Jan. 26, 2009

LAS VEGAS - UNLV sophomore Tre'Von Willis was named the Mountain West Conference Co-Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, marking his first career honor and the second for a UNLV player this season. Willis shared this week's award with Wyoming's Tyson Johnson.

Willis, a 6-foot-4-inch guard from Fresno, Calif., led the Runnin' Rebels to conference wins at BYU (76-70) and at home vs. Utah (75-65).

At BYU, Willis scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds and had three assists with just one turnover in 34 minutes of action. The win snapped the Cougars' 25-game home conference win streak and was just the second win for a visiting team at the Marriott Center in the last 58 games.

In UNLV's win over Utah, which was its third straight win on the season and 27th straight victory at home over MWC opponents, Willis scored a career- and game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. He also dished out a career-best tying six assists against only one turnover and recorded a career-high three steals in 34 minutes. Willis scored seven points during a decisive 23-9 run, including a jumper that gave UNLV a 50-48 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game.

On the week, Willis averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 52.0 percent from the field (13-of-25), 80.0 percent from 3-point range (4-of-5) and made 5-of-7 free throws (71.4 percent).

The Runnin' Rebels, 16-4 overall and tied for first place in the MWC at 4-2, will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., for their next game as they take on Air Force on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 1 p.m. PST. The game will be televised on VERSUS.