb. 19.
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Earlier on Monday, Holiday secured first-team All-Pac-12 Conference acclaim. The Pac-12 names 10 student-athletes as first-team selections and five student-athletes as second-team selections. Not only was Holiday named a first-team all-league honoree, but he was also selected to the five-man Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.
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Holiday scored a career-high 34 points in UCLA's 83-72 win at crosstown rival USC last Saturday night. He made 11 of 16 shots, including a career-best six three-pointers (on nine attempts), and finished with seven assists and five rebounds. UCLA's win pushed the Bruins' overall record to 20-10.
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With his 34-point effort, Holiday moved into the league lead in scoring, as he is now averaging 20.1 points per game through all 30 contests. In addition to leading the Pac-12 in scoring, Holiday ranks first in minutes per game (37.3), second in assists per game (5.8) and third in three-point field goal percentage (43.9). He ranks third in three-pointers made (76) and third in three-point shots made per game (2.5), second in free throws made (150) and fifth in free throws attempted (182).
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Holiday's effort last Saturday not only helped UCLA earn its 20th victory of the year, but the Bruins also improved to 11-7 in league play and secured the conference's No. 4 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament. UCLA clinched a first-round bye and will face either No. 5-seed Stanford or No. 12-seed California on Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Game time is 2:30 p.m. (PT).
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With season averages of 20.1 points and 5.8 assists per game (30 games), Holiday has become UCLA's first player since Bill Walton in 1973-74 (19.3 ppg, 5.5 apg) to have logged at least 19 points and five assists per game over the course of a season. Prior to 1973-74, assists had not been consistently recorded as an official statistic.
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In addition, Holiday could become the first UCLA player to average at least 20.0 points per game since Ed O'Bannon finished the 1994-95 season having logged 20.4 points per game as he led UCLA to its nation-leading 11th NCAA Championship. No UCLA guard has averaged as many as 20.0 points per game during one season since Reggie Miller tallied 22.3 points per game as a senior in 1986-87.
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UCLA's quarterfinal matchup this Thursday versus either Stanford or California will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. The winner of that quarterfinal will face either Arizona, Arizona State or Colorado on Friday at 6 p.m. (PT).
Players Mentioned
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