Gonzaga's Braden Huff named WCC Freshman of the Week (2/12/2024)
For the fourth time this season, Gonzaga Bulldogs redshirt freshman Braden Huff took home the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week award.
Huff, who broke a tie with Portland's Tyler Harris for most Freshman of the Week honors in the league, stepped up off the bench in Gonzaga's wins over Portland and Kentucky. The 6-foot-10 post dropped 25 points in a season-high 24 minutes in the 96-64 blowout over the Pilots, including seven rebounds and three assists. He followed that up with 12 points, three rebounds and a steal in the 89-85 upset over then-No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday.
Huff took on a majority of the offensive load down the stretch against the Wildcats while Graham Ike dealt with foul trouble. He had eight consecutive points from the 8:30 to 4:53 mark in the second half, his last shot putting Gonzaga up 75-72 before Ike checked back in to close things out.
Back-to-back double-digit games from Huff brought his scoring average up to 10.9 points, the fifth-most on the team and the most of any WCC player that hasn't started a game this season.
A career week from San Diego's Wayne McKinney earned him WCC Player of the Week honors. After 24 points, six rebounds, six assists and a steal against Loyola Marymount, he set a new career-high days later with 31 points against Pacific. He added five rebounds and two assists. McKinney is the first Torero to earn WCC Player of the Week this season.
San Francisco's Jonathan Mogbo leads the league with four Player of the Week honors.
