March 8, 2004

LAS VEGAS - UNLV men's basketball junior forward Odartey Blankson was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.

Blankson led UNLV in scoring and rebounding with 51 points (25.5 ppg) and 22 rebounds (11.0 rpg) in two games last week to earn the award. He shot 19-of-30 from the field (63.3 percent) and 5-of-7 from three-point range (71.4 percent).

In the 78-75 win at New Mexico last Monday, Blankson led all players in scoring with a career-high 28 points on 11-of-17 from the field (64.7 percent) and 4-of-4 from three-point range. The Chicago, Ill., product also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season.

Against BYU in the regular-season finale, Blankson had a game-high tying 23 points on 8-of-13 from the field (61.5 percent) in the one-point loss (89-88). He also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for his 18th double-double of the year.

Blankson is second in the nation in double-doubles behind Emeka Okafor of Connecticut and holds the MWC record for most double-doubles in a season for all games (18) and in conference-only games (8).

This is UNLV's third player of the week award of the season and first for Blankson.