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. 2-8. The honor marks the fourth career WAC Player of the Week award and third this season for Burton.

Burton, a sophomore guard from Los Angeles, Calif. (Compton Centennial HS), led Nevada to a pair of WAC road wins to open conference play last week. In a 73-55 win at Idaho, Burton scored a game-high 26 points connecting on 9-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc. He finished the game with a game-high six assists, three rebounds, a steal and a block in 33 minutes of play.

At Utah State, Burton scored a game-high 25 points in helping the Pack to a 78-71 victory. The win snapped Utah State’s 33-game WAC home win steak. Burton hit 10-of-19 shots from the field, including three makes from three-point range. He dished out five assists, grabbed three rebounds and had two steals while playing all 40 minutes. With Nevada leading 70-68 with 41 seconds to play, Burton nailed a three-pointer and made a free throw after being fouled to complete the four-point play to put the Pack up by six to help secure the win.

On the week, Burton averaged 25.5 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the field, 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from three-point range and 60.0 percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line. In the two games, Burton had 11 assists and just three turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.7.

Other nominees:

* Fresno State sophomore forward Jerry Brown III
* Hawai‘i junior forward Joston Thomas
* Idaho sophomore guard Stephen Madison
* New Mexico State senior forward Wendell McKines
* San Jose State senior forward Wil Carter
* Utah State sophomore guard Preston Medlin