UC Riverside senior Taylor Johns (San Francisco, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) notched a season-high scoring total to help his team snap a 12-game losing streak to southern California rival Long Beach State, earning him Big West Men’s Basketball Player of the Week accolades.
Johns dropped 26 points on the Beach in Saturday’s 74-72 win, including the game-winning jumper with under a minute to play. He had 18 of the Highlanders’ 36 points after intermission.
The 6-7 forward made nine of his 12 floor shots, including his only three-point attempt, and also connected on 7-of-8 from the foul line en route to the 26 points. He added six rebounds, four assists, one steal and two blocks against LBSU.
Johns was saddled with foul trouble in UCR’s 58-55 loss at UC Davis on Thursday, playing a total of just 15 minutes. However, he was productive in limited floor time with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He knocked down 4-of-6 from the floor.
For the week, Johns averaged 17.0 points while shooting 72.2 (13-of-18) percent.
Others nominated: Brian Bennett (Cal Poly); Kendall Smith (CSUN); Justin Bibbins (Long Beach State); Darius Graham (UC Davis); Jaron Martin (UC Irvine); Stefan Jankovic (Hawai‘i)