UCLA'S AMARI BAILEY NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Bailey has earned the Pac-12's weekly freshman honor for the second straight week

UCLA guard Amari Bailey has earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors for the second consecutive week, as announced on Monday by the Pac-12 Conference office.

Bailey, a 6-foot-5 guard from Chicago, Ill., averaged 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in UCLA's two Pac-12 wins last week. In addition, he shot 66.7 percent from the field through both contests (14-for-21) and connected on 2 of 3 attempts from 3-point territory.

Bailey scored a team-leading 19 points, including 15 in the first half, of UCLA's 80-66 win at Stanford on Thursday, Dec. 1. He made 7 of 9 shots in that road victory and was 2-for-2 from beyond the 3-point arc. Three days later, Bailey scored all 14 of his points in the second half, as the Bruins erased a six-point halftime deficit (27-21) against Oregon and secured a 65-56 Pac-12 win.

This marks the second consecutive week in which Bailey has been honored as the conference's Freshman of the Week. In two games the previous week (against Pepperdine and Bellarmine), Bailey averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in a pair of victories.

Through UCLA's last four games, Bailey has averaged 16.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists. In addition, he has shot 61.9 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from 3-point range (5-for-9).

The Pac-12 Conference has distributed a weekly freshman award since the start of the 2019-20 basketball season. One week ago, Bailey became UCLA's first freshman to earn the weekly honor since Tyger Campbell was named the Pac-12's Freshman of the Week on Feb. 24, 2020. During the 2019-20 season, both Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Feb. 3, 2020) were honored as the conference's freshman of the week.

Bailey enters the week ranking No. 14 in the league in overall field goal percentage (54.2%, 45-for-83) and No. 15 (tied) in assists per game (2.8 apg), through nine contests.

No. 19-ranked UCLA (7-2, 2-0 Pac-12) will host Denver (8-1) on Saturday, Dec. 10. Game time in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom is 12 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' game against Denver will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.

 

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