Deonte Burton WAC POW

Nevada’s Deonte Burton has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 17-23. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Burton.

Burton, a freshman guard from Los Angeles, Calif. (Compton Centennial HS), led Nevada to a pair of conference wins against New Mexico State (90-71) and Louisiana Tech (66-58) last week.

In the win over New Mexico State, Burton tied for game-high honors with 22 points making 8-of-11 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 shots from three-point range. He also dished out a game-high six assists and collected three steals. His five rebounds against the Aggies established a new career high for the freshman. Burton’s 22 points against NM State marked his third consecutive 20-point game and just one point off his career high.

In the victory against Louisiana Tech, Burton totaled a team-high 18 points making 7-of-9 field goals, including a 2-of-2 performance from beyond the arc. The game marked the fourth-straight game that Burton has led the Wolf Pack in scoring. For the second game in a row, Burton also tallied six assists and three steals, which were both game highs.

On the week, Burton averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 3.0 rebounds per game. He shot 75.0 percent (15-of-20) from the field and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from three-point range.

Other nominees:

* Boise State senior guard La’Shard Anderson
* Fresno State sophomore center Greg Smith
* Hawai‘i senior forward Bill Amis
* Idaho sophomore center Kyle Barone
* Louisiana Tech junior forward Olu Ashaolu
* Utah State senior forward Tai Wesley