After winning the Maui Invitational MVP award, Arizona center Oumar Ballo was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week.
Ballo averaged 21.0 points and 10.7 rebounds in UA's wins over Cincinnati, San Diego State and Creighton at Maui, helping the Wildcats jump to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday.
Over the three games, Ballo also hit 27 of 34 (79.4%) from the field (though only 9 of 20 from the free-throw line), blocked two shots and played an average of 29.9 minutes.
After winning the MVP trophy on Nov. 23 in Lahaina, Ballo took a modest tone. He said it "was a little bit crazy" that he had shot as well as he did, credited the UA guards and said his performance on such a high stage was not evidence that he had arrived after three previous seasons in college basketball.
"We haven't done anything yet," Ballo said. "It's a long season. It's a marathon. So I'm just trying to run with the pace and trying to be available for my team."
Other candidates for the Pac-12 award this week included Washington's Keion Brooks, who averaged 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.0 steals in the Huskies' wins over Fresno State and Saint Mary's en route to the Wooden Legacy title.
Ballo's performance was somewhat reminiscent of the MVP performance then-UA center Christian Koloko put up in the Las Vegas Main Event last season, which was followed with a Pac-12 Player of the Week award. Koloko averaged 17.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in UA wins over Wichita State and Michigan.
