Arizona Basketball: DeAndre Ayton named National Player of the Week

Arizona Basketball freshman phenom DeAndre Ayton was named National Player of the Week after beating rival and No. 3 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils.

Once in a lifetime! That would be the best way to describe Arizona Basketball center DeAndre Ayton and the type of player he is. The things he does makes you speechless sometimes.

Now you might be saying, come on David, there have been great Arizona Wildcat players over the years that have gone on to do remarkable things that make you speechless. You would be right in saying that, but the manner in which Ayton does what he does is on a whole other level!

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This past Saturday night he did not disappoint. Ayton and Allonzo Trier stepped up big time with 23 points each and helped the Wildcats secure the victory. Understanding his role on the team, Ayton took command earlier on, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

Great players understand the moment and importance of highly profiled regular season games. They aren’t afraid to score that key basket or lock down on the defensive end, that’s what Ayton did. To be fair, Ayton turned the ball over six times in the game and has caught some flack for that, but that is one facet of his game that is fixable.

In what was a highly anticipated matched between the Wildcats and Sun Devils, Ayton knew he had the size advantage down low and had to CRUSH those Devils. That he did!

He finished the game with 23 points, 19 rebounds, three blocks, three assists in 35 minutes of play, which earned him the National NCAA Player of the Week!

Ayton also won Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second time this season, here are the highlights from the week:

He is also getting National attention as Andy Katz interviewed the Wildcat after the game was aired only on the Pac-12 Network:

For the season, Ayton has averaged 19.7 points per game, 11.9 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game. He has earned 10 double-doubles thus far in the season which places him fourth among current NCAA active players. To get a better overall idea of how Ayton has done this season, check out the individual game stats below:

Gm Opponent MP FG 2P 3P FT TRB AST STL BLK PTS 1 N Arizona W 30 6 6 0 7 12 1 0 3 19 2 UMBC W 33 9 9 0 1 13 1 1 2 19 3 CSUB W 25 6 5 1 5 10 3 2 0 18 4 NC St L 34 7 6 1 12 14 1 2 0 27 5 SMU L 31 6 6 0 5 15 2 0 2 17 6 Purdue L 30 10 9 1 1 8 0 0 1 22 7 LB State W 25 6 5 1 0 9 3 0 0 13 8 UNLV W 39 12 11 1 3 10 1 1 3 28 9 Texas AM W 35 4 4 0 5 10 3 0 1 13 10 Alabama W 36 12 11 1 4 18 1 0 1 29 11 New Mex W 36 7 7 0 0 13 0 0 2 14 12 ND State W 26 11 11 0 3 9 0 0 1 25 13 UConn W 27 4 3 1 0 7 5 0 2 9 14 ASU W 35 9 9 0 5 19 3 1 3 23 442 109 102 7 51 167 24 7 21 276

Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 1/2/2018.
This is the second honor of the season for Ayton, who has previously earned himself Pac-12 Player of the Week. There is still plenty of basketball to be played and Ayton will surely earn himself other awards during the season. And not just awards, but will also likely set Pac-12 and Wildcat freshman records by the time the season ends.

Coach Sean Miller even recognizes how special of player Ayton is and had this to say during the press conference following the victory, “I hope everyone in McKale realizes what 23 points and 19 points feels like for a freshman. You don’t see that very often.

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Zona Zealots would like to congratulate Ayton on a spectacular game against the Sun Devils and earning National Player of the Week. Bear Down!