Matthew Bryan-Amaning, the Washington Huskies’ senior forward who was benched at one point for inconsistent play, was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after helping the Huskies sweep the L.A. schools in the first week of conference play.
Bryan-Amaning averaged 19.5 points, nine rebounds and shot 54.5 percent from the field in only the third road sweep of the USC and UCLA in school history. The Huskies also did it in 2006 and 1987.
The 6-foot-9 the senior from London started the first five games but Coach Lorenzo Romar shifted around his starters to get better rebounding. Bryan-Amaning came off the bench for four games but has started the past four.
Since his return, Bryan-Amaning is averaging 16.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, both team highs.
In UW’s 73-67 overtime victory over USC, Bryan-Amaning shared scoring honors with Terrence Ross at 18 and also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Washington rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half.
Against UCLA, he had team highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds. It was his fourth double-double and second 20-point effort.
This is the first time in his career that Bryan-Amaning has won the weekly honor and the 39th time a Husky player has won it.
The sweep by the Huskies (10-3, 2-0) launched them back into the Associated Press Top-25 poll. They are ranked No. 23. In the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, they are 28th. The Huskies RPI is now at 23.
