IRVINE, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i's Junior Madut has been named the Big West Men's Basketball Player of the Week, following a pair of UH wins, including a dramatic come-from-behind victory over UC Santa Barbara. It's the first career weekly conference honor for the junior guard and the second for a Rainbow Warrior this season.
 
Madut, a native of Sydney, Australia, led a balanced UH attack, averaging a team-best 13.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in wins over CSUN and UC Santa Barbara. Those wins extended UH's unbeaten streak to seven games and catapulted the 'Bows into sole possession of first-place in the Big West.
 
Madut was particularly critical in UH's 65-62 win over defending league champions UCSB, tallying 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists to help the 'Bows rally from a 19-point deficit and defeat the Gauchos for the first time in four meetings. Two nights before, Madut also fell just short of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds in a 72-65 win over CSUN. For the season Madut is averaging 11.4 ppg while shooting 47 percent from the floor and 42 percent from three-point land.

At 6-0, UH is off to its best-ever start in the Big West. The 'Bows next hit the road for two games in California, beginning with a nationally-televised matchup at UC Riverside on Thursday, Feb. 3. The contests will be broadcast on ESPNU with tipoff at 8 p.m. PT/6 p.m. HT.