Utah State’s Tai Wesley Named WAC Men’s Basketball Player of The Week For Third Time This Year

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men’s basketball player Tai Wesley has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week it was announced by the league office Monday. Wesley was also named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending Sunday, Feb. 20, an award that is voted on by a state-wide media panel. It is the third time this year and fifth time in his career that Wesley has been named WAC Player of the Week and the fifth time that a Utah State player has received the award this year as senior guard Brian Green and junior forward Brady Jardine have won it once each. As for USU Athlete of the Week, it is the fourth time this year and 10th time in his career that Wesley has garnered USU’s top weekly individual honor. Wesley, a 6-7, 240-pound senior forward from Provo, Utah (Provo HS) led Utah State to a pair of wins last week as it defeated Montana Western (100-66) at home and No. 23 Saint Mary’s (75-65) on the road, snapping the Gaels 19-game home winning streak. Against the Bulldogs, Wesley had 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot in just 21 minutes as he was 8-of-12 from the field, 1-of-1 from three-point range and 3-of-4 at the free throw line. Against the Gaels, he posted his sixth double-double of the season and 15th of his career with 22 points and 11 rebounds, to go along with two blocked shots and one assist, as he was 8-of-15 from the field and 6-of-9 at the charity stripe. For the week, Wesley averaged 21.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocked shots, while shooting 59.3 percent from the field (16-27) and 69.2 percent at the free throw line (9-13). Wesley currently ranks second in the WAC in overall shooting (.593), fourth in rebounding (8.0), seventh in scoring (14.5) and seventh in blocked shots (0.96). Utah State, who is 25-3 on the season and 12-1 in WAC play, returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 26 when it hosts Idaho (15-11, 7-6) in its final home game of the season at 7 p.m. The game will be televised regionally on CW30. Nominees from other sports for USU Athlete of the Week include: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL – Sophomore guard Devyn Christensen (Caldwell, Idaho) led Utah State to a 67-51 road win at Idaho in its only game of the week as she had 15 points, five assists, five steals and two rebounds in 32 minutes. Christensen finished the game shooting 6-of-12 from the field, 1-of-4 from three-point range and 2-for-2 at the free throw line. MEN’S GOLF – Senior Benjamin Schilleman (Layton, Utah) tied for seventh-place with a 1-under 143 at the Southern Utah hosted Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational last weekend with rounds of 67 and 76. Utah State finished the tournament in sixth-place with a 16-over 592 (290-302). GYMNASTICS – Junior Nicole Simoneau (Manchester, N.H.) won the bars title in Utah State’s 196.250-193.600 loss to No. 11 Boise State last weekend. Simoneau scored a season-high 9.875 on the bars helping USU post a season-high 48.675 on the event and a season-high team score. She also tied for fourth on beam with a 9.750. SOFTBALL – Senior shortstop Kelley Kaneshiro (Auburn, Wash.) became Utah State’s new career home queen last weekend at the UNLV hosted Louisville Slugger Desert Classic as she helped the Aggies post a 2-3 record with wins against UNLV (14-9) and Cal State Northridge (9-1), and losses to No. 1 UCLA (13-3), No. 19 Stanford (18-1) and Cal Poly (5-2). Kaneshiro set the school record for career home runs with two dingers in USU’s 9-1 win against Cal State Northridge to give her 26 home runs in her career. Against the Matadors, Kaneshiro was 3-of-3 at the plate with three runs batted in. For the tournament, Kaneshiro hit .467 (7-15) with two home runs, two doubles and five runs batted in. MEN’S TENNIS – Senior Bryan Marchant (Salt Lake City, Utah) won all four of his matches last weekend as he helped Utah State post a pair of home wins against Portland State (7-0) and Nevada (5-2). With the wins, USU improved to 8-3 on the season and 2-0 in Western Athletic Conference play. Against the Vikings, Marchant notched a straight sets win at No. 4 singles (6-3, 6-4) and teamed with sophomore Sven Poslusny for an 8-6 doubles win at the first position. Against the Wolf Pack, Marchant won in three sets at No. 4 singles (6-3, 3-6, 7-5) and teamed with Poslusny for an 8-3 doubles win at the first position. WOMEN’S TENNIS – Sophomore Kristina Voytsekhovich (La Mesa, Calif.) went 1-1 in singles action last weekend as she helped Utah State to a 4-2 win against UC Riverside and a 7-0 loss to No. 35 UNLV in Las Vegas. Against the Highlanders, Voytsekhovich posted a three sets win at No. 3 singles (2-6, 6-3, 6-2). 2010-11 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners Aug. 30 – Liz McArthur, Volleyball Sept. 6 – Liz McArthur, Volleyball Sept. 13 – Shay Sorensen, Volleyball Sept. 20 – Christine Morrill, Volleyball Sept. 27 – Sven Poslusny, Men’s Tennis Oct. 4 – Derrvin Speight, Football Oct. 11 – Lauren Hansen, Soccer Oct. 18 – Molli Merrill, Soccer Oct. 25 – Bryan Marchant, Men’s Tennis Nov. 1 – Lauren Hansen, Soccer Nov. 8 – Kerwynn Williams, Football Nov. 15 – Brockeith Pane, Men’s Basketball Nov. 22 – Shantell Durrant, Volleyball Nov. 29 – Liz McArthur, Volleyball Dec. 6 – Ashlee Brown, Women’s Basketball Dec. 13 – Tai Wesley, Men’s Basketball Dec. 27 – Brian Green, Men’s Basketball Jan. 3 – Tai Wesley, Men’s Basketball Jan. 10 – Tai Wesley, Men’s Basketball Jan. 17 – Ashlee Brown, Women’s Basketball Jan. 24 – Jakob Asplund, Men’s Tennis Jan. 31 – Brian Green, Men’s Basketball Feb. 7 – Clint Silcock, Men’s Track Feb. 14 – Ruth Hilton, Women’s Track Feb. 21 – Tai Wesley, Men’s Basketball – USU –

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