Richardson Named Pac-12 Player of the Week

EUGENE, Ore. – After scoring a career-high 28 points at USC and leading the Ducks to consecutive road wins over AP top-five opponents, senior guard Will Richardson has been named Pac-12 Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday.
 
Richardson started the week with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in the two-point win over Oregon State on Monday, Jan. 10 in Corvallis. On Thursday, head coach Dana Altman won his 700th career game when Oregon defeated No. 3 UCLA 84-81 in overtime. Richardson's regulation minutes were limited after four quick fouls, but he contributed 16 points and came up huge down the stretch. Oregon outscored UCLA 11-8 in overtime, with Richardson scoring five of the Ducks 11 points. The Bruins became the highest ranked team ever beaten by the Ducks on the road.
 
The senior guard capped the historic weekend with a career-best 28 points on a career-high-tying nine field goals at USC. Richardson started four-of-four from long range and scored 19 points in the first half. He finished five-of-eight from distance and added four assists to help Oregon win wire-to-wire, leading by nine points or more throughout the second half. Oregon became the first team since Clemson in 1975-76 to beat AP top-five teams in consecutive games and the first team in Pac-12 history to win consecutive regular season games against AP top-ten teams.
 
Oregon has now won five games in a row, with Richardson averaging 19.8 points (.548 FG%, .519 3FG%), 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game in that span.
 
It is the second weekly honor of Richardson's career; he has earned the distinction in two of the last three weeks. The first came on Jan. 3 after Richardson scored a then-career-high 26 points in the victory over Utah on New Year's Day.