WSU’s Elleby named Pac-12 player of the week for second time this season

SAN FRANCISCO- Washington State Men’s Basketball sophomore forward CJ Elleby was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week ending on  Feb. 9, the conference office announced Monday. Elleby, who also earned the top award Jan. 18, is the first WSU player to earn multiple weekly awards in a season since the legend Klay Thompson went back-to-back in November of 2009. The two awards is the first time since 2011-12 the Cougs have earned multiple weekly awards in the same season.

In the first half of the Boeing Apple Cup rivalry series with Washington, Elleby, a Seattle native, put on a show against the team from the West Side as the second year Coug led WSU to a convincing, 79-67, win over the Huskies Sunday afternoon. Elleby was nearly unstoppable throughout the day as the star forward scored a career-high 34 points while grabbing 10 rebounds to nab his fourth double-double of the season. In addition, Elleby was stellar on the defensive end, hounding the Huskies on the perimeter while protecting the paint as well to the tune of a career-best three blocks.

For Elleby, the 34 points marked the first time the sophomore had eclipsed the 30-point threshold in his career after notching 27 points multiple times throughout the season. Making the most of his time on the court, Elleby was ultra-efficient from the floor hitting 9-of-16 including drilling a career-best 6-of-9 from deep. Forcing the action, Elleby also drew a team-high eight fouls which sent him to the line 10 times, knocking down all 10 to tie a career best mark.

The 34 points was the fourth-highest scoring total for a Coug against the Huskies and the most for an underclassmen in the rivalry game.

Elleby is averaging a team-best 19.0 points per game, third in the Pac-12. He also leads the Cougs in rebounding at 7.3 rebounds per game, eighth best in the Pac-12, while also nabbing 1.5 steals per game on the perimeter.

The Cougars look to take their show on the road when they head to the LA schools to take on UCLA (Feb. 13) and USC (Feb. 15). WSU split their opening games with the two, falling to USC before beating UCLA in overtime for their first Pac-12 win of the season.

Washington State Athletics