UC Irvine junior Ross Schraeder (Denver, CO/Denver East HS) and Utah State senior Spencer Nelson (Pocatello, ID/Pocatello HS) took their talents on the road to put up significant numbers and lead their teams to important road victories, earning them Big West Co-Player of the Week honors.
Schraeder, a 6-5 guard, propelled the Anteaters to wins at Santa Clara and San Jose State as the team snapped an 11-game road losing streak. He scored 14 points with three rebounds in UCI's 70-58 defeat of the Broncos on Tuesday. Schraeder converted on all eight of his free throw attempts, including six in the final 52 seconds of the game. In the 76-55 victory over the Spartans, Schraeder drained a career-high eight three-pointers and notched a game-high 26 points. He shot 9-of-14 from the field, including 8-of-13 from behind the three-point stripe. For the week, Schraeder averaged 20.0 points and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 50 percent (11-of-22) overall and 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from three-point land.
Nelson, a 6-8 forward, guided the Aggies to a rare road win against in-state rival Brigham Young on Saturday. He scored a career-high 26 points to go along with 11 rebounds and seven assists as USU mauled the Cougars 84-62. It marked USU's first win at BYU since 1985, snapping a 13-game losing streak in Provo. The 26 points and 11 rebounds marked his fourth double-double this season and 16th of his career. Nelson finished the game shooting 9-of-13 from the field and 7-of-7 on free throws.