Oklahoma basketball: Austin Reaves is co-Big 12 Player of Week
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma basketball point guard Austin Reaves is the co-Big 12 Player of the Week.
Reaves and West Virginia’s Sean McNeil, the two stars of the Oklahoma-West Virginia double-overtime barn burner over the weekend, share the Player of the Week honors in the conference.
The senior transfer from Wichita State scored 22 of his team-high 28 points in the second half at West Virginia on Saturday, including the game-winning shot with 27 seconds remaining in the second overtime to give Oklahoma a season sweep of West Virginia and the team’s seventh win in its last eight games.
Reaves almost produced a triple double, adding eight rebounds and seven assists to his 28-point performance. He also was a perfect seven for seven from the foul line. It was his second-highest scoring game of the season and the fourth time he has scored 20 or more points.
His season high was 32 points in the Sooners’ second game of the season, a win at TCU.
Reaves is just the third player in Big 12 history to have 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a game and the first since Trae Young of Oklahoma in 2018. The other was Maurice Baker of Oklahoma State in 2001.
In addition to Reaves and McNeil, redshirt freshman Jalen Wilson of Kansas was named Newcomer of the Week in the Big 12.
Reaves is the third Oklahoma player to receive Player of the Week recognition this season in the Big 12. Umoja Gibson was Player of the Week the week of Jan, 4 and De’Vion Harmon shared the honor the week of Feb. 1. Gibson and Elijah Harkless have been honored as Newcomer of the Week on two separate occasions.