Pac-12 Awards: UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr. Wins Player of the Week

With the regular season over, one Bruin snuck in one last award.

The Pac-12 announced its weekly performance awards Monday afternoon, and No. 2 UCLA men's basketball (27-4, 18-2 Pac-12) guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. took home Player of the Week honors. Center Adem Bona was one of the nominees for Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, but Arizona guard Kylan Boswell secured it instead.

Jaquez, on the other hand, beat out Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis, Colorado guard Julian Hammond III, Oregon State forward Glenn Taylor Jr., Stanford forward Spencer Jones, USC guard Boogie Ellis and Washington State guard TJ Bamba.

In Thursday night's win over Arizona State, Jaquez dropped 26 points and seven rebounds. Jaquez put up 22 points and 10 rebounds two nights later against No. 8 Arizona.

That showdown with the Wildcats was likely Jaquez's last appearance at Pauley Pavilion, and he helped the Bruins' close out the season with their 10th win in a row and 25th-straight at home.

Jaquez averaged 24 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 turnovers per game over the weekend, possibly locking up Pac-12 Player of the Year in the process. Jaquez shot 47.2% from the field and 92.9% from the free throw line between UCLA's two victories.

The player of the week honor was Jaquez's third of the season and fourth of his career. Jaquez and Arizona State guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. are the only student-athletes to win Pac-12 Player of the Week three times this season, while Ellis and Tubelis are among those who have won it twice.

Jaquez is averaging 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game this season, putting up .487/.321/.770 shooting splits. Since Jan. 1, Jaquez is averaging 17.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting 36.1% from 3-point range, and he has broken 20 points seven times in the Bruins' last nine games.

Over the past few weeks, Jaquez has been named a finalist and late season watch list member for the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy and Julius Erving Award.

According to Bart Torvik's Player of the Year analytics, Jaquez's season ranks No. 8 among every player in the nation and No. 2 in the Pac-12. Looking at just conference play, Jaquez ranks No. 5 and No. 1 in the Pac-12.

Jaquez was the only Bruin to win Pac-12 Player of the Week all season, but Bona, guard Amari Bailey and guard Dylan Andrews combined to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Week seven times. UCLA's 10 combined individual awards were the most in the conference, with no Pac-12 team accounting for more than four.

Those individual efforts translated directly to team success, with the Bruins winning the Pac-12 regular season title by four games to secure their first conference crown since 2013.

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