Men's Basketball's Wilson Named Athlete of the Week
January 20, 2004 | General, Men's Basketball
BOULDER-- Senior Blair Wilson's hot hand helped Colorado to a pair of wins in Big 12 play last week, with a 68-60 win over Nebraska on Wednesday, and an 88-70 victory over Iowa State on Saturday. Wilson's solid play accredits him the honor of CU Athlete of the Week, as he averaged 18.5 points, five rebounds, and converted 10-of-17 of his three-pointers (.588).
Wilson scored 18 of a game-high 22 points in the first half against Iowa State, helping the Buffs to their largest point total in a first half (44) this season.
The 6'6" guard from Westminster, Colorado, had a day of achievements against Iowa State as he set or tied five school records with six three-pointers. On Saturday, Wilson became CU's all-time leader in career three-pointers made (219), breaking the former record of Stevie Wise (214) from 1987-91. In the first half of play he made history by sinking his first six three-point shots without a miss, a Colorado record. With the six consecutive treys he tied the record for three-pointers made in a half, matched the record of threes made in a conference half, and tied the school mark of consecutive three-pointers made.
This season Wilson ranks third on the team in scoring with 12.7 points per game. He became the 22nd player in Colorado history to eclipse 1,000 career points, scoring 19 points against Kansas on January 5. Wilson currently holds the 18th spot on CU's all-time career scoring standings (1074). The senior management major tops the school's records for most games (104) and minutes (2,724) played without fouling out.
Others nominated for this week's award are: Randie Wirt (women's basketball), Erika Hogan (alpine skiing), and Tor Erik Schjellerud (nordic skiing).
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Randie Wirt, Senior, New Prague, Minn.
Colorado senior Randie Wirt led the Buffaloes to two wins this week, averaging 12.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. First at Kansas, in a game-high 36 minutes, Wirt scored 10 points with four assists and no turnovers, to go along with eight boards as CU defeated Kansas in Lawrence. Then on Sunday vs. Missouri, she rallied the troops after Tera Bjorklund's injury, scoring14 points while grabbing 11 boards for her second double-double of the season. Wirt was 6-8 from the floor in the game, as well as 2-2 from the free throw line with a 3.0 assist to turnover ratio.
ALPINE SKIING: Erika Hogan, Sophomore, Holmes, New York
Sophomore Erika Hogan was barely edged out for the slalom win, finishing with a 1:23:55 time, the third time in her career she has placed second in a slalom competition. In the women's giant slalom, Hogan finished eighth (2:05.59), the first of three Buffs to capture the end of the top 10.
NORDIC SKIING: Tor Erik Schjellerud, Junior, Gjovik, Norway
Junior Tor Erik Schjellerud, placed third in Thursday's 10k freestyle event with a 24:01.5 time, and grabbed second in a 52:41:1 time in the men's 20-kilometer classical race. Schellerud was the first of three Buff finishers in the top eight of the 10k race, and also led the Buffs' three finishers in the top six in the 20-kilometer race. With these performances Colorado captured a win in the Nordic team point competition with 288 points, topping Utah's 272 points. This was CU's first win in cross-country since the 2001 NCAA West Regional in Alaska, and only the third over the last three-plus seasons.