Gonzaga’s Braden Huff earns third WCC Freshman of Week honor

Coming off a career-high 26-point outing against San Diego, Gonzaga’s Braden Huff was named West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week Wednesday morning.

It’s the third honor of the season for Huff, who was also named freshman of the week on Dec. 4 and Dec. 26. Only one other player in the conference, Portland’s Tyler Harris, has won the award three times.

The redshirt freshman forward came off the bench to score 26 points – beating his previous high of 23 points set against Eastern Oregon – in just 20 minutes on the floor to help the Zags pull away from the Toreros for a 105-63 win at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Huff shot 12 of 17 from the field and 1 of 3 from the 3-point line while pulling down five rebounds in the game.

The Illinois native and former four-star recruit also came off the bench to score nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in Gonzaga’s 86-61 victory at Pepperdine on Thursday.

Huff is second in the conference among freshmen, averaging 11.4 points per game for the Bulldogs, but has the top scoring average in the WCC for a nonstarter. Portland’s Harris is the only freshman scoring at a higher clip, averaging 12.3 ppg.

The Gonzaga forward is making 64% of his shots from the field and is shooting 34% from the 3-point line. Huff ranks fourth on the team in rebounding at 4.2 boards per game.

Saint Mary’s sophomore forward Josh Jefferson earned WCC Player of the Week after scoring a career-high 21 points in the Gaels’ 77-60 win at San Francisco on Saturday.